Le Pain Quotedien

The focal point of Le Pain Quotidien has always been the communal table. It has immediate appeal as it embraces customers - whether total strangers or close friends. It welcomes everybody, allowing everyone to relax and enjoy the unique atmosphere.

I like the philosophy and the atmosphere of Le Pain Quotidien. We stopped in after a stroll through Central Park, looking for brunch. I was really impressed with the food and the manner in which it was served - cool plates and just an overall rustic atmosphere.

I ordered a Cobb salad which was pretty good, with large portions of the typical Cobb salad toppings, and a slightly spicy dressing. Being that it is a bakery, bread was served on the side, and it was crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside, just the way it should be.

My only complaint is that it seemed a bit pricey. The communal, casual, atmosphere reminds me a lot of restaurants like Panera which are quite affordable. The prices at "Le Pain" were probably double Panera's. For four of us, brunch, with coffee, was something like $80. I guess it is a bit of a step up, and it is in new York City, but still, that's expensive! This location is only a block or so from my office, so perhaps I'll check it out again and see if I can find some better deals, on their great food.

Carnegie John's

New York Magazine ranks the cart I sometimes get my lunch from on the street as 8th best in the city. It's definitely good and cheap.

To put it in SAT terms, Carnegie John’s is to Tony the Dragon’s as Mary’s Fish Camp is to Pearl Oyster Bar—the difference being that unlike those feuding fish ladies, should Tony and John meet up on the street, neither would attempt to scratch out the other’s eyeballs. Tony Dragonas, you see, taught his Greek compatriot John Antoniou the chicken-and-rice ropes, letting John run the show when he was away. When there was nothing more that Tony could teach John about grilled chicken breasts, Italian-sausage sandwiches, and combo platters, John, as straight-A students often do, struck out on his own—with Tony’s blessing, of course. Read more...

Central Kitchen

A tempting picture of Tuna Steak Frites in Time Out New York brought us to dinner at Central Kitchen. I called ahead to make a reservation and it wasn't too hard to get a good time even at the last minute, though when we arrived it did seem fairly crowded. We were seated in the main dining room which has the open kitchen so you can see some of your meal being prepared. Of course, I was seated with my back to the kitchen, oh well. Maybe I'm becoming more aware of the atmosphere I dine in because like Zoe, Central Kitchen had a nice smell, or perhaps it was the open kitchen that just let more aromas out into the dining area.

The menu was carefully put together, just a short list of unique offerings. We skipped appetizers and ordered the tuna and the hangar steak, which is one of my favorite cuts. I was also tempted by the spareribs, and the scallops (which came with a creamy, aromatic sauce). Both dishes were different than we expected, but both were very good.

The weird thing about the tuna dish was its temperature. We knew we would be getting rare meat, but when I have tuna like this I expect it to be hot off the grill or cool from the sushi bar. This was more warm. I'm not saying it was bad, it was just that the temperature surprised me. The other surprise was the frites, they weren't like any other fries I've ever tried. I would call them shoe-lace fries (not to be confused with shoe string fries). They were long and flat, thus the shoe-lace description (shoe string fries are shorter), extremely crunchy, and not greasy at all. It was definitely a unique preparation. When you can go to just about any restaurant and get french fries of some kind, this was a nice variation.

Hangar steak comes from the cow's shoulder area and is generally very flavorful but a little tough. It is my favorite steak of all time, at least on the menu at Ray's the Steaks, a small restaurant right outside Washington, D.C. in Arlington, Va. (I generally just groan with pleasure with every bite there, while trying not to embarrass myself too much.)

Central Kitchen had tough competition. Their offering was another unique preparation. In this case the sauce served with the steak, "a port wine reduction" really wowed me. The dish wasn't the same as Ray's, and that was fine with me. The sauce was intensely flavorful and reminded me of something else I've had before, I couldn't figure out what that was, but I liked it. The steak was flavorful and not too tough. It was sliced across the grain of the meat, which (as I've learned from Good Eats) can actually make the meat more tender. The dish was also served with asparagus and roasted garlic. The garlic was a whole bulb, roasted till each clove was brown and sweet. It still had a sharp taste but was very nice on its own, or eaten with a bite of steak. I would say that I can't really compare this hangar steak to Ray's because the preparations were so different, one very simple (Ray's serves meat on a plate) and one very sophisticated.

Central Kitchen put forth a very unique and delicious meal. I liked the surprises we encountered along the way, and wasn't too surprised by the bill, which wasn't too outrageous!

P.J. Carney's

In a city that boasts literally thousands of bars & pubs, one name is legendary: P.J. Carney’s.

I went to P. J. Carney's to meet up with some friends for a drink, but ended up having a bite to eat as well - So I might as well write about it! I had a bowl of French onion soup which was pretty good but I felt could have had a bit richer flavor. I added salt but that wasn't quite what it needed. We also shared some onion rings which were very good. There service was friendly and the drinks were good - the reason we came was because my girlfriend was there a few days ago throwing back French martinis with a friend and they wanted to come back! I'll definitely consider this an after-work drink spot, but probably wouldn't seek it out to go out for dinner.

Carnegie Deli

My friend Jay and I enjoyed a filling and boisterous lunch at New York's famous Carnegie Deli (awesome website) today. I probably won't be going back anytime soon, unless I have a visitor in town who wants to go. For two sandwiches we spent $50.

Now, these are the famous gigantic sandwiches that are about 8" thick, piled high with turkey or pastrami or roast beef. The club has a pile of bacon four inches high! Tempting... But in the end I wasn't all that impressed with the sandwich meat, especially for the price.

I had the open face "Lil Abner" brisket sandwich with gravy. The brisket seemed dry, even with the gravy, and the fries on the side weren't too crispy. It was served as a heap of meat on a few tiny pieces of bread. My kind of sandwich! I finished the meat. Jay had a turkey and roast beef sandwich that looked great, but I didn't try it.

Overall this restaurant is famous and it is an experience to dine there. There are hundreds of celebrity photos on the wall, many with the Deli's President, Sanford Levine, pictured alongside the stars - and we saw him there making sure things were moving in such a busy but small restaurant. Our server was an older woman who barked at customers, "get me your order quick because I don't want to come back here again!" The atmosphere is really the attraction at the Carnegie Deli, not the mountain of bacon.