Posted by Leah Greenstein, July 2, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Clockwise from top left: Blue Velvet; the patio at Wilshire Restaurant, photograph from Peter Pak, MD; BREADBAR
The 4th of July can sneak up on you if you're not paying attention. One minute you're cruising through June, reveling in the cornucopia of early summer produce at your local farmers' market and fiddling around with new barbecue ideas, and then bam!—4th of July weekend explodes like a Roman candle and a fistful of sparklers.
If you live in Los Angeles and didn't plan your escape from the sweltering city, dread the beach-bound parking lot that will be the 10 Freeway going west, and don't want to fork over the dough to see the fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl, don't despair. Here are some tasty alternatives to celebrate your independence from the same ol' same ol'.
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Posted by Joy Manning, March 4, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Editor's note: We're pleased to introduce a new voice here to the Serious Eats community. Joy Manning is the restaurant critic for Philadelphia magazine and will be checking in on occasion to bring us all up to speed on Philly eats. Welcome, Joy! —Adam
Philadelphia’s BYOB scene has been well-documented in the past. They have good food and offer the opportunity to enjoy a meal out without a steep markup on wine, but not all BYOs are created equal. Many have mediocre menus and some cost even more than their cocktail-slinging counterparts. Here is my selective list of bargain BYOBs that offer unfussy but fantastic food, unbeatable prices and personality, even if that also means lacking a website.
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In preparation for your trip to "the city of love," check out these romantic restaurant recommendations in Paris from David Lebovitz and his readers.
Posted by Michael Nagrant, January 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM
“I once dated this dude who worked as a trapeze artist in the circus.”
“Really, like Ringling Brothers?”
“No it was like one of those traveling carnie things. He was getting really annoying and I wanted to get rid of him, so when he asked me what my bedroom fantasy was, I told him I wanted to dress up like Pluto.”
“Like the planet?”
“No, like the Disney character.”
“Oh my god. I wondered how you’d dress up like a planet?”
Like any good bistro, Cyrano’s located in the bowels of the Wells street canyon in the shadow of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart is a cozy affair. Sometimes so cozy, you hear your fellow diner’s conversations, like the one above, loud and clear.
Though, on a recent Friday night at about 7:30 p.m., other than our Disney friends, there wasn’t much to listen to. As we were dining, chef/owner Didier Durand (pictured) posted a notification that Cyrano’s would now be closed for lunch through January in one of the hottest business dining districts in the city. If there was an Eater.com in Chicago (and word is there will be this year), Cyrano’s would be on hardcore deathwatch.
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Posted by Alaina Browne, December 2, 2006 at 3:29 PM
The five best Chinese Restaurants in Southern California according to NYTimes' Mark Bittman. His favorite out of the bunch is Triumphal Palace:
Six of us — one of whom now claims she will be married here — shared 24 dishes (about 18 of which came within 10 minutes), and while all except the predictably sad desserts were good, some were incredible. These were barbecue pork belly, firm cubes of slow-cooked, crunchy-skinned fresh bacon that, I swear, were a dead-on replica of a dish Alain Ducasse used to serve at about five times the price; Chiu Chow-style dumplings, with thick, chewy, slightly crisp rice-flour exteriors filled with (could it be?) jasmine-scented meat; deep-fried carrot cake, in fact a savory-sweet custard-filled dumpling; boiled baby bok choy in fish stock, which, like the duck I’d had at dinner, contained some secret ingredient that was the Bomb; and a wonderful layered creation of pan-fried sticky rice with egg.
Posted by Ed Levine, September 24, 2006 at 10:04 AM
Mimi Sheraton had an update on Napa dining a couple of months ago in the Times. She mentioned the obvious choices, Bouchon French Laundry, but I wished she had focuses on more casual dining:
Here are my choices for eating in Napa:
Terra: 1345 Railroad Ave., St. Helena, Ca. 707-963-8931 Intelligent, graceful, and very tasty California cooking with Asian influences served in a relaxed, low-key setting by chef Hiro Sone and his pastry chef wife Lissa Doumani.
Taylor's Refresher: An institution that features excellent burgers (including a very fine Tuna version), shakes, and fries.
Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, 1327 Railroad Avenue, St. Helena, 707-963-1200.
Posted by Ed Levine, July 18, 2006 at 4:58 PM
In this month's Food & Wine Anya Von Bremzen interviewed Francois Simon, Le Figaro's Grand Reporter, who according to Vom Bremzen is a "provocateur who uses his whimsically poisonous prose to shake up the ossified world of French haute cuisine, and the ferocious expense and acrid snobbery that goes with it." My friend Steingarten knows and respects Simon very much, so I tend to trust his judgment as well.
Here are a few of his picks:
- Gaya: 44 rue du Bac, 7th Arr.: 011-33-1-45-44-73-73: Three star chef's inventive, casual new fish restaurant.
- Le Bistrot Paul Bert: 18 Rue Paul Bert, 11th Arr.: 011-33-1-43-72-24-01. Great insider's bistro.
- Bakery: Boulangerie Julien (75 Rue St. Honore, 1st Arr., 011-33-1-42-36-24-83. Baguettes and croissants.
For the rest go to Food & Wine
Posted by Ed Levine, July 10, 2006 at 7:13 AM
When we visited Vancouver a couple of years ago we had a series of good not great meals in what is supposed to be a great food city.
The best meal we had there was at Vij's 1480 W. 11th Avenue (604-736-6664), which melds Indian flavors, herbs and spices into an original contemporary cooking style. I hadn't thought about Vij's in awhile, but Sara Dickerman's piece about Vancouver's Indian food in last Sunday's New York Times reminded me that I wish Vij's was located in New York. The closest thing to Vij's in New York is the Bread Bar at Tabla. So if you're not going to Vancouver any time soon, hit the Bread Bar.
