Vintage Insatiable Critic: 1976-1978


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CAFE DES ARTISTES: IF IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR GEORGE

January 19, 1976

Then came a letter with the striking asparagus logo of restaurant consultant George Lang. “To abandon or mistreat a child is bad enough,” it began. “But to do the same to 36 old ladies, especially when they are nude, is totally deplorable…more

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THE PALACE: SPLENDOR IN THE FOIE GRAS

April 5, 1976

The Palace hustled into being one year ago with an acute sense of terminal decadence. Was there ever more an obscene moment to launch the most expensive restaurant in town? Even the very rich economized, patching the old Porthault sheets to make them last another season, limping along in last years Mercedes, canceling summer in Cap d’Antibes…Would anyone be crass enough to boldly patronize the Palace’s Trimalchian bouffé… more

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THE MOST SPECTACULAR RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD

May 31, 1976

If money and power and ego and a passion for perfection could create this extraordinary pleasure… this instant landmark, Windows on the World… money and power and ego could rescue the city from its ashes. What a high...  more

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THE SENSUOUS HORS D’OEUVRE

September 27, 1976

“…Evan and Judith Jones defy the taboo on cheese as an hors d’oeuvre. Evan pairs cheese and wine from the same region…” more

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THE MOST HAPPY COOKING SCHOOL IN THE WHOLE NAPA VALLEY

October 11, 1976

So here is gastronomic fantasy come to life in wine-stained, butter-sticky reality. It will be Roger Vergé’s debut into gastronomic show biz – teaching la grande cuisine to whiskful amateurs… more

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WINDOWS ON THE WORLD: A SECOND VIEW

November 15, 1976

Too many items are more interesting in the concept than in the mouth. Still with intelligence and luck you may dine very well…more

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I LOVE LE CIRQUE, BUT CAN I BE TRUSTED?

January 31, 1977

 I wasn’t going to tell you about Le Cirque. The trouble is, I know more about Le Cirque that I want to know… more than Le Cirque’s brass would like me to know… more than you may care to know... more

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IN PRAISE OF THE HIGH-WIRE ACT AT THE PALACE

May 9, 1977

Alas, there is a natural tendency to want to hate the Palace. The town’s French-restaurant Mafia would love to see it fail…  more

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WONDERFULLY PREPOSTEROUS LUXURY AT THE BOX TREE INN

May 16, 1977

What could have inspired Augustin Paege into believing he could merchandise overnight accommodations in his small country inn at $400 a night? Even if the tariff does include Roll-Royce pickup, a lazy dinner before the fire, champagne breakfast-in-bed, your own butler and valet…and the chef standing by to indulge 4 a.m. whims… more

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QUILTED GIRAFFE: A CELEBRATION OF AMATEURS

July 7, 1977

No wonder the grouch is tamed on finding in some bucolic corner a restaurant as ambitious as the Quilted Giraffe in upstate New Paltz... more

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SUPERSONIC GASTRONOMY: CONCORDE CUISINE FALLS FLAT

July 11, 1977

Just for now, let's not brood about decibels or frazzled nerve endings or rattling melmac in the air corridors of Queens. Let's explore what it feels like to fly the Concorde. Well, it feels a little bit like being rich…but not enough. ... more

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ASIA DE CUBA: WILY CHAYOTE

November 10, 1997

Billows of white, bathtubs of rum, and the frenetic atlas-hop of Asia de Cuba's cooking lures the lemmings to this Starckly sexy duplex at the Morgans Hotel... more

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REGINE: FEEDING THE NIGHT CRAWLER

October 31, 1977

I know I ought to hate Regine's. It’s all so precious and pretentious and outrageous. The décor: a curious mingle of elegance and tawdry flash. The food: so many misses. The wine: I've yet to sip a stirring bottle. The people: all that posing. So much chichi…more

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FREDY GIRARDET: THE MOST EXCITING COOKING IN THE WORLD

November 21, 1977

The great excitement in French cooking is not to be found anywhere in France, but in Switzerland...in a tiny crossroads suburb of Lausanne called Crissier... more

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SOME LIKE IT HAUTE

October 9, 1978

Is there a land of no return for the restaurant critic? Does the feverishly indulged mouth lose its sense of reality…become inevitably jaded... more

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ZABAR'S IN EXCELSIS

December 11, 1978

Once, Zabar's was just a little neighborhood deli, known for the haunting tang of its lox and the perfume of the nobler pickle... more

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PRIME TIME: THE BEST STEAK IN TOWN

December 18, 1978

Run-amok inflation has driven the Great Steak War into an uneasy truce. Good beef is scarce. Great beef has never cost more... more

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