Reserve Compilation

Compilation July 2014 — February 2015

July 2014

Sponsored by:

July 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com

Bloomberg Global Top Five*

London1. — Celeb central.Chiltern Firehouse2. — See your food swim first.Beast3. — New Jason Atherton. City Social4. — Atherton again.Berners Tavern5. — Posh super Indian.Gymkhana

New York1. — Bobby Flay returns.Gato 2. — Rocking retro Italian.Carbone3. — Classic, fun Italian. L'Artusi 4. — Popular Italian.Quality Italian5. — Best in NYC.Sushi Nakazawa

Hong Kong1. — Rocking burgers.CaliBurger2. — Like the name says.Fish & Meat3. — Chinese meets NYC. Mott 324. — Classic French.Cocotte5. — Burgers & rooftop.Beef & Liberty

Paris1. — Perfect bistro.Chez Georges2. — Still trendy French.Hotel Costes 3. — An American in Paris. Spring4. — Popular bistro.Le Chateaubriand 5. — Vegetable Valhalla.L'Arpege

Peter Elliot introduces the all newBloomberg Brief: Reserve, talks steaksticker shock and more. Click photo tolaunch or go to: http://bit.ly/1qwcvlL

*Top is compiled from on the DINE <GO>Bloomberg Terminal. The formulaincludes hits, reviews and ratings.

The Old Fashioned Way to a Great Table: Be a Regular

BY PETER ELLIOTThe restaurant world is going wild about how technology will change the way we make

or buy reservations. (See interview, page 8.) For those willing to put in the effort,however, there's a far more traditional way of securing a table: become a regular. Norestaurateur in the world turns away a steady customer. Ever.

With so many options available, many of us continue sampling new places and neverbecome regulars anywhere. Still, for those who like a certain kind of restaurant, returningover and over again has its perks. They know your name; all you have to do is get toknow theirs, return on a consistent basis, tip well, be friendly but not cloying and you'llbecome a regular in no time. The first few times, book your tables for 5:30 p.m. or 9:30p.m. to guarantee a spot, and before you know it, you'll be dining at primetime.

Below are six restaurants where you should consider becoming a regular.

London1. : Possibly the most usefulLe Capricerestaurant in the world. Open late, chicand delicious. Get in here and the whole JSheekey, The Ivy and Soho House worldopens its doors for you.

2. Fergus Henderson restoredSt. John: British food to the British. Become aregular here and you'll be at the epicenterof the nose-to-tail eating.

3. : This once favoriteLaunceston Placeof Princess Diana is just as clubby as itwas in the '90s. Now owned by D&DLondon, this is a restaurant group (Orrery,3 South Place, Le Pont de la Tour, etc.)that knows a good customer.

New York1. The crown jewel of ChefMarea: Michael White and Merrill Lynch alumAhmass Fakahany's empire. Become aregular here and you'll be rubbingshoulders with Bill Gates in no time.

2. : Where the downtownMinetta Tavernset wants to see and be seen. Get toknow Keith McNally's (Balthazar) crewand you'll be eating Black Label burgersand using the secret number to book.

3. : Perhaps the hottest of theCarbonehot. Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi areexpanding their mini empire (Parm, ZZ'sClam Bar). Become a charter memberand hang on for a wild and delicious ride.

IF/THEN

Source: Altamarea Group

These are the power tables in the front room at Marea on New York's Central Park South.

July 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THENIf You Like Tao Downtown, Then You'll Love...Restaurants like Tao pander shamelessly to people who just want to have good food anddrink in a stupendous space and take in the local scenery. No wonder Tao is the mostprofitable restaurant group in the world right now. Below are some similar restaurantsyou'll likely enjoy if Tao is at the top of your list.IF: TAO DOWNTOWN

92 Ninth Ave, New York, NY, 10011

Setting: Jaw dropping.

Food: Pan Asian for everyone.

Bar Scene: Serious. Multiple locales.

Noise Level: Surprisingly audible.

Date Factor: A place she can dress for.

Groups: More spaces for more kinds ofparties than anyplace in NYC.

Secrets: Get known and the whole TaoGroup club world can open for you.

THEN: THESE EQUIVALENTS

LondonSushisamba:

On the 38th floor of the Heron Tower, thisis the new post-work pub alternative.110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY

Novikov:All things to all rich Londoners. Fancybasement bar, a pan-Asian restaurant,and some Italian for good measure.50a Berkeley St., W1J 8HA

Hakkasan:The granddaddy of chic Chinese superrooms. The original is still the best bothfor the food and the scene.8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD

SingaporeKu De Ta:

Everyone loves the infinity pool androoftop bar 57 stories up.1 Bayfront Ave. 018971

Las Vegas and DubaiTao and , respectively, areHakkasan

even more jaw dropping in the desert.Tao: The Venetian, S Las Vegas Blvd.Hakkasan: Jumeirah Emirates Tower

Fischer's: From the Wolseley teamCorbin & King, their ode to an all day(and late night) Viennese experience.

Polpo: The popular Italian tapasconcept spreads to Notting Hill.

The Palomar: The U.K. outpost ofsuper hip nouveau-IsraeliMachneyuda in Jerusalem.

Heartwood: Cozy modern Americanfrom Nick Mautone, the ex-managerof Gramercy Tavern. Chefs andfoodies are already claiming tables.

Union Bar & Kitchen: JonathanRenert leaves Wall Street (Jefferies,Merrill Lynch) for a kitchen in SoHo.

Altesi: Savore owners expand toUES Gold Coast with a Tuscan menuand a sexy rooftop bar.

Cherche Midi: Keith McNally ofBalthazar/Minetta fame tries classicFrench in the failed Pulino's space.

Dalloyau: One of the oldestpatisseries in Paris (300 years plus,they say) makes its way East.

JUST OPENED

London

New York

Hong Kong

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YOUR NIGHT OUT

Source: Tao Group

The cavernous main dining room at Tao.


YOUR NIGHT OUT

Here's a Blueprint for Discovering the Best of New York's Revitalized ChelseaBY PETER ELLIOT

Dining out in Chelsea used to mean asmall number of barely passablerestaurants centered around 8th Avenueand West 23rd Street. The extension ofthe High Line along the Hudson Riverfrom its origin at 14th Street to West 30thStreet has redefined and expanded thearea overnight. Now it's a matter of toomuch choice. You can easily wind up in atourist trap as in an unwelcoming boitereserved for artists or models.

London Terrace, the Art-Deco complexbetween 9th and 10th Avenues, is theresidential heart of the Chelsea scene.Along the High Line, "star-chitect"buildings are opening, bringing newrestaurants and more people.

The rows of 19th century townhouses inthe West 20s used to be home to thecity's social and cultural elite before theymoved uptown. It's taken 100 years butnow these folks are back in Chelsea.

Go With Clients

DRINKSBathtub Gin: A Victorian speakeasytucked behind a coffee shop. Almosteveryone is impressed.

Colicchio & Sons: The restaurant (inthe same building that houses DelPosto and Toro) is good, but the baris a great place to start the evening.

DINNERBarchetta: David Pasternack of Escafame stays true to his fishing roots.Large tables and great service.

Toro: This Boston import has takenNYC by storm with its modern take onSpanish tapas. Clients love it.

The woody/industrialCookshop: room and solid American fare makethis a great choice for clients/family.

LATE NIGHTRusty Knot: Ken Friedman of TheSpotted Pig/The Breslin Bar fame'shome away from home.

Go With Friends

DRINKSThe Park: A favorite gathering spot.Still a scene. Still fun. You can stayfor dinner too, but I wouldn't.

The Bubble Room: At the top of TheStandard Hotel. Strict security latenight is more welcoming at happyhour. And a great way to get in later.

DINNEREmpire Diner: A New York institutionreopens with chef and "Chopped"judge Amanda Freitag at the helm.

Bottino: Home to the fashion set, itremains an excellent Italian spot.Particularly good for lunch/brunch.

