Help! 1 night, 3 chefs, 5 restaurants
Okay, I've got one opening left in my dinner schedule for a visit to NYC. I need to choose between
Scott Conant's Scarpetta
Harold Dieterle's Kin Shop or Perilla
Bobby Flay's Bar Americain or Mesa Grill
Which would you choose?
Thanks for your help.
-----
Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014
Bar Americain
152 W. 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019
Mesa Grill
102 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
By fooliejulie
on Jul 18, 2011 09:55 PM
View »
I've been to all of them except Perilla. I highly recommend Scarpetta and would go back myself. I love watching Bobby Flay on TV, but not his food unfortunately.
I had a horrible experience at Kin Shop recently, rude and hypocritical manager. Need to have a good reason to try Perilla among all the good places in the city.
Happy eating :)
-----
Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Kin Shop
469 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Permalink | Reply
hi cottontail...sorry to hear of your bad experience at Kin Shop...tell us what happened?...
fwiw, i'm a regular at both Scarpetta and Kin Shop and have always had stellar service, hosting, etc at both...
-----
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
Hi Simon...Sorry that I can't say any good words about your favorite Kin Shop at the moment. It's a long story to elaborate here. Basically the manager there was hypocritical, defensive, cold and unsympathetic.I just wrote a long email to the owners and I will see how it goes. The duck salad i ordered was way too salty by the way.
It's one of the most memorable experiences for me in the city... unfortunately !
Permalink | Reply
Sorry to hear it. Hope the managers appreciate the letter and respond well. Am interested to hear the full story if/when u can elaborate here.
Permalink | Reply
It's so bad that I wanted to strangle that person at that moment ...Not funny !
Sure I will let you know.
Permalink | Reply
wow...i want to hear it :)
Permalink | Reply
I too have had great food and service at Perilla and Kin Shop. In fact, I'd say above average service.
-----
Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
Scarpetta, unless he's opened one in your city (Miami, LA, Toronto).
What's the rest of your schedule like? Hard to make a recommendation without knowing if you're overloading on, say Italian.
-----
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
I am eating at Babbo, Colicchio & Sons and Imperial No. Nine for my other meals but I have no problem overloading on one particular cuisine if the food is good enough to warrant it. :-)
Permalink | Reply
Given the across-the-board dreadful reviews, you might want to drop Imperial.
It seems like the goal is TV chefs. I'd replace I#9 with any number of tried-and-true good ones: Off the top of my head, Morimoto or Marc Forgione would be good calls. Might as well go with an Iron Chef over a Top Chef cast-off, particularly one that's been getting panned so harshly (zero stars from Sifton, half-a-star from Sutton, etc etc etc...)
-----
Morimoto
88 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Marc Forgione
134 Reade Street, New York, NY 10013
Imperial No. 9
9 Crosby St, New York, NY 10013
Permalink | Reply
I like Scarpetta, though note what kathryn said - now that they're a chain, it's not really an "only in NYC" experience. For high-end Italian at a similar price point, I tend to prefer a couple other places...
As for the Bobby Flay joints.... They're both good, and I think pretty solid for their price point. But like Scarpetta, they're not something you wouldn't see elsewhere. Of the two... though Mesa Grill is really his "baby" and probably better shows his personal style, I find I've enjoyed my meals at BA a little more. Personal taste, though.
Which leaves Dieterle's restos, and in my opinion that means Kin Shop, hand down. Perilla is, IMHO, kind of boring, and more often than not I've had dishes that were seriously underseasoned. Kin Shop, on the other hand, is one flavor explosion after another. It's certainly the more adventurous of the two.
-----
Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014
Mesa Grill
102 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Kin Shop
469 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011
Permalink | Reply
Bobby Flay's food is nothing special. Either Scarpetta or Perilla would be good choices. What are you in the mood to eat? Italian or American?
-----
Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
Scarpetta and Kin Shop are two of my favorites in NYC...i'd say you can't go wrong w/ either...
-----
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
Thanks everyone for your input. I made my choices! I squeezed in a lunch at Kin Shop (I didn't have any problems with the manager). And tonight I am going to Scarpetta.
I went to Imperial No. Nine and I was underwhelmed by the meal, as you all warned me it would. The dishes came out at all different times and the scallops dish I had was over-slated. I chafed a bit at the all-male wait staff. For someone who has said he doesn't want his work to be evaluated on the basis of his hotness, Sam Talbot has filled his restaurant with hotties. But I'm happy for Sam's success and I hope that what I experienced are just growing pains. It can take a while for a restaurant to find its legs.
-----
Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
Permalink | Reply
How was your dinner at Scarpetta? The other night, I went there with my brother and his girlfriend, and we had an excellent dinner. I'll probably post about it at somewhat greater length eventually.
Permalink | Reply