This week, the big boys decided to tip some sacred cows.
• Alan Richman, battling Peter Luger, delivers what might be the most damning takedown of a major New York restaurant since his famous indictment of Jean Georges in GQ. Sundry are the crimes of this tavern: It has “lost touch with the concept of restaurant hospitality”; deploys cheap flatware and snarling waiters; serves inconsistent steak, mundane sides, and a “hostile burger.” [Bloomberg]
• Having made mincemeat of hipster haven Freemans last week, accused Italianphobe Frank Bruni turns his beating stick to Da Silvano — and in doing so, openly contradicts beloved celebrities Madonna and Tom Hanks. So what’s his beef? Chicken-liver crostini like “pet food,” to start. The Sultan of Bruni does, however, concede the “the occasional futility of summary judgments.” [NYT]
• While Da Silvano and Luger rest on their laurels, Picholine aims to lure the youngsters with a gray-and-lavender makeover. Cuozzo, like Gael, believes that the desserts have improved since the time he grumbled that they were a product of Frankenstein’s lab. [NYP]
• Orchard Street’s Outlet Koca Lounge has flown under the radar all summer. Paul Adams predicts attendance will be up now that the place has a beer-and-wine license. (Quite possibly just in time). [NYS]
• Rob and Robin approvingly note Goblin Market’s lived-in vibe; our friend Augie, meanwhile, takes this observation to its logical conclusion, commending the restaurant for being the kind of place that he can visit while wearing “track pants on the early part of a Saturday night.” [NYM, Augieland]
