PsiFighter37

Gramercy Tavern is finally offering a takeout option - they have a 4-course tasting for $49/person, or a box with their famed Tavern Burger. My wife is getting the tasting; I am doing the burger box. Pretty excited for dinner tonight

PsiFighter37

GT was a solid, compact meal. The burger is very good delivered, and the cookie is great too (I took a shortcut and microwaved it; the directions they give say to warm it at 300 degrees for a few minutes). Wife's lobster seemed pretty solid as well. Much more affordable than other options, so will likely give it another shot if this situation continues for some time. From the looks of it, they are not setting up an outdoors dining spot on 20th Street.

PsiFighter37

Tonight's dinner was from Casa Mono (1 star in NYC). A very hard reservation to get at a decent time, usually, so I was stoked to see they started offering delivery. Food is delicious and reminds me of how much I will miss visiting Spain this year (was supposed to be there in a couple weeks).

PsiFighter37

Gramercy Tavern has added a couple more dining sets to their takeout menu...my wife had their summer seafood stew (pretty good, although not exactly what she was expecting), while I had their brick chicken (delicious). They are now also open for outdoor dining and have a decent number of tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, as well as tables in 20th Street, on both sides. Particularly nice since it seems that 20th between Broadway and Park gets cordoned off, which makes sense given there are a number of other restaurants (Rezdora, Laut, Barbounia) that also have tables on the street.

zip10001

Last week, we enjoyed outdoor dining at a wine bar & restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn named "The Four Horsemen" Michelin.
https://guide.michelin.com/en/new-yo...-four-horsemen
While the menu was limited, we had the best time!

Fluke crudo was delish, we ordered the 'swordfish with butter beans' for entrée, and it was really good.
The waiter brought a digestive drink "Prune" to end the meal and thanked us for patronizing the venue.
We would love to dine again there some day.

Fun fact: one of the owners is James Murphy of the LCD Soundsystem band.

BuildingMyBento

I've been curious about Laut's take on chili crab...have you tried it? Hasn't that restaurant weaved in and out of having Michelin recognition?

PsiFighter37

I have not had their chili crab. I did eat there some years ago and found the food to be okay, but not blown away by it. It used to have a Michelin star but lost it some years ago.

Speaking of Michelin-starred places in NYC, sadly Uncle Boons (1 star) has closed, and Junoon (one of the few top-shelf Indian restaurants in NYC that used to have a star until this year) has also permanently closed. I live less than a block from it, and they were clearing out all the fixtures in early August.

On the brighter side, Daniel Humm is planning on reopening EMP for dining sometime between November and March, assuming indoor dining is permitted. It sounds like he was able to cut some kind of deal on his lease to allow him to keep the space (for now).

offerendum

I had to dinners at 2 Michelin star restaurant Villa Crespi. Chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo is a TV-star.
Booking wasnīt easy as I first got a call they only had a place on their waitlist. When I told them as a guest at the hotel I expect availability they appologized that they didnīt know Iīm a hotel guest. My table was confirmed. When I asked later for a table at the second evening they confirmed it woudnīt be a problem.
The first evening we ate at the wintergarden which is a nice room.

They offer 2 tasting menus. The 5 course costs 150 €, the 7 course 190 €. For the first dinner we choosed the 5 course, I additionally took a cheese course (20 €)













The dinner was good. I canīt say it was over the top but good 2 star level.
After the dinner we were asked if we had masks. We were surprised and had to deny as we had left them at our room. They provided us masks and we learned About the reason. They showed us the kitchen which is the biggest in a 2 or 3 star I ever saw.

During the second dinner we met some "old friends", even as we were seated this timein another room and took the "big" tasting menu. Personally I found it slightly better than the day before, again very good level.












I found our dinners very enjoyable, some more Italian restaurants will follow over the next weeks.

Moderator2

As part of the semi-annual DineLA events, Two Star rated Providence offered a Bouillabaisse menu. Under Los Angeles County rules, the restaurant is not open for on-site dining at this time. A much more involved regular $210 menu was also available for take-out, but at $80 the Bouillabaisse seemed like a great value. In the end I felt it was very good and re-engaged me with a restaurant that when I last visited a few years ago didn't blow me away.


Deconstructed packaging for the menu (sans the bread). Took about 12 minutes to prepare for plating (some warming of sauce in a pan, and reheating the seafood in an oven).

TWA884

We happened to order the same meal from their En Voyage series. This week was Summer 2020, South of France.

TWA884

More detailed instructions from the first time that they featured this menu.

offerendum

Interesting! I see they write "exclusive of ... gratuity". Is it common to give gratuity if you do take away (ask from my German perspective)

offerendum

We tried Piazza Duomo in Alba. Itīs a small restaurant which holds 3 Michelin stars and is in the (relative meaningless) Top 50 of San Pellegrino. Normally itīs hard to get a table but due to the situation it was no problem to get a table a 3 weeks before our visit. At the evening the restaurant was full.
The restaurant is located at the Piazza Duomo in the middle of the center which means always a short walk. The restaurant is located in the upper floor, below is their casual restaurant.


First challenge was to find the entrance, there was no sign. Fortunately a waitress from the casual Bistro mentioned our situation and showed us the way to the side entrance.

After you ring the bell you have to use this unglamorous staircase.

The restaurant is colorfull with his own paintings.

They offerd only one tasting menu which was with 270 € per person not cheap

The journey started with many small bites














Some of this dishes were really great, my favorite was the Parmesan panna cotta (first single picture)
Next came the signature salad which contains of some herbs.






The following dishes were all of high quality and tasty. Most courses contained of different plates.





















We enjoyed our dinner and we would eat here again even as we were not blown away. But it was solid 3 star level

Moderator2

Yes, a take away gratuity is common now-a-days, unless you are picking up fast food. Pre-pandemic I'd guess 10-15% was the norm, but that's up five points or more now, IMHO. People are more generous with tipping, recognizing the stress restaurant workers are under.

My recollection is the app for the Providence order expected an 18% or higher gratuity. That tip would have been shared with the entire non-management staff under some sort of agreed internal formula.

offerendum

La Madernassa is located near Guarene and received its second Michelin star last year.
The dinner is served at the moment on the terrace. It seems to be a good option at the moment and the view was very nice.





I had contact with the restaurant before regarding our dietry requirements and they recommended their 10 course surprise menu which will be tailored to guests liking. When we ordered they didnīt know About our requirements but it was no problem. The menu was now 180 € per person instead of 160 before.
What we got was very good and we really liked our meal.

























For me the food was on one level with Piazza Duomo and I can really recommend the restaurant.