LATE NIGHTTia Pol: The most authentic Spanishfood in New York and open late mostnights. Super fun.

Tipsy Parson: Healthy Southernfood (and drink) is not an oxymoron.Open late most nights.

Go With Family

DRINKSHigh Line: A perfect place to bringkids of all ages with multiple optionsto stop and get drinks of all stripes.

Biergarten: At The Standard Hotel,great people watching in summer orwinter (when the skating rink opens.)

DINNERThe Red Cat: Jimmy Bradley'speople-pleasing American fare.Specializes in lunch/brunch aftergallery hopping with your parents.

Co.: Jim Lahey, the renowned ownerof Sullivan Street Bakery, makes thebest modern pizza in town. Stylishroom. No reservations.

Some love it, some hateDel Posto: it, but for an extravagant, large, Italianfamily meal, it's pretty hard to beat.

Morimoto: The Iron Chef is oftenthere and there are few places forsushi of this quality for a whole family.

EDITOR'S CORNER

Source: Bloomberg/Noah Fecks

The large industrial space at Toro functions well for large groups and small too.


EDITOR'S CORNER

Bobby Flay's Gato: Some Celebrity Chefs Really Do Return to Their KitchensBY PETER ELLIOT

Bobby Flay may be one of America'smost famous celebrity chefs but he'sdetermined to reclaim his roots in thekitchen with his new restaurant, Gato.

With his partner Larry Kretchmer,they've taken a former homeless shelteron Lafayette Street and transformed itinto an homage to Spain, complete withValencian floor tiles and orange leatherbanquettes. Hostesses in slinky blackdresses and an uber-modern bar whoseunder lighting makes it appear to levitatecomplete the scene.

Mr. Flay hasn't lost sight of his culinaryroots and his skills have only matured.And yes, every time I have been there,I've seen him working in the kitchen andnot out in the room glad handing. It's niceto see at least one celebrity chef gettingback to what he does best.

The simplest dish on the menu is thestandout, a heap of perfectly grilled spicedusted carrots on a bed of Harissa yogurtand a hint of fresh mint. I've alreadycopied it to make at home.

Having sworn I would never eat paella

outside of Spain, I tried his kale andwild mushroom version and wasimpressed. It was a joy to see the crewscraping the socarrat off the bottom of the

— paella dish the crusty, crunchy caramellike layer that is the hallmark of a greatPaella.

Another high point is the mostlyaffordable, Spanish-focused wine list thathad some welcome surprises, including ared Txakolina (sounds like chocolate).These almost effervescent wines from theBasque region are traditionally white andoften poured high up over the shoulder togive them even more freshness. It's atrick liable to get your guests wet — butworth learning for the summer season.

There are plenty of kinks still to workout, not the least of which is trying to getin to see Mr. Flay live. (This is one reasonit's number one on on theDINE <GO>Bloomberg Terminal in NYC this month.)New restaurants tend to spacereservations at prime time, 7 p.m. to 9p.m., to get the kitchen up to speed andto leave seats for celebrities and critics,but this creates the feeling of a letdownwhen the rush is over. For now, I prefer

Gato late at night. Learn to eat late like the Spaniards do and you won't have

trouble getting a table.

Peter Elliot is editor of Bloomberg Brief: Reserve

and manages the lifestyle functions on the

Bloomberg Professional service. He is

Bloomberg's founding food critic and a James

Beard Award winner. Opinions expressed are his

own. Follow him on Twitter/Instagram

@mrpeterelliot.

Cost: Entrees: $27-$34 ? Great bar scene. Yes.Date Place: Curved brick ceilingsNoise level

make it loud. Talk to your neighbor.: Primetime is tough now.Access

Late at night.Will I Be Back? The tables by theSpecial Feature:

bar are lounge-like, fun and you caneat there, too.

Believe the hype. BobbyFinal Word: Flay can cook. He's not just a prettyface preening for the cameras.


RESTAURANT REVIEW

Heston Blumenthal Serves Up Smoking Cocktails at Heathrow CafeBY RICHARD VINES

The fried eggs are served with a splashof browned butter with sherry vinegar.The beurre blanc on the tomatoes isenriched by smoked thyme, rosemary andgarlic.

Order the fish and chips and your waiterwill spray an essence of fish & chip shop— pickled onion and vinegar — in the airabove the plate. Speaking of essences,perhaps you’d also like a cocktail?

Rob Roy With a Cavendish TobaccoCloud features 12-year-old Tomatin andBowmore single malt whiskies in a largeglass filed with dry ice that billows withcigar-scented smoke.

Chef Heston Blumenthal’s latestestablishment, the Perfectionists’ Cafe,which opened airside at Heathrow’s newTerminal 2 in early June, is not youraverage airport restaurant.

I went along for a preview and I amhappy to say that the place looks great,the food is imaginative and the prices are

reasonable. It beats the airline loungeby a mile.

The full English breakfast is 9.50pounds ($15.90), which compares with9.75 pounds at Jamie’s Italian at Gatwick.A bacon sandwich is 4.50 pounds; pizzasare priced between 9 pounds and 11pounds; burger and fries costs 13 poundsand nitro ice-cream is 4.50 pounds for twoscoops, with three toppings.

The Rob Roy cocktail is 11.50 poundsand Champagne starts at 62 pounds abottle (10.50 pounds a glass) forDelamotte Brut.

“Heston wanted to create a restaurantwhere you could come in for whateveryou feel like, but there’s real detail that’sgone into everything,” AshleyPalmer-Watts, the Fat Duck group’sexecutive head chef, said in an interviewin the cafe.

“This is going to be a big restaurant:1,200-1,300 covers a day,” addedPalmer-Watts, who is usually to be foundrunning Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, arestaurant where it’s easy to spend morethan 60 pounds on food alone. “We’venever done this kind of restaurant before,but Heston really wanted to do it.”

The menu is based on “In Search ofPerfection,” a BBC television show inwhich the chef — best known for hisrestaurant the Fat Duck — traveled theworld to discover how to createconsummate dishes. For pizza, he visitedLa Notizia in Naples. Palmer-Watts wentback there to develop options for thePerfectionists’ Cafe with his head chefJulian O’Neill

(O’Neill was head chef at the Bankrestaurant in London before moving toQuaglino’s and then to the Wolseley,where he was executive chef.)

Understandably, the Heathrow airportauthorities had safety concerns about thepizza oven and liquid nitrogen required forthe ice creams. (The nitrogen freezes soquickly that the ice crystals it forms are

Attention to Detail

Edible Spoon

minuscule, making for smooth icecream. The dish is served with an ediblechocolate spoon.)

“There were no huge disagreements”between regulators and restaurateurs,Palmer-Watts said. “A wood-fired pizzaoven? A nitro ice-cream parlor? It isn’twhat you’re going to find in most airports.”

The 2.5 billion-pound Terminal 2 will beused by 23 Star Alliance airlines. Otherfood outlets include Yo! Sushi; Leonnatural fast food; and Gorgeous Kitchen,an establishment fronted by four womenchefs.

The Perfectionists’ Cafe reminds me ofa makeover Blumenthal did for the LittleChef chain in 2009. In both cases, thedishes are thoughtful and successful. Justdon’t go thinking you’re in for a gourmetexperience. The economics of such ahigh-volume restaurant mean that someitems, such as chips, are bought fromoutside suppliers rather than made on thepremises.

At the preview, half a dozen journalistswere served a lunch of charcuterie,smoked salmon, three pizzas, hamburgerand fries, fish and chips, andliquid-nitrogen ice cream. Yes, all of that.Airport rules meant the visitors were notallowed to consume alcohol — rare for ajournalists’ meal.

The closest we got to booze was ademonstration of the Rob Roy cocktail,with a quick sniff. I admit it: I inhaled.

Richard Vines is the chief food critic for

Bloomberg. Opinions expressed are his own.

Follow him on Twitter @richardvines.

