Originally Posted by nyc2socal (Post 22393047)

3. Cooking element. Very hard to do a "black and blue" at home or on the grill.. Not many non-commercial appliances can go over 1500 degrees.. Something about residential fire hazard.. ;)

Originally Posted by braslvr (Post 22393888)

There are many, myself included, who think this is an absolutely terrible method to cook a steak.

Originally Posted by jologolf212 (Post 22336168)

I think Ma Peche is not worth it. Not sure how much longer it will be around. It's in the old Towne space. If I had to rank the Momofuku empire from NYC I would say Ko then Ssam Bar then Ma Peche then Noodle Bar. Ko truly is special but very limited seating makes it difficult to get a reservation.

On a side note, Book of Mormon's is excellent. Problem with theater district is the lack of really good food. Not that you are looking for suggestions pre or post theater but I would recommend Esca. That area really hurts for good food.

Originally Posted by nyc2socal (Post 22394105)

Don't quite get your comment. There are many, myself included that think it's a great way to eat a steak..

Originally Posted by LarkSFO (Post 22394207)

jologolf: Esca was excellent! We moved our reservation up to 5:15 just to be safe, and had plenty of time to eat and walk over to Eugene O'Neill theater for the 7:00 show.

http://www.esca-nyc.com/

We started with the Crudo tasting, which I highly recommend. 6 different selections chosen by the chef, and all were very good (well, mackerel was not to our taste). They had gotten fresh John Dory that day ('very rare to see' according to the waiter) and they brought us each a tasting of this as well. It was probably our favorite. Very fresh, excellent flavor.

This was followed by the selections below. (I don't list what the kids ordered off menu: buttered pasta... They ate the salads first, and the chicken to go with the pasta and were perfectly happy.)


The only dish that was not to our liking was the squid ink spaghetti. Cooked very nicely, but overly salty.

The monkfish was fantastic.

Service was excellent as well, our waiter going out of his way to make sure we were happy. (brought tastings of multiple wines for both of us until we arrived at one we liked. Took our order initially, then came back and suggested we cancel one item and change the timing so make sure we got out on time.)

Excellent whole wheat focaccia. :)

Verdura Mista
Organic salad of fall vegetables, sheep's milk ricotta and herb garden vinaigrette

Insalata Di Amara
Salad of Italian and local fall greens, butternut squash and apple cider vinaigrette

Spaghetti Neri
Squid ink spaghetti with seppia, green chilis and scallions

Bucatini
House made fat spaghetti with Rita’s spicy octopus sauce

Pescatrice
Whole pan roasted local monkfish with Nueske’s smoked bacon, red cippoline and sage

Pollo
Four story hills farm chicken with primo olives, fregula and lemon


Yes, this is completely off topic. Sorry.

Originally Posted by greg0ire (Post 22563514)

Of all the chains, Mastro's is my favorite. When you walk through that door you can smell that aged beef aroma...damn, now I need to make a reservation for next week.

Originally Posted by Moderator2 (Post 22564025)

A few years ago my wife and I sat down in the Beverly Hills glassed in room upstairs fairly early, about 6pm. We were the only people at the time in the room. Just about five minutes after arriving a chef came into the room with a sizzling cast iron pan, with nothing in it other than meat drippings and garlic. His task it appeared was to allow that aroma in infuse itself in the room. He then exited the glass door and took about a 30 second lap through the main upstairs dining room.

Thought it was a great marketing strategy.

Originally Posted by greg0ire (Post 22564054)

That's terrific...fyi, I remember going to Fromins on occasion in the 80s. We were members of Maarev Temple nearby. I believe it's a big empty lot now.

Originally Posted by dchristiva (Post 22098275)

I agree all around, though when in NYC, I much prefer Keens Steakhouse. I can't complain about Del Frisco's. I have also had pretty good meals at various Fleming's.

Originally Posted by factory81 (Post 22565832)

I just felt the need to reply after going to Keens in NYC and spending like $80 on a single huge steak (and sharing it with my girlfriend). The steak is a bit too....I don't know, in your face it felt like? And then I realized halfway through that they obviously don't use a grill here, they cook this in a pan (or something).

I wasn't all that impressed and neither was my girlfriend. We are interested in trying a good place out.

I know J Alexanders is not exactly upscale upscale, but I have had better steaks there than the one at Keens.

Originally Posted by factory81 (Post 22565832)

I know J Alexanders is not exactly upscale upscale, but I have had better steaks there than the one at Keens.

Originally Posted by CMK10 (Post 22100470)

Mastro's is my favorite

Originally Posted by JimJ321 (Post 22155407)

Not to be a hater, but I am looking forward the Chicago Steakhouse menu at Next. I guess that is 1985, but then again every time I see steak tartare on the menu I get it and think back to the great scene with Gordon Gekko and Buddy from Wall Street.
Back on topic - I really enjoy Capital Grille. Consistently good experience, great lobster Mac and cheese side dish and they treat you like royalty if you're celebrating a special occasion. Took my wife for her bday a few years ago to the ORD location and we still talk about it : rose petals on the table upon arrival, comp flute of champagne, pineapple vodka drink and dessert. They even took a photo of us which we kept on our fridge for a few weeks (to remember the great experience and also help us avoid eating fatty food as we went nuts that night!)