Manhattan's Newest Tables (DEPARTURES, Nov/Dec 2002)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Yes, I forgot that I was in the BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE of 1895.  New York
City joined together in 1898.  I don't know what hour this is, so years also
confuse me.."Beefsteak John" is not in the RHHDAS or in John Mariani's
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK.  The earliest citation in the NEW
YORK TIMES is 1884, and it wasn't then a generic.  There was a fire at
Beefsteak John's, 241 Bowery.
   I leave for a post-sniper trip to Washington, DC (Library of Congress) in
about 24 hours.
   The F.Y.I. in the City section of today's NEW YORK TIMES mentions our Fred
Shapiro.

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   DEPARTURES magazine is published by American Express and comes "free" with
the cost of my card.  This November/December 2002 issue has an article about
Vermont by playwright David Mamet, a blurb by and a nice photo of NEW YORK
TIMES food writer Amanda Hesser, a NYC restaurant article by Mimi Sheraton
that I'll get to in detail.
   DEPARTURES really is a kick.  It breathes money.  Vera Wang and Christina
Ong  and other big and trendy names and stories are tossed about.  There are
ads for expensive watches, cars, cruises.
   It's like 9/11 never happened.  Everyone here has money, but no one looks
old.  No security issues are discussed in detail in any story.  Everyone
jet-sets around the world and opens hotels in Bali (as did Ong) like
nothing's changed.  You'd never know that New York City is bankrupt.  The
magazine is written as if Jackie Kennedy is still alive--how many readers IS
that?
   I read it for all the food and wine I'll never eat.  I've made $1,000 the
past 25 years of tireless work, fer cryin' out loud.

Pg. 52:  _Kiwi Superyachts_.  (The article also calls them
"uber-yachts"--ed.)

Pg. 72:  ...tea-flavored chocolate candy--Sadaharu puts _matcha_, the
powdered green-tea leaf used in Japanese tea ceremonies, into delicate
mille-feuilles and odd-looking but delicious green-glazed eclairs.
(Photo of "Green-tea mille-feuilles"--ed.)

Pg. 213, col. 3 (Cuyo, Argentina):  Indeed, in such imaginatively executed
dishes as _cordero de Tupungato_ (succulent stewed lamb), _lomo del Albanil_
("bricklayer's beef"), and _chivito de Bariloche_ (kid goat), there's a sense
of the provincial boy proudly bringing the flavors of the outback to his
sophisticated pals in the city.

Pp. 214-216:  ...a platter of _queso y membrillo_ ((an end-of-meal treat of
cheese with quince paste)...

Pg. 165:  _THE EPICUREAN_
   _Manhattan's Newest Tables_
_Through a difficult year, the city has more than persevered--it has
thrived._
_Mimi Sheraton takes a measure of the recovery in a crop of new restaurants._

(More than persevered?  THRIVED?  Huge commercial property tax increases will
be announced in two months.  The 1999 internet boom is over.  What planet is
this magazine on?--ed.)

Pg. 166 (At Flamma Osteria):  Skip the unimpressive, overly herbed antipasti
in favor of a shared pasta, such as _spaghetti chittarra_ (cut on a
guitarlike rack) with tomatoes and basil; _garganelli_, the Emiliana quill
shapes, with prosciutto and truffle butter; or Bolognese _stracci_, ribbons
of spinach pasta tossed with braised rabbit, cream, and Parmesan.  Then move
on to grilled Mediterranean _daurade_ with borlotti beans...
(Pg. 168--ed.)
   Elizabeth Katz's best desserts are fresh-fruit sorbets, crisp ricotta
beignets called _crocchette_, and her chocolate-hazelnut _torta_.

Pg. 168 (At Il Gasttopardo's):  If not those, then order one of the pastas,
like the spaghetti chitarra with a sauce of fresh tomatoes, the _paccheri_
(rigatoni) with a meaty Genovese sauce sweetned with simmered onions, or the
_orecchiette_ ("little ears") with tomato and minced shellfish.

Pg. 170 (At Kai):  Chef Hitoshi Kagawa offers Japanese _kaiseki_ (a table
d'hote menu, but really meaning a gathering of friends)...

Pg. 170 (At Da Silvano Cantinetta):  The owner, Silvano Marchetto, makes sure
that the simple Tuscan fare is perfectly rendered in standout dishes such as
the chickpea appetizer fired with black pepper, the bread-and-tomato salad
_panzanella_, and every pasta, in particular the meat-sauced _penne
strascicate_.  The Livornese fish stew _cacciucco_ is convincing despite an
overly dense tomato broth...

Pg. 172 (At Noche):  ...skewered-meat _anticuchos_...