March 12, 1979 | Vintage Insatiable

Vintage Insatiable Critic: 1979-1981

 

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CLAUDE REIGNS

January 22, 1979

Success blew into the discreet vestibule the first blustery day of December, and the staff has yet to recover fully. Perfection is still only a dream… more

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HARLEM ON MY MIND

March 12, 1979

I wasn’t sure a duo of aging blond preppies and I would be all that welcome ribbing and chicken-hopping in Harlem. Not that I’d tried it since Rosa Parks refused to sit down in the back of that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and the civil-rights struggle began...  more

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A SCRUTABLE GUIDE TO NEW YORK'S CHINESE RESTAURANTS

April 2, 1979

Trek to the Great Wall. Explore the mythic kitchens of Shanghai. Make the gourmand swing of Hong Kong. What adventurer could resist? Not I. But when I hunger for supernal Chinese food, I don’t have to stir…more

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PURE PLASIR

July 9-16, 1979

From its stormy, doomed infancy, Le Plaisir has emerged as one of the great joys of Manhattan dining... more

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DODIN BOUFFANT: CUISINE FROM A MARRIAGE

September 10, 1979

“...Dodin-Bouffant gets better all the time. The fits of brilliance are more constant. The flubs are fleeting and fewer... If the youthful Pritskers can marshal their talent and fanatic dedication to overcome mere human frailty, they might soon be among the most celebrated... more

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THE JOY OF SUSHI

September 24, 1979

I was a novice in the sushi faith.  I had dabbled warily in sashimi -- exploring raw tuna and mackerel…toying with salmon row on sticky rice in seaweed ribbons…quite pleased with the sweet subtlety of raw fish.  And I had eaten here, one beautiful briny morsel after another. Still I had a sense that beyond the supernal tuna and the crunchy sea clam were mysteries… more

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THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON GRAND STREET

December 31, 1979

It's like a mirage…a stage set…a teasing dream. Black streets desolate and littered against the shadowy cast-iron facades on the outer edge of SoHo... more

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The chef soon went unabashedly nouvelle, delighting a claque from miles around. And there was even great vintage wine by the glass—an indulgence I wish more restaurants would venture... more

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Centuries from now Venusian archaeologists digging in the rubble of Manhattan will find shards of old Cuisinarts and rusted truffle tins and then melted, twisted hulks of electric pasta machines - relics of a civilization that prattled endlessly about what to feed its stomach…and how…and where…more...

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THAT OLD CÔTE BASQUE MAGIC

April 14, 1980

After just four weeks, the restaurant is decidedly Rachou's arena. But the clichés of L'Academie Pavillon, the Henri Soulé prep school that created the image of fine French feeding in Manhattan, are fading... more 

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LA TULIPE IN BLOOM

May 19, 1980

It takes a blend of innocence, arrogance, optimism, and obsessed dedication to venture a French restaurant in Manhattan when you are an American groomed for the law, education, computer domination or creative playthings.  “I’m going to open the perfect little French restaurant and show them all how,” Sally Darr reportedly vowed…more

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WHAT'S NOUVELLE? LA CUISINE BOURGEOISE

June 2, 1980

The nouvelle cuisine is dead. Finie. Morte. Tombée. Even before I arrived in Paris last fall, I was bombarded with the bulletins: La nouvelle cuisine is…dead. I nibbled my kiwi in puzzled dismay... more

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EAT, DRINK AND BE WARY

August 11, 1980

A damp dish towel would be tastier than what passes for cheese in the average American restaurant. But there are citizen’s addicted to French-fried shoestrings and white bread…more

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THE SEAWEED FACTOR: KURUMAZUSHI/SHALOM JAPAN

November 17, 1980

Japan delivers the taste of astonishment: Kurumazushi (inscrutable by design) and Shalom Japan (a kosher nightclub)... more

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GREAT CHEFS, INSPIRED FEASTS

January 12, 1981

It’s not that New York’s affluent mouths are jaded. Oh, I suppose some of ours are. But, by far, the true provocation for all the culinary high jinks and experiment is our great appetite for adventure. Self-taught chefs,yearn to grow and create. Professionals groomed in the classic French tradition leap to the challenge…more

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OF FOOD AND THE RIVER

April 13, 1981

Let me admit straightaway that my unabashed crush on New York City can't help but brighten the shimmer of an outing at the River Cafe. Still, even a jaded urbanophobe would be stirred by the diamond filigree of bridge and tower in moonlight... more

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STILL MORE CONFESSIONS OF A SENSUALIST

April 20, 1981

In praise of fried onions at Wylie's, sautéed kidneys at Maurice, salmon trout at the Palace, duck soup at Simonsmore

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CHINESE: HAUTE OR HOMESTYLE

July 20, 1981

Hear the bravos at Lincoln Center. Not tonight for Baryshnikov or Beethoven. No. Tonight we salute dim sum, tangy hot-and-sour soup, eggplant as voluptuous as an overripe peach. Shun Lee West, a serious great restaurant has finally come to the Upper West Side…Stalking offal at Home Village…more

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EAT AND BE SEEN: ODEON, JOANNA, NUCCIO

August 3, 1981

There is a species of Manhattan snob who will insist he or she has never been south of 57th Street and thinks the Upper West Side is attached to New Jersey. So what, pray tell... more

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ROAD TO RANGOON: RANGOON BURMESE KITCHEN

October 12, 1981

One taste of fish soup at the Rangoon Burmese Kitchen and rockets explode. We have stumbled on a new cuisine… more

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HAUTE TO GO: MICHEL GUERARD COMES TO BLOOMINGDALE'S

December 7, 1981

It's getting to be a major challenge to walk your epicurean appetite between Lexington and Third on 59th Street without dissolving into carnal cravings…Paris's three-star chef has opened a carryout-food boutique at Bloomingdale's. It's an extravagant gamble... more

 

 

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