Vintage Insatiable Critic: 1995-2006
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TALL ORDERS
March 20, 1995
Fancy American food – already aggressively muscular – seems to be growing ever taller. I do appreciate a sprightly salad, but must it leap up and tap dance? Do we need a demolition permit to tackle dessert?...more
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TO GRAND-MÉRE'S HOUSE
December 4, 1995
Over the year’s I’ve mastered tall towers of yellowtail, flying buttresses of rice cracker, chocolate pianos, feathers etched in kiwi coulis, and conch sorbet… more
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WHERE THE BOYS ARE
May 6, 1996
Mario, Marco and Mauro Maccioni do the Sirio at Osteria del Circo. A second-generations Cipriani takes the act Downtown… more
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LO AND BEHOLD: MIREZI
October 28, 1996
Though she grew up in America with pan-Asian diversity – her mother is Malaysian – Lo is French-trained with stints in the kitchen of Michel Rostang, Guy Savoy, Bouley, Chanterelle. She got this job through a classified ad and was whisked off on a whirlwind Far Eastern eating binge to Seoul...more
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CELLAR IN THE SKY: 5 WINES, RIVER VU
November 11, 1996
Diehard grape nuts and tipplers-in-training are toasting Cellar in the Sky at the Trade Center. SoHo does lunch at the Grand Hotel’s Canal House...more
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LE CIRQUE 2000: SPACE ODDITY
June 16, 1997
Le Cirque 2000 struts into new quarters in a vintage palazzo and strains to live up to its vaunted reputation for state-of-the-art indulgence...more
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INTO THE MOUTHS OF BABES
June 21, 1997
Let us pamper and indulge the ideal restaurant child. And give the other run-around space and non-destructible décor…more
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CYCLO HITS THE STREET
November 17, 1997
Mint corsages gussy up street food at Cyclo in the West Village…Acrosstown Annam hits the Ho Chi Minh trail too…more
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THE PRIDE OF GASCONY: THE DAGUINS
April 1, 1998
Like André Daguin, all three of his children – Ariane, Arnaud and Anne – tried to escape their heritage. But as Arnaud observes with mixed pleasure and regret, “There are things you cannot fight against. We are all made one part of heritage and one part of choice. I don’t know why but at a certain point in our life we just fall down in the kitchen again.”...more
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GOOD IN BREAD
June 15, 1998
Name your drug. My aging hippie pals must have their grass. I've watched cronies go berserk at the chocolate counter. Now, just when I've got my own ice-cream craving in remission, it's bread...more
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MICHEL GUERARD REVISITED
July 1, 1998
It may be “The First Slimming Village of France,” as a sign warns at the entrance to the somnolent hamlet of Eugénie-les-Bains. But all around us in Michel Guérard’s sunny dining room folks are tucking into the Michelin three-star chef’s carte gourmande…more
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THE JOY OF EXCESS
October 26, 1998
If there really can be too much of a good thing, then breakfast at Norma's ought to be against the law...more
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LESPINASSE: BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN
November 9, 1998
We are tête à tête at a table for two at Lespinasse in the St. Regis. "Isn't this sort of place passé?" my guest asks. "Why are we here?"...more
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CITY HALL: WE'LL MEAT AGAIN
November 30, 1998
For a moment, I feel I am stepping back in time. The warped pavement, the whitewashed façade of the turn-of-the-century warehouse, crates of apples wafting their cider scent, hostesses in mournful black. True, all of it is today’s New York…more
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REGINE: ALL THE RAGE
December 7, 1998
This is not just another laid-back Saturday-night excursion because we’ve been too lazy to get invited out of town. This is Saturday night at Rage…more
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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: ELEVEN MADISON PARK AND GRAMERCY TAVERN
December 21, 1998
If you see Danny Meyer lurking in the bushes, he's probably scouting a restaurant. The man is a fool for history-in-the-greenery, a true city parkophile…more
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DANIEL: DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
April 26, 1999
Now that Daniel Boulud has opened a $10 million celebration of the seasons just eleven blocks south of Cafe Boulud, his real rival may turn out to be himself…more
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TABLA'S BREAD BAR
May 3, 1999
I'm a sample-sale junkie, so I love the discount prices and no-reservation spontaneity of bar menus. Back from two months in India, I am eager to sample what's up in Tabla's Bread Bar…more
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ON THE TOWN WITH THE BATTERBERRYS
September 1, 2003
The Bats, as their pals call them, are out on the town again. Tonight begins at the American Ballet Theater gala. Michael and Ariana Batterberry, publisher (he) and editor (she) of Food Arts…more
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DARK NIGHT AT THE CIRCUS
December 25, 2006
Sirio Maccioni frets over who can bring the stars back to Le Cirque...more
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