236662 Fri Aug 24 12:29:29 -0700 2001 9 19 Outer Boroughs 0 1254719 Will be eating there in the next couple days. How is it? Should I go down the road to another Smith Street Contentder? Any comments, menu choices, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your responses. Peace - The Mad Chowhound P.S. Everyone should take a moment of silence for the folks over at Cooley Goddard, I hope that does not signal the future for the East Coast... Fri Aug 24 12:29:29 -0700 2001 0 The Mad Chowhound 1 1254733 I didn't order enough to fairly weigh in on the food but I thought the space and service were awkward. When I asked my server "What's good?", he replied, "What do you care what I think? Have you seen the movie A.I?" The interior seems partially unfinshed, and put together in a slapdash manner. If it's your first visit to the neighborhood, I would go to Saul or The Grocery. If that's too expensive, I would go to Cafe Luluc (just opened) and get the $12 hangar steak. Whatever you do, don't go to Don Luca. I went there last night and it was awful. Sat Aug 25 08:44:22 -0700 2001 1254719 0 Ben 2 1254750 I haven't been out on Smith Street in over a month, but I don't recall Cafe Luluc. When and where did it open? Mon Aug 27 16:41:08 -0700 2001 1254733 0 Matt M. 3 1254752 It opened approx two weeks ago. I like them because they open at 7:30, and you can get a really tasty mushroom omelette with frites and mixed greens for $6. I've also had the vegetable sandwich, and it was really kickin'. Coffee and fresh o.j. are very good also. Can't remember the cross streets, but it's about half a block down and across the street from Halcyon. I thought it was Cafe Lulu, but there is a strange little 'c' tucked next to the last 'u'. I haven't been for dinner yet. They have the same menu from 7:30 to 4pm. Mon Aug 27 16:54:59 -0700 2001 1254750 0 Peter Cuce 4 1254789 Cafe Luluc is owned by the same guy who owns Banania and if you look at the decor and even the food offerings, it's all a very similar vibe. Tin ceilings, faux french everything, waiters with accents in airy light blue shirts, ultra casual (dare I say sloppy) service and an abundance of trendy neighborhood people coming to check it all out. I was there a few days ago for dinner and it was singularly uneventful. I had the pork sandiwch which was supposed to come with asiago cheese and a garlic aoili for dipping. Instead it came with a barely melted slice of swiss, some barely passable dijonaise already on the sandiwch. My cohort had a lovely salad with shrimp which she thought was quite nice. THe prices are very reasonable, there is no french wine by the glass--only one red wine available by the glass and its from California of all places (what a joke!). It sounds like breakfasts are a real winner over there. What can i say about dinner?? I guess im very bored with the concept already. Banania is right across the street and it just seems like the owner has NO IMAGINATION at all, either for aesthetics or in a culinary sense since it is more or less a down home replica of its brother restaurant. Smith street is falling prey to its own success. Why if one restaurant is doing well (ie, selling enough wine to pay for the meager cuts of 5.5 ounce steaks it serves) does the owner think we need a twin across the way?? All in all, it's insulting. Nuf Said Wed Aug 29 13:13:14 -0700 2001 1254752 0 foodie from Boreum Hill 5 1254975 Couldn't agree more. Jeezus, how many more fakey French places will it take before the place is saturated??? I just came back from a 3-week vacation and couldn't believe that ANOTHER frenchie bistro type place has opened on Smith. Let's count how many French and would-be French places we have in the 'hood: Banania Robin de Bois Patois Ytournel Mignon Restaurant (my favorite) (Uncle Pho--but that's French-Viet) Crepe factory Yeah, one can see the need for ANOTHER "French bistro". Good God. Thu Sep 06 13:01:21 -0700 2001 1254789 0 Katerina 6 1254979 Yes, in an ideal Restaurant Row world there would be more diversity, but aren't you glad to say goodbye to all the disgusting storefronts and shady "businesses" that formerly lined the strip? Now if only that ridiculous, loud social club next to Sur would disappear. Fri Sep 07 15:35:54 -0700 2001 1254975 0 Ben 7 1254984 Yeah, you won't hear any gripes about gentrification from me, since I ain't no trailblazer myself and wouldn't have moved to Carroll Gardens 1.5 years ago if there were no restaurants there. It's just that somehow, seeing *yet another* place like that open makes me wonder just what the owner thinks about the population of the neighborhood... To me, that restaurant is the equivalent of a "farmhouse French table" from, say, Crate and Barrel, or a "colonial teak chest" from Pottery Barn. At least the people who own Patois and Uncle Pho, whatever else you may say about them, have had each place designed differently and intelligently. These ersatz bistro/brasseries are a dime a dozen. Just walk a stretch on the Upper West Side. Mon Sep 10 18:18:48 -0700 2001 1254979 0 Katerina 2 1254751 I actually really, really like the Victory, and if I have a neighborhood regular place, the Victory is it. The fish is always very good (if they have a tuna and olive thing when you go, get it), and I really like the staff. I'm certainly not disputing any negative experiences people have had there, they ARE more laid back than other places, so it's certainly possible to get a jokester for a waiter. Also, the brunch is excellent. Mon Aug 27 16:42:56 -0700 2001 1254733 0 Kate A. 3 1254974 Sadly, Victory Kitchen has closed. It will be sorely missed. Of all the restaurants on the overhyped Smith Street, it had become by far my favorite. If jonesing for some Victory, however - especially their homemade fruit sodas - go to their original, still open, smaller location at the corner of Hoyt and State - just a few blocks away. Thu Sep 06 11:15:59 -0700 2001 1254751 0 smithstreeter