[Pigging by Wilfrid: January 5, 2014]
Yes, I lazily let everyone else have their say first. Pete Wells, and Ryan Sutton, and all the bloggers and food board posters; and in a few words, I let Eater know what I thought of New York's best new restaurants, 2014:
Cosme, by a mile. Honorable mentions: Gato, Bâtard, All'onda, Delaware & Hudson.
And really, Bâtard and All'Onda were fine and enjoyable, as were Betony and Dover, Donostia and Blenheim (under its first chef), Tuome and La Caye, and many others among the fifty-plus restaurants I've written about this year.
But Cosme was in a league of its own for the gentle refinement of its food and the elegance of its welcome. I'd also single out Gato, where Bobby Flay knocked out almost everyone with his drive, ambition, and the relentless tastiness of his food. Congratulations also to Delaware & Hudson, where chef Patti Jackson--seemingly against all the odds--grabbed attention with a thoughtful, generous, $48 tasting menu, just off the hellishly bustling strip of Bedford Avenue which is at the epicenter of Williamsburg's current global trendiness.
I wasn't the only food-fancier who thought D&H might be overlooked in the rush to grab the latest fried chicken, or taco, or carefully strewn plate of raw roots. All the more gratifying, then, that Pete Wells pulled it out of his hat as one of the ten best newcomers of 2014--after giving it a one star review.
As for Wells' other selections--Russ & Daughters at number two seemed even more perverse then Sam Sifton ranking The Dutch number one (in 2011) for its steak and oysters. I'm sure R&D is lovely, but what exactly is cooked there, other than eggs?
I've still not been to The Simone--shame on me--but I agreed with most of Wells' choices. Not Cherche Midi, I admit, which served me a series of salt bombs, and not so much Contra either--which opened in the fall of 2013.
Ryan Sutton hedged his bets by listing his top "new-ish" restaurants of the year. Quite a stretch, as joint first place went to Estela and Contra, and Estela's even older than Contra. I reviewed it October last year, some time after it opened. So what actual new restaurants did he like? Again, Bâtard and All'Onda, Cherche Midi and Dirty French--and also Root & Bone, which I'll be reviewing shortly.
So a year of consensus, and honestly a better year for restaurants than 2013. But in closing, let me present you with the one piece of essential reading from the world of food journalism this year: David Chang's December 2014 contribution to GQ, "Last Call at the Museum of Fancy Dining." It's easy enough to assume someone writes Chang's columns for him--or that the praise he lavishes on the upscale experience has something do with opening a new and expanded version of Momofuku Ko.
But, quite simply, what he says is true. Or at least, I haven't found anyone to deny it: anyone, at least, who remembers the best days of Lespinasse and Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, not to mention Bouley and the original Daniel.
I'm not saying we need to replace the grandes dames of fine dining with facsimiles, but we do need restaurants that carry on their tradition of striving for the absolute best...That's why I've been visiting these places: to feast on a standard of dining and service that we just won't see in ten or fifteen years. For me, it's like watching the NBA during the era of Bird, Magic, and Jordan and knowing I should savor every moment, because basketball would never be played on quite the same level again.
So while we look back on the last twelve months with some satisfaction, we also need to look ahead to the long winter which threatens. Will a fine, independent, high-end, full-scale (not twelve seats at a counter) restaurant ever open in New York again--or do Betony and Bâtard represent the upper limits of the city's ambitions?
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