DESTINATIONS

Source: Bloomberg/Richard Vines

Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts takes a breakbefore the restaurant opening.


The nitrogen ice creams at Perfectionists'Cafe are smooth and rich.


The wood-fired oven is a rarity at an airport.


DESTINATIONS

Hotels at Tip of Long Island Become the New Normal, Boosting Dining OptionsIt used to be everyone who went to the

Hamptons rented a house or stayed withfriends. One didn't want to admitotherwise. This season there are morehotels and they're socially acceptable.With them come better dining options.Hotels make running restaurants a loteasier and that means better service.

Tom Colicchio, the celebrity chef andEast End resident, has opened a poshspot at Topping Rose House inBridgehampton. At the just-opened CapriHotel in Southampton there's a newbranch of BLT Steak. The Palm, BobbyVan's and the new Delmonico's are yourother go-tos if you're in the mood forsteak and salad. On Shelter Island it'sSunset Beach, an outpost of the ever-chicAndre Balazs group. Perhaps the most exciting new hotel isGurney’s Montauk Resort. Jennifer Oz LeRoy, 35, daughter of the late Warner,the empresario behind The Tavern on theGreen and Maxwell's Plum, is in charge ofresurrecting the 10-acre resort and itsrestaurant Seawater Grill.

A bit farther afield, The North Fork

Table & Inn tops my list of places todine in the area. Its locally-sourcedingredients are prepared by the husbandand wife team of Gerry Hayden,ex-Aureole, and Claudia Fleming, still themost talented pastry chef in America.

Long Island isn't always my destination

of choice; still, the region's localproduce, from tomatoes and corn to freshchickens at Iacono Farm in EastHampton, is a cook's dream. Maybe nowthere are chefs and other professionalsout there who know what to do with them.

Top Restaurants:Sant Ambroeus: Tanned, expensive, elegant and ridiculous.

Also reliable and delicious. It's got the best gelato too.

Stone Creek Inn: In East Quogue, it's a Bloomberg clientfavorite for its serious French cuisine and professional service.

Frisky Oyster: The home of the North Fork artisanal andmodel set. It's like being in Williamsburg with a tan.

Vine Street Cafe: An oasis of seasonal food on Shelter Island.

Top Bars:Harlow East: In the old B. Smith space facing Sag Harbor,

expect the summers' most serious scene to happen here.

Bay Kitchen Bar: Already famous for turning local berries intokiller juleps. Great view of the bay. Serious food and wine, too.

Sienna: Celebrity chef Donatella Arpaia in her first venture outeast. Part club, part bar, part restaurant.

The Surf Lodge: Concerts (check their schedule,) Australianfocused food serving 24/7 and a view. Best scene in Montauk.

— There really is only one road to get out there and very few when you arrive. My advice: never travel at peak times.Driving Another trick? Come the other way. Arrive by ferry to Orient Point or Port Jefferson. Cross Sound Ferry. Once there, plan all yourcar travel around staying off the main artery, Route 27. Go shopping in the morning. Jettison friends who think you're being analretentive. Get an old copy of "Jodi's Shortcuts" and learn the back routes like the pros.

— Not just for masters of the universe anymore. You can even Uber one for $1,000 and more. Uber or Blade.Helicopter/PlaneThe Standard Hotel group has StndAIR. Seaplanes leave from 23rd St. to East Hampton in 45 mins. www.stndair.com

—The Jitney has multiple pick up points across NYC. The favored choice of many weekenders who keep their cars at theBusother end or have friends pick them up. Luxury options include Hampton Luxury Liner and Ambassador Class.

— LIRR's new express services takes 95 minutes and accepts reservations (which book up quickly.)Train

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Litchfield County, Connecticut. MSG me at [email protected]

Source: Bloomberg/Andrew Harrer

Traffic jams and summer prices can't diminish the natural charm of the Hamptons.



Q&A

Resy: Scalping for Hot Restaurant Tables Has Arrived

What if you could just buy that impossible to get

reservation? Pay for play is the essence behind a

new online mobile venture called Resy created by

Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal and social media

and wine entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.

Bloomberg Brief's Peter Elliot sat down for a chat

with them.

Q: How does it work? Ben: It's a mobile app for people whodon't want to waste time trying to get intoa restaurant at prime time when theycould just pay for it. Gary: The restaurant is in full control ofboth their inventory and the restaurantsets their pricing. When a customerplaces the order, the restaurant decideswhat that table will cost.

Q: So who gets what in the deal? Andhow much does it cost?

: There's going to be a huge learningGarycurve for the customer, the restaurants,and for us.

It should be 10 to 20 percent of theBen:total bill. The restaurant will take the buikof the fee and we'll take the rest.

Q: Who are your launch partners?Ben: The McNally Group — Lure Fishbar,Charlie Bird, Rosemary's. We're addingquickly now that it has launched.

Q: Is this too disruptive an idea for anindustry that won't reveal inventory?Gary: That's where the market is poisedto change. Restaurants are a low marginindustry. This is a way that they canincrease their income and a way for us tomake reserving an open market.Transparent. It's not so different fromairlines, who worked out how to increaseincome by charging for seats.

Q: Don't the restaurants find the wholeconcept abhorrent?Ben: It's not that it's abhorrent. It's thatthey don't like change. It's a toughindustry. I was talking to a guy at Per Sethe other day. Here you have peopleworking 16 hour days just trying to get itright. It's not like even the smartest highprofile restaurants have an R&D teamworking with them, right?

The reason they are scared isGary: that they’re worried they’ll seem

"douchy" in an industry that's stillfundamentally based on relationships andromance. What's more upsetting is thelack of transparency and the fact that youcould spend hours or weeks trying to geta 7:30 table where the odds are alwaysstacked against you. Your clientswouldn't stand for it, why should anyone?

Q: So your value proposition isfairness? Let the market decide?

Absolutely. Resy will create anGary:actual fair playing field. We're charging fora premium time, for a premium table andyou don't feel like a jerk for doing it. It'santi-elitist since we're creatingtransparency where there's none.

Instead of holding tables, you'reBen: putting the right customer in the right seatat the right time. It's a more elegant wayfor customers to get what they want andfor restaurants to make extra income.

Q: How would you define what youeach bring to Resy?Gary: Ben is one of the 5 to 10 peoplewho understands the industry. He's notflying out of left field. In a business thatdepends on trust, he has that trust. Andwe need that to get the best restaurantson board or we don't have liquidity.

We've known each other a long timeBen:and were just waiting for the right idea.Resy is that idea. And getting trust is thefirst step. That's the hard part. Long termwe see platforms that aggregate supplyand demand and that’s where Gary andhis expertise comes in. He's a master atgenerating eyeballs and interest. It's amarketplace. When we get that, that'swhen things will start to fly.

Q: Strengths and opportunities we'vecovered. What about threats andweaknesses?

That we're too early. There areGary: plenty of stories of people who built theidea but the market wasn't ready.

Yes. The name of the game isBen: marketplace liquidity. Matching supplyand demand. We have to get that. Uberfloating for $10 billion has me feeling a bitbetter about the market's readiness.

Q: Uber is getting into reservations.Priceline is bidding on Open Table.

Aren't those threats?Ben: The hotel and airline industries arelight years ahead of restaurants in termsof the inventory management technology.So, if the technology standard gets better,that's a win for everyone.

Q: And other competitors?There's no question a lot of smartBen:

people are thinking about restaurantreservations. Scalping is nasty business. Ilike that several different models are inplay. We like ours. It will be interesting tosee how the space matures. I eat out sixnights a week, so we're focused onbuilding a product that makes peoplewonder how they ever lived without it.

Q: Gary, your career started inanother opaque world. Wine. Anycomparisons or differences?Gary: The wine industry isn't just opaque,it's regulated. We are still dealing with theaffects of Prohibition. Putting regulationsin the hands of states makes it more thanopaque, it makes it impossible. Thedifference is restaurants are ultimatelyabout romance. This is a one dominogame. When people realize they don'thave to jump through hoops, or behave orfeel like jerks to get a table; when theyfind out they never really had a chance?The domino falls.

Q: Will this change what we writeabout restaurants?Ben: I think the story will be how did weever live without this. Let’s be honest. Allwe're doing is creating a convenient andefficient way of distributing a commodity.It'll be as easy as picking up a phone.

Source: Resy/Sarah Wolff

CTO Michael Montero, Founders, GaryVaynerchuk and Ben Leventhal (CEO)

August 2014

2014

Sponsored by:

August 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com

Bloomberg Global Top Five

London1. — Balazs' babyChiltern Firehouse 2. Beast — Steak and crab3. Gymkhana — Winning Indian 4. Kurobuta — Japanese crossover5. Berners Tavern — Atherton British

New York1. — Bobby Flay's trip to SpainGato2. — Godfather-style ItalianCarbone3. — Cozy downtown ItalianL'Artusi4. — Corporate ItalianQuality Italian5. — Sexy, clubby AmericanBeautique

Hong Kong1. — Rocking burgersCaliburger 2. — Chinese meets NYCMott 323. — Atherton abroad Aberdeen 4. — Dim sum valueDing Dim 19685. — Like the name saysFish & Meat

San Francisco1. — Farm blissState Bird Provisions 2. — California classicGary Danko3. — California contemporaryBoulevard4. — Casual new-Italian chicSPQR5. — Financial district JapaneseOzumo

Peter Elliot defines what farm-to-tablereally means and reveals his favoritetonic water. Click photo to launch orgo to: http://bit.ly/ReserveRadio

*Top is compiled from on the DINE <GO>

Bloomberg Terminal. The formula includes hits,

reviews and ratings. Updated July 31, 2014.

'Tis the Season: A Farm-to-Table Restaurant Primer

BY PETER ELLIOT No matter what the label says, most restaurants buy from food service companiessuch as Compass and Sysco. They're a necessary evil to stabilize food costs in alow-margin industry. Only high-end shops claim to buy or grow food from non-industrialfarms. Still not all "farm-to-table" restaurants are alike. I break them up this way: 1. placesthat import food from farms they own or control and are rigid about menus around thosefoods; 2. places that grow food on the property to augment other foods they bring in; and3. chefs who are expert consumers at local greenmarkets or source the best they canget when they can get it. Most chefs hate to reveal that a mixture of all three is moreusual and perhaps best. Here are some of the restaurants that define the movement.

London1. A game changer. Chef Grain Store: Bruno Loubet puts vegetables at thecenter of each dish and gets the balanceof posh to casual just right.

2. Chef Simon Rogan extracts Fera: maximum flavor from the best ingredients,many of which come from his own farm300 miles north of Claridge's.

3. The mother of British River Cafe:seasonal restaurants. Perched beside theThames, it serves bold, rustic Italian incasually modern surroundings. Its mostfamous protege? Jamie Oliver.

New York1. Named after a cow who Narcissa:lives on Andre Balazs' 76-acre farm northof New York, chef John Fraser cooks therest of the produce in rooms that typifythe movement: a formal room, an outdoorspace and an open-kitchen bistro.

2. Jean-Georges ABC Kitchen:Vongerichten sets the standard for howfresh produce is bought and sold.

3. April Bloomfield's The Spotted Pig:(and friends) ground-breaking gastropubin the West Village is still the best place totry her gutsy take on farm-to-table.

IF/THEN

Source: Francesco Tonelli for ABC Kitchen

Baby beets with yogurt, balsamic vinegar and herbs by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

August 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THENIf You Like Blue Hill, Then You'll Love....Blue Hill in NYC and its sister, Blue Hill at Stone Barns on the Rockefeller estate 30miles north, are still America's most authentic if high-brow realizations of farm-to-table.Not everyone likes to meet the pig that winds up on their table; still, few can competewith the skill and vision of chef Dan Barber, author of new book, The Third Plate.IF: BLUE HILL

75 Washington Place, New York, NY630 Bedford Rd, Pocantico Hills, NY

Setting: Serene, worshipful.

Food: Pure farm-to-table.

Bar Scene: In NYC, it's the best spot.

Date Factor: Perfect.

Groups: It's what Stone Barns doesbest. NYC location less so but possible.

Secrets: Ask for a farm tour.


LondonClarke's: As much a founder of the

scene as River Cafe, 30 years later it'sstill one of my favorites.

St. John: Farm-to-table meetsnose-to-tail eating. More focused on meatand offal but still 100 percent authentic.

Brawn: This gem on Columbia Road iscloser to the Brooklyn model. They servewhat they have and it's always great.

Greater San FranciscoChez Panisse: Alice Waters is to the

farm-to-table movement what Julia Childwas to cooking. See where it all startedand be amazed. It's still perfect.

The French Laundry: Chef ThomasKeller is celebrating his 20th year here.Take the trip to Yountville. His style ofcooking remains the one I admire most.

Westchester County, N.Y.Purdy's Farmer & the Fish: Kale and

succotash grow on the hillside behind this18th century farmhouse. Peanuts getthrown on the floor. It's not as polished asBlue Hill but it's twice the fun.

OPENINGS

L'Anima Cafe: More casual sister toL'Anima next door. Pizzas plus winesthat come straight from the barrel.

Hawksmoor Knightsbridge: Newlocation for popular chain with somemore Asian-influenced dishes.

Dirty French: The Carbone teambreaks away from Italy at the LudlowHotel. Expect scene to follow.

Blenheim: This 45-seat farm-to-tablefrom the Smorgas Chef team sourcesfrom a farm in the Catskills.

Crimson & Rye: Charlie Palmer ofAureole and Steak fame's newmidtown post-work extravaganza.

Jamie's Italian: Jamie Oliver spreadshis ode to River Cafe to China addinganother shop to his "living brand."

Seasons by Olivier Elzer: Newventure from former head chef ofL'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

Potato Head Folk: Popular beachclub in Bali spreads. Rooftop bar.

London

New York

Hong Kong

Singapore

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YOUR NIGHT OUT

Source: Bloomberg/Jen Munkvold

Blue Hill at Stone Barns' main dining room.


YOUR NIGHT OUT

Lower Manhattan Has Something for Everyone as World Trade Center RebornBY PETER ELLIOT The transformation of Lower Manhattansince 2001 is one of the great studies ofthe power of neighborhoods to reinventthemselves. The World Trade Centercomplex is coming back to life andbusinesses like Conde Nast and HarperCollins are already moving in. On the ground, the restoration of theGreenwich Street artery through the heartof the WTC makes crossing the divide ofthe West Side Highway seem lessthreatening and even beautiful. It alsoopens up the marina and riversidepromenades that have made it adestination. Now your dining optionsexpand exponentially. There are 12 newrestaurants in the new food hall at BatteryPark City. While it is still far fromcomplete, you can already feel that WallStreet is not just a land of tall buildingsbut a place to walk, live and eat.

Go With Clients

DRINKSBrandy Library: Comfortable andclubby. Make reservations for a table. Macao Trading Co.: Bloombergerswho rate this place are mixed on thefood but love the drinks.

DINNERAmerican Cut: Glamorous, deluxesteakhouse with a BLT heart.

North End Grill: A Danny Meyerproduction with new chef. Stay tuned. Batard: Drew Nieporent reopens theMontrachet space with an ode to"Continental" fare. Excellent.

LATE NIGHTChurch Lounge: The best place toseal a deal. At the Tribeca Grand.

Under theThe Lounge at Atera:restaurant. A good way to become aregular upstairs.

Go With Friends

DRINKSLos Americanos: Latin diner-bar.Stay for the food, too. Fun. Casual. Terroir Tribeca: Subterranean spotto indulge in wines by the glass.

DINNERTelepan Local: Farm-to-table fromBill Telepan. Try all the specials.

Smorgas Chef: Swedish meatballs,outdoor seating. Unusual and hip.

Next Door Nobu: In the Nobu chain(32 at last count), number 2 is thebest, most friendly and authentic. LATE NIGHTCanal Room: If you still have thestrength, it's a fun venue. Check forperformances/schedules.

Santos Party House: Ditto. If it'shappening below 14th Street, it'sprobably happening here.

Go With Family

DRINKSStone Street Tavern: The rebirth ofLower Manhattan started here. Havea walk around the area.

Ulysses: A Bloomberg favorite for itsold New York charm and good food .

DINNERBlue Smoke: Perfect for parents andkids given its large booths. Close tothe river and parks if they get unruly. El Vez: A Mexican transplant fromPhiladelphia with great food.

Battery Gardens: This is like theTavern on the Green for LowerManhattan. Building and view arespectacular; food is serviceable.

More: Dine early and walk aroundBattery Park, the Marina, the IrishHunger Memorial and/or South StreetSeaport to get the most out of thistransforming neighborhood.

EDITOR'S CORNER

Source: Bloomberg/Peter Elliot

The Santiago Calatrava-designed passageway linking Battery Park City to the WTC site.


EDITOR'S CORNER

The Inn at Pound Ridge by Jean-Georges Is a Social and Culinary EpicenterBY PETER ELLIOT The Inn at Pound Ridge byJean-Georges exists between twoprecarious spots: the destinationrestaurant and a casual neighborhoodjoint. It does so in one of the world’srichest suburbs, the leafy lanes thatconnect Westchester County, New Yorkto Fairfield County, Connecticut. It's aland full of hedge-fund managers,billionaires, CEOs, titans, and the peoplewho work for them. Ralph Lauren andMartha Stewart live nearby. If anyone could take on the task offeeding the well heeled, it’s Jean-GeorgesVongerichten. Having earned every starand point at his eponymous restaurant onCentral Park West, he then proved hecould extend his culinary management tomultiple restaurants and styles — ABCKitchen and ABC Cocina are two of thebest and most popular examples. Hedoesn't need to own a farm to prove heknows how to source ingredients. Think of The Inn as ABC Kitchen Northwith lots of expensive cars valet parkednearby. Tucked behind the rebuilt

Victorian façade is a spectacular modernbarn of ashen-wood exposed beams,comfortable chairs and an enormous focalfireplace. Jean-Georges’s ethos of polishedservice and strictly executed cuisine is inevery detail. Pub food by Jean-Georges,sort of. Only here can you get cracklingcalamari piled next to a cup of foamedyuzu sauce. You can eat them with yourfingers but why when they presenthardwood chopsticks? Who else wouldmake a delicious sweet pea guacamole?Those are menu standouts. So are theequally Jean-Georges'd pizzas, burgersand fries. Match this to a well priced winelist, earnest staff and decorouslymismatched china and you get the vibe. Its other personality as a destinationspot succeeds as well. Everything fromlamp chops to salmon with a sweet cornpudding bear the mark of Jean-Georges'sstyle and ooze great sourcing andunblemished ingredients. The entreesgive the restaurant its stylized panacheand its raison d'etre.

As I drove away, I thought ofReagan-era restaurants such as LeCirque, where your rank in thesocioeconomic zeitgeist of New Yorkdefined your experience. That ritual ofprivilege has officially moved north toPound Ridge. Whether you're a titan orjust an aspiring one, The Inn at PoundRidge by Jean-Georges has capturedhow to satisfy both.






own. On Twitter/Instagram: @mrpeterelliot.

Cost: Entrees $26-$38 Yes. Try the bar first.Date Place?: Blissfully buzzy.Noise Level:

: Weekends hard. M/T/W OK.Access If I'm in the 'hood.Will I Be Back?: Fireplace/bar.Special Feature:

ABC Kitchen North.Final Word:

WINE INSIGHT


WINE INSIGHT

London Sommeliers Offer Tips on Scary Business of Picking Wines

BY RICHARD VINESSommeliers can be the scariest people

in restaurants. They may hover. Theymay know too much. You may not want topay so much.

So what’s the best way to order goodwine without emptying your pockets orhaving your expense claims bounceback? How should you choose if yourexpertise is limited?

“It’s best to be direct and say how muchyou want to spend,” says Emily O’Hare,33, head sommelier at River Cafe inLondon. “I always feel confident abouttrusting sommeliers — but I’m the sameabout hairdressers, which isn’t true foreverybody.”

O’Hare and fellow sommeliers in theU.K. capital say they’re encouraging atrend that helps diners find great valueand enjoy fine wine. It means goingoff-piste, avoiding big-name regions suchas Bordeaux and Burgundy and headingto other slopes of France — and otherparts of the world.

That can comfort people who fear beingpushed up in price or aren’t sure whichregions other than the obvious offer topquality.

“Sommeliers, of all the personnel inrestaurants, are the most intense, thehoverers,” says Tom Harrow, whosources wines and hosts events forclients via his company WineChap.

“They are the geeks,” Harrow says.“There’s nothing cool about wine. If youlike it, you drink it. But there are peoplewho categorize it, like collecting stamps.”

Asking your wine steward for a steeraway from the most expensive wines isfair play, Harrow and sommeliers say.

“For value, I would look in Alsace and inthe Loire Valley as well, and sometimeseven in the New World,” says KathrineLarsen, 31, a Dane who holds the title ofU.K. Sommelier of the Year.

Top Sommelier

“I’d look maybe at Australia, Victoria,somewhere like Yarra Valley orMornington Peninsula, smaller producerswhich are up and coming,” Larsen says.California wines from the Sonoma Valleyare a possibility, “though that tends to bea bit more expensive.”

Larsen, who was head sommelier at LePont de la Tour, Orrery and Zuma beforejoining Top Selection Ltd. as the winedistributor’s business developmentmanager, also likes easy-drinkingSpanish whites from the Rueda region ofCastile and Leon. For reds, it’s Galicia —an “unusual” choice from an area knownfor whites — or perhaps a trip to thePiedmont area of Italy.

For diners seeking good value, “there’ssome really fun Spanish stuff,” O’Hareagrees. “Southern France, too:Languedoc Roussillon can come up withsome really cool things.”

She recommends the “incredible whitewines” from the Alto Adige region ofnortheast Italy. Some whites fromCampania in the southern part of thecountry are “really interesting and offersome really good value and complexityand structure.”

Harrow also likes Italy, particularlyvintages from Puglia. And he’s high onAustria, calling it “the new Portugal” forreds. But he says you don’t have toescape France for good value.

Harrow also favors “the new seam ofunoaked Australian chardonnays,” andboth he and River Cafe’s O’Harerecommend German rieslings.O’Hare used to organize women-onlytastings because men were taking thelead in engaging the sommelier.

“There’s been a bit of a climatechange,” she says. “Women seemed tobe a bit timid in restaurants and that’s notso true anymore. There’s definitely anequality about payment, about ordering:

French Regions

He’s not ordering for her and she’s notsitting back and being quiet. There’sdefinitely a new kind of vibe.”

Larsen, who worked in Michelin-starredrestaurants Ensemble and The Paul inCopenhagen, isn’t so sure.

“It’s funny thinking about it, but it’s reallyrare that I’ve seen women ordering winein restaurants,” says Larsen. “Womenusually just don’t go there. In 13 years ofhaving worked in restaurants, I think themen usually take care of that.”

Either way, the key is to be honest.“You need to be quite candid with

sommeliers,” according to Harrow. “That’simportant because the moment you startpretending you know more than you do,it’s not just like wolves surrounding aprey, but they won’t treat you withrespect.”

What if a sommelier does embarrassyou?

“It’s rubbish if anyone makes you feellike an idiot,” O’Hare says. “That’s a badperson, not a bad sommelier. Youwouldn’t be intimidated by a grocer. It’sjust wine.”



Follow him on Twitter @richardvines.

Wine Wolves

DESTINATIONS


Emily O'Hare, head sommelier at River Cafe,says it's best to be direct with sommeliers.


DESTINATIONS

Rural Getaway Litchfield County Starts to Attract Serious Restaurants and TalentBY PETER ELLIOT

Bucolic, low-key Litchfield County isoften referred to as the “Non-Hamptons.” It isn’t really. I’d hardly call locals likeDanny Meyer, Graydon Carter and soonAnderson Cooper low-key. There are justfewer people dotted over much more landthat's only 90 minutes from NYC. Historically it's been known for privateschools, lake-side family compounds,rehab centers and farms. The latter isleading the revival of a food andrestaurant scene, most noticeably byArethusa Farm and its takeover of thehamlet of Bantam. (See Q&A, page 9.) Get your bearings in Litchfield with itsclassic main street lined with shops andrestaurants (The Village is more casual;West Street Grill, the grande dame.) Driveup stately North Street to see some of thebest-preserved 18 houses inth centuryAmerica. South Street leads pastArethusa and White Flower Farm toWashington, the grandest section of thecounty and home to the more-accessible-than-one-might-expect Mayflower Inn(and its very good bar/restaurant.)

Washington Depot has a

charming collection of owner-run shopsand one of the last great book stores, TheHickory Stick Bookshop. FindWaldingfield Farm and brothers Patrickand Quincy Horan for the best tomatoes.Towne Farm in Morris has peerless corn.I'm a sucker for the pretzels at The DutchEpicure Shop. For peaches and otherstone fruits, go to Starberry Farm. Later in

the season, take the kids to Averill Farmfor apples and Bunnell Farm forpumpkins.

Litchfield and neighboring areas havebeen the weekend getaway of choice forthe "non-Hampton" set for nearly 300years, and with produce like this, I don'tsee that changing any time soon.

Top Fine Dining Restaurants:Arethusa al tavolo: It's the best all-around dining experience.

Inside or outside. Classic American fare with great desserts.

CT: Beloved of the local cognoscenti for its NYC style quality,food and wines. It has a new bar scene and smart BYOB policy.

Winvian: Litchfield's most beautiful and unusual hotel complexnow lets in day-trippers for destination style country dinners.

Rooster Tail Tavern: A less formal alternative to either theMayflower or Winvian, but equally beautiful inside and out.

Top Pubs and Bars:Lantern Inn: An artist collective in Wassaic, N.Y. Local

produce goes into amazing pizzas, burgers and wings. Justoutside of Litchfield and worth the drive.

Bohemian Pizza: Locals and visitors around a roaring fire.

White Horse Tavern: Central, packed and appropriatelyscenic. It's like Hillstone with a fireplace, dropped in the country.

AJ's: The last of the old time-pubs. Solid steak and burgers.

Patty's: Beloved diner-style breakfast. Packed on weekends.

— Litchfield's crown jewel is the 4,000-acre reserve left by the White family in 1913. It's all here:White Memorial Foundationhiking trails, birds, boating, running, fishing. It's like Central Park without the formal paths. Manageable and beautiful.

— Don't be stupid. Those long, wide roads are begging you to test your new Audi or Ducati. They're also full of cops thatDrivinglove New York license plates. Also, pull over if you're lost. Cell towers are few and far between. Get a signal while you can.

— Check schedules. All have world class performersLitchfield Jazz Festival/Yale School of Music/Pilobolus/Warner Theatre appearing in August. The Music Shed at Yale is a particular favorite. It's like Tanglewood without the fuss.

Fishing — Both the Housatonic and the Farmington rivers are a fly-fisherman's paradise. West Cornwall is the spot.

Antiques — Everything from museum quality at Jeffrey Tillou in Litchfield to shops with hidden gems like R.T. Facts in Kent andBarry Strom's Upstairs Antiques in shop-rich New Preston. Litchfield County Auctions has competitive quarterly auctions.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: San Francisco. Tips? MSG me at [email protected]

Source: Bloomberg/Anne Riley

Kent Falls in Litchfield County, Connecticut is a perfect spot for nature lovers year round.


SUSHI


SUSHI

Nakazawa Reels in Clients With World-Class Sushi and Old Fashioned LuxuryBY PETER ELLIOT

Sushi Nakazawa in New York reignssupreme in America as the ultimatedestination for the deluxe sushiexperience. It was in the top five mostpopular restaurants on Bloomberg formore than eight months and it remainsalmost impossible to get a reservation. Itssize — 10 seats at the bar to watch ChefNakazawa and his team prepare for thosefew privileged souls plus 28 more in theback — will keep it “fully committed” foryears to come. The question is, at $150 for 20 pieces,($120 at tables in the back) is it worth it?The answer depends on what you wantfrom a sushi bar/restaurant. Nakazawa-san, as his colleagues callhim, trained under Jiro Ono of “JiroDreams of Sushi” fame. All you have todo is taste the uni with a hint of blacktruffle salt on top, or the scallop, sweetlystinging with fresh yuzu, to know he haslearned from his master. Nakazawadoesn’t make the world's best sushi. Whathe makes is the best and perhaps most

intelligent sushi experience. From the soft black leather seats to thepolished glassware and tailoredEnglish-speaking waitstaff, this isJapanese meets The French Laundry.There’s no fumbling with language orworries about food you don’tunderstand. It's all very simple. Best of

all, it is not as expensive as equallyluxurious Masa or bare bonesKurumazushi.

And in that spread lies Nakazawa’s truegenius: If you want luxe comfort and greatsushi, there’s nothing quite like thisanywhere.

NYC Has the Most Expensive Sushi in the U.S.: The Bloomberg Sushinomics IndexBY SELINA WANG, BLOOMBERG NEWS

Sushi restaurants in New York are on aroll, ranking the most expensive locale inthe U.S. to buy the Japanese cuisine forthe third straight year.

The price of basic sushi at New Yorkrestaurants was about 26 percent higherthan the national average this year,leading the Sushinomics Cost-of-LivingIndex. The index, compiled by BloombergRankings, is based on prices for the twomost standard items — spicy tuna andCalifornia rolls — at restaurants in 28major cities.

Basic sushi prices in New York were 6.5percent higher than in second-place LosAngeles. Seattle climbed to third placefrom sixth, increasing its prices by 2.3percent from last year. San Francisco andDallas rounded out the top five.

New Orleans ranked as the cheapestU.S. sushi city for the third straight year,with prices 24 percent below the nationalaverage, the rankings show.

Most Expensive Basic Rolls

RANK CITY 2014 INDEX RANK 2013

1 New York, NY 136.66 1

2 Los Angeles, CA 128.34 2

3 Seattle, WA 117.72 6

4 San Francisco, CA 117.23 3

5 Dallas, TX 116.91 4

6 Austin, TX 115.28 5

7 Sacramento, CA 114.62 7

8 Miami, FL 112.34 8

9 Orlando, FL 112.17 13

10 Boston, MA 111.52 9Source: Bloomberg, Zagat, Yelp

When it comes to premium sushi rolls,however, Greenwich, Connecticut topsthe list. Sushi lovers in Greenwich pay an

average of $17.65 for premium rolls, $1.72 more than the average price of

New

York’s premium sushi. New York placedseventh on the premium-pricedSushinomics index.

See the full 2014 Sushinomics rankings .online

Q&A

Source: Daniel Krieger for Sushi Nakazawa

Sea urchin sourced from Hokkaido, Japan at Sushi Nakazawa in New York City.


Q&A

The Manolo Blahnik Cows Don't Wear Stilettos, Though They Do Churn Cash

George Malkemus and came toTony Yurgaitis

Litchfield, Connecticut to escape the world of

high-end fashion. As the owners of Manolo

Blahnik USA, they needed it. In part to stop

development near their home, they bought in 1999

the 325-acre Arethusa Farm, which they soon

populated with cows that cost more than

Porsches. Next, they colonized the hamlet of

Bantam, building a dairy, a shop to sell their

products and last year, restaurant Arethusa al

tavolo. Now Arethusa products are sold

worldwide, including in markets like New York's

Eataly. Peter Elliot sat down to find out how a

weekend home became a second business.

Q: How can a cow cost so much? George: Let’s get one thing straight:These are award-winning, top-of-the-linecows. Everyone makes a fuss aboutspending $170,000 on a cow. Thesecows not only make great milk, theyamortize! One 6-figure cow can havecalves that sell for $15K to $20K each.That pays for the cow.

Q: Much is also made of your milkcosting nearly $5 per 1/2 gallon.Tony: There's a direct link between thequality of our cows and the quality of allthat they produce. You won't see a fly onour cows and they eat only the best. Itmatters. Just like it matters in shoes.

Q: You can get organic milk cheaper? Cheaper. Not better. I say letGeorge:

your taste buds decide. Frankly, the worldof dairy is just as competitive as the worldof fashion. There's a lot of noise. Makegreat products the way you want to makethem and let the market decide.

Q: So you just decided “Let’s save theland and become gentleman farmers?”George: I hate that term. I really do.We’re businessmen and I don’t letemotion drive me in the shoe business orthe cow business or the milk business. By2008 shipping our milk to a bottler forpennies made no sense. So, we startedbottling our own milk. We placed it in localstores first and the rest followed.

Tony: Well, we did think, “We don’t wantto live across from a golf course” but wealso thought, “There's a chance to restore

this farm and this has to be a moneymaking venture.” It's just how we are.

:Q So your driver is business? Mostly. I can't just sit around. ItGeorge:

was just so obvious. Here’s this land,here are these cows, here’s this beautifulhamlet that’s trying to revive – it took timebut the vision all came together. But Idon’t know how to think of it withoutthinking how to make it pay for itself.

Q: And is it? With the farm, the cows,the restaurant, these are all highcapital, slow return businesses.George: We are getting there. We’re at apoint to break even on the dairy. Look, Idon’t use powerpoint. I don’t buildprojections. I never have, never will. Yes,it all seems like a plan now, but greatbusiness is about not over-analyzing yourdreams. Worse is having a dream anddoing nothing about it. Worrying about theday it officially pays for itself is just dulland misses the point.

Q: You're now the largest privateemployer in Litchfield and the secondlargest taxpayer. Is it more than youexpected from this venture?Tony: Now it's our lives. George likes to say he’s all tough about the numbers butit’s not what drives us. We’re notabsentee owners. We’re at the farm, atthe shows. We’re in the retail shop.

Yes, probably more than ourGeorge: team would like us to be. I guess that isthe difference — I love fashion but herewe're talking about a community. We’vehired more than 90 people locally, wehave a payroll in the mid-7 figures. Thepayback comes everyday — farm, cows,food, ice cream, cheese. You can’tcalculate that.

Q: I understand the farm, the cows, the retail expansion. But restaurants?

: I confess. We never intended toGeorgehave a restaurant and it's the mostfrightening of all the ventures. Still, it

seemed a logical extension. Last year,our GM quit on day 2 and we had to bringup Marwan Idris from the shoe store inNew York to manage a restaurant. But ithad to work because it had to work.

It was scary but the town, this partTony: of Connecticut, needed this food. The icecream store is one way to connect butbeing at a table with wine and foodcompletes the whole. Hence "al tavolo,"To The Table. It has become a delight forthe community and a delight for us.

Q: What advice would you give othersembarking on similar ventures?George: Day to day involvement is key.Keep up with what’s going on, what’snew, be it fashion, be it dairy. Don’t bedriven by the downside. Don't undercapitalize. Listen to your employees, but,and this is my favorite one, don'tover-think.

I tell everyone here — we don’tTony:have secretaries, we don't have an HRdepartment. Talk to me. No idea is a badidea. Bring it to me. That might be thebiggest difference between shoes andwhere we are now. Now I really want tolisten and we do.

Q: I know you don’t believe inpowerpoint. How about a crystal ball?George: The crystal ball is fuzzy rightnow. I’d like mostly to get the recipe forthis hay-flavored ice cream right. Andhave the chairs in the restaurant fixed.


George Malkemus and Tony Yurgaitis

September 2014

Sponsored by:

September 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com

BLOOMBERG GLOBAL TOP FIVE*

London1. — Social meccaChiltern Firehouse2. Beast — See your food hanging3. Kurobuta — Japanese pub 4. City Social — British food and view5. Gymkhana — Stylish Indian

New York1. — Spanish cuisine hot-spotGato2. — West Village ItalianL'Artusi3. — Super sized veal parmCarbone4. — Clubby continentalBeautique5. — Relaxed MontmartreCherche Midi

Hong Kong1. — Japanese BBQ298 Nikuya Room2. — U.K. Italian arrivesJamie's Italian 3. — British foodAberdeen Street Social4. — Still packing them inCaliBurger5. — New York ChineseMott 32

San Francisco1. — Just goState Bird Provisions2. — Financial area FrenchBoulevard3. — Grand and worth it Gary Danko4. — Classy modern ItalianSPQR5. — Convenient city sushiOzumo

What is the right size for a martiniglass? Is it still safe to orderChampagne at lunch? The newnormal in corporate dining discussed.Click the photo to launch or go to:http://bit.ly/SeptReservePodcast



reviews and ratings. Updated Aug. 22, 2014.

New Normal in Corporate Dining: Flexible, Delicious

BY PETER ELLIOTThe days of the three-martini business lunch (or dinner) are over. Once a mainstay of

corporate culture, expensed meals with clients and colleagues have fallen out of fashionas more executives dine at their desks and any employee destination is selected with theutmost caution.

For those rare occasions when a corporate card is still sanctioned, the chosenrestaurant must tick a lot of boxes. It must be informed, not excessive; efficient, notrushed; and competent yet not so costly that whoever approves your expenses raises aneyebrow. The capacity for large tables or private rooms is also a must.

You want your colleagues, employees and clients to see you in just the right light.Restaurants worldwide have evolved to meet these very specific needs. Here are someof the new best in class:

London1. Chef Jason Atherton has City Social:redefined competent cooking in London.This modern British spot has some of thebest views of the capital and the staffknows how to get clients in and out fast.

2. This new Holborn Dining Room:brasserie halfway between the City andthe West End does breakfast throughdinner. Des McDonald is the master ofcorporate. Scarfes Bar for music/drinks.

3. The casual twin to the L'Anima Cafe:more grown up L'Anima next door has itall: bar seats at lunch, tables formeetings, big spaces for groups — andthe best private dining room options forboth. The food remains exemplary.

New York1. The new go-to Rotisserie Georgette:for hedge-funders, Upper East Siders andanyone who likes a great chicken.Convenient, simple, elegant and thechicest private dining room in Midtown.

2. Gabe Thompson and Joe L'Apicio:Campanale's solid modern Italian with acenter-cube private room and outdoorspace is perfect for meeting halfwaybetween uptown and Brooklyn.

3. With a heritage Quality Italian/Meat:that comes from Smith & Wollensky, nowonder this group knows how to hit everynote just right for the busy workingprofessional. What's next? QualityChinese? Quality Mexican?

IF/THEN

Source: Melissa Horn for Rotisserie Georgette

The Poulet Roti at Rotisserie Georgette is guaranteed to impress clients and colleagues alike.

September 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THEN

If You Like The Nomad, Then You'll Love...The team that owns Manhattan's Eleven Madison Park — Will Guidara and DanielHumm — opened The Nomad two years ago. Eleven Madison Park is haute cuisine;Nomad is more grown-up fun. Part high-end restaurant, part bar, with a large centralatrium for rocking drinks and brunch, its model of having many different dining spacesunder one roof has spread to Brooklyn and some might argue, the world.

IF: THE NOMAD/NOMAD BAR INMANHATTAN

1170 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10001

Setting: Urban hedge fund chic

Food: Highly competent

Bar Scene: So fun, they now have two

Noise Level: Quiet in dining room

Date Factor: Perfect in every way

Groups: Multiple options

Secrets: When I die, I want a party onthe Nomad Roof

THEN: THESE EQUIVALENTS INBROOKLYN

Dover: The Battersby team havecreated a Per Se alternative in CarrollGardens and they compare course forcourse. Dine outside while you can.

Brooklyn Fare: Cesar Ramirez's Chef'sTable is worth the trip to downtownBrooklyn. Deadly serious and wildlydelicious.

A rambling, formerlyRoberta's/Blanca: forlorn space in Bushwick that's theepicenter of the New York hipster scene.Good beer and pizza. There's alsosuper-secret Blanca through a gardendoor for haute cuisine.

Cherry Izakaya: One could argueJonathan Morr of Republic and Bond St.invented urban cool. This Williamsburghotspot is his newest.

1 or 8: A small entrance in gives way toa giant single plank table for groups. Baror tables have the best sushi in town.

Glady’s: The best Caribbean food inNYC. Lacquered turquoise room, awood-fired oven and rum. Have thepimento grilled cheese.

The Elm: Bad boy chef Paul Liebrandt'snewest gastronomic madness. Wee bitesor a big dinner. Multiple options forgroups, tables and bars. (And a pool!)

BOBO Social: Gourmet burgers.Bobo stands for "BourgeoisBohemian."

The Butcher's Hook: Gastropub inRavenscourt Park from John Stanyer,ex-Daphne's and Launceston Place.

Dirty French: The Torrisi/Carboneboys break away from Italian andmove to French at the Ludlow Hotel. Tuome: 45-seat American/Asian fromowner/chef Thomas Chen, a formerCPA who left the corporate world tocook at Eleven Madison Park.

Brooklyn Fare Manhattan: Will thisbe Brooklyn's most famous export?They say they're opening for real.

Cosme: Enrique Olvera is Mexico'sbest chef. This will be a more casualversion of Pujol in Mexico City.

Chinese restaurant and LiLi L'Oiseauwith a 360-degree view are theBlanc

restaurants at The Peninsula Paris,fresh off its four-year, $1 billion refit.

Carbone: Old-world NYC Italianopens on the 9th floor of LKF Tower.

OPENINGS

London

New York

Paris

Hong Kong

Bloomberg Brief: Reserve

Ted Merz

Bloomberg Brief

Executive Editor

[email protected]

+1-212-617-2300

Peter Elliot

Bloomberg Brief

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Anne Riley

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Editor

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+1-212-617-0061

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YOUR NIGHT OUT

Source: Frances F. Denny for Nomad

Nomad's new bar next door at West 28th St.


YOUR NIGHT OUT

London's Soho Evolves From Den of Iniquity to Restaurant and Club Paradise

BY PETER ELLIOTLondon’s Soho has long been a

meeting point for people living in orvisiting the capital. Like New York's TimesSquare, it's geographically convenient —and chock full of truly forgettable bars,restaurants and clubs. Rapidgentrification has only made it moredense — and more difficult to pick amemorable spot.

Luckily, there are some gems amongthe area's chain-owned pubs and hold-outsex shops. Within the last five years, anumber of new and refurbished hotels,watering holes and restaurants havearrived on the scene, and some of theirofferings are among the best in the city.(Something that can't be said of TimesSquare.) The area has also become a lotsafer. The only thing that's gotten worseis the traffic. Between the crowds and theroadworks, best to get to where you’regoing in Soho on foot or public transport.

Go With Clients

DRINKSMilk & Honey: Mixology heaven.Non-members can call for tables.

Dean Street Townhouse: Clubby,comfy, fun. You can get dinner, too.

DINNERQuo Vadis: A personal favorite. KarlMarx lived upstairs. Service andfarm-driven food remain flawless.

Social Eating House: JasonAtherton's noisy N.Y.-style hit remainsthe most fashionable spot in Soho. Bob Bob Ricard: Luxurious boothswhere you can summon champagneat the touch of a button.

LATE NIGHTBrasserie Zedel: Giant room stepsfrom tourist hell. Cabaret next door.

Floridita: Cuban. Live Music. Cigars.

Go With Friends

DRINKSThe London Cocktail Club: Retroshabby chic with inventive cocktails. La Bodega Negra: Dark, sexy and abit naughty. Don't stay for dinner.

DINNERPitt Cue Co.: The best barbecue inLondon. Long wait worth it (and plentyof pubs nearby.) Get the book.

Ember Yard: Like a trip to Barcelonawithout leaving London.The area'sbest tapas.

Sleek 40-seat spaceThe Palomar:serving the food of modernJerusalem. Get a seat at the bar.

LATE NIGHTBone Daddies: Rocking ramen.

Opium: Secret Chinese-style bar.Zesty cocktails and so-so dim-sum.

Go With Family

DINNERBodean's BBQ: Great barbecue forfamilies and groups. Enormoustables, plus kids eat free (with adult.)

Princi: A feast for the eyes. A bit ofMilan in London. Multiple options forgroups and children. Bakery, too.

Pizza Pilgrims: In a sea of bad chainshops, exemplary in its commitmentto serving quality food at low prices.

Hix Soho: British regional cooking atits best. Basement bar servescocktails with historical connotations. Yauatcha: Modern Chinese that isbetter than Hakkasan. Dependable ifnot cheap. Staff good with kids.

DESSERTGelupo: Chef's choice for best icecream in London. Also pop-ups andparty planning for kids and adults.

EDITOR'S CORNER

Source: Bloomberg

Jason Atherton's Soho restaurant is the hardest to get into and completely worth it.


EDITOR'S CORNER

Bio-Dynamic Wines a Worthy Experiment, Not a Hangover CureBY PETER ELLIOT

Earlier this year, an artist friendreturned home from the foraging, culinarymecca of Belgium's In de Wulf andproclaimed that she'd had the mostimportant meal of her life: after a night ofdrinking only bio-dynamic and sulfite-freewines, she awoke without a headache. Amiracle declared, we vowed to drink onlysulfite-free wines forever.

This vow quickly went by the wayside,however, as repeated experimentationshowed no impact on my own headaches.Further, I learned it's impossible to have atotally sulfite-free wine, as sulfites are anatural by-product of fermentation.

My loyalty to the cause waspermanently expunged in July at LeGavroche in London when I waspresented with a golden 2006 Clos desMouches from Joseph Drouhin, followedby a Margaux, Chateau Cantenac-Brown2004. With such offerings on the table,would I turn my back on my beautifulartist friend and our bio-dynamic

mission? Obviously. But the experiment wasn't squandered

time. Along the way, I did have a delicious — tour of bio-dynamic wines, and found

—headaches or no headaches Igenerally prefer them.

The common denominator ofbio-dynamic wines, regardless of theregion, is that they all taste rather like you'd expect wines to have tasted 300years ago. There's a pleasant, earthyaroma and taste that is unmistakable.Drinking great wines that are well craftedis a net positive, bio-dynamic or not.

Perhaps more importantly than thetaste, I like the craft and passion thatcomes with the people who make them.Because they're often crafted on farmsand not sold by the large producers,they're also generally well-priced.

Imbibing bio-dynamic wines has openedup a whole new section of my wine cellar,and given the choice, I'll still look atbio-dynamic producers first because I'vecome to like them. But that

doesn't mean I'll be turning down a bottle of the other stuff anytime soon. And

neither will my artist friend.







@mrpeterelliot.

Some Top Bio-Dynamic Wines

Chateau Maris: Languedoc Classic BeaujolaisMarcel Lapierre: California pioneersFrey Vineyards:

Brilliant JuraArbois: Sicilian gemsVigna di Milo:

*Note for U.S. readers: Look forwines imported byMadrose/Rosenthal, Kermit Lynch,Louis/Dressner or Daniel Johnnes

RESTAURANT REVIEW


RESTAURANT REVIEW

How to Get a Table at Chiltern