BITE will keep you in touch with what I’m eating and what I love and what I left on my plate. I’ll share dialogues I have with heroes and divas, princes and barracudas and what I overhear from the next table. Not every day will I have a meal worth writing about, I suspect, not good enough, not bad enough. Dear friends have asked me if I could try to be meaner so I fit in better on the net. I intend to try. As any man who has lived with me will tell you, I was born to be a critic. Of course, isn’t it the critic who has the thinnest skin of all? I must admit to a certain anxiety. It’s been a long time since I wrote without an editor, a fact checker and a copy-reader to catch my errors, misspellings and typos. I apologize in advance. I’m left-handed and that can sometimes be confusing. I might have stopped reviewing restaurants twenty-five years ago when my first novel, Blue Skies, No Candy lingered on the best seller list. But I am addicted to instant gratification. So I’m still here. On my death bed, I am sure my last words will echo those of the sister of Brillat Savarin:
“Bring on dessert.”
January 30, 2012 | BITE: My Journal
Bowery Diner Ambition
I like the vintage diner airs with retro metal chairs in pastel hues. I like the pretty crowd. I like the waiter’s modish haircut. I’m nuts about this Reuben…
January 23, 2012 | BITE: My Journal
La Mangeoire Redux
Such longevity in this cruelly fickle town might be reason enough to check in…
January 16, 2012 | BITE: My Journal
Prima on First
It's Saturday night live and neighbors with a car have signed on for adventure…
January 9, 2012 | BITE: My Journal
El Cheapo Does Lunch
The economy needs me to lunch, for these three places I'm happy to oblige...
December 19, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
The Smith Midtown
I count it as a favorite spot to eat everything I love that isn’t good for me on a shoestring, most hauntingly, my favorite mac’n'cheese…
December 12, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Kutsher’s Tribeca
Sixties Borscht Belt is rarely listed among the top ten cuisines. I worried that Jeffrey Chodorow might be riding into a wall…
December 5, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Todd Plays The Plaza
Everything you ever wanted to eat but were too...
November 28, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Loi Logic
I’m hearing the voice of the people: Fish lovers. Refugees from Milos. Healthy eaters of a certain age. Grownups, shall I say, grateful for dignity?
November 21, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Kibo Ambitions
My guests tonight are over the moon about Steve Hanson's newest offering in the sprawling space where Japonais used to be...
November 14, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Americano
Welcome to Chelsea Riviera, the city’s newest, surely soon to be hot neighborhood not far from the meandering High Line…
November 7, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
La Promenade des Anglais
Not that it doesn't look great…the spiffy collage of graphics on the ceiling, bold shaded lights with their perforated shades, checkerboard floor and slightly rumpled blue velvet banquettes...
November 1, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Eating Venice
There used to be silent corners in Venice. Deserted back alleys and remote campos with only the sound of footfall…
October 10, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Hospoda is Unique
There’s a feeling that we can’t possibly be...
October 3, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Crown Moods
Jaunty sits the Crown on its eighth day of...
September 26, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Lincoln Act Two
I'm asking myself if this is the best Italian restaurant in town...
September 19, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Wong Is So Right
Then come luscious shrimp fritters crisped in a sweet potato-jicama batter, served in an improbable toss of ham, rice noodles and watermelon…
September 12, 2011 | BITE: My Journal
Tides in at Le Bernardin
Maguy wanted it to be elegant, modern, luxurious warm and sexy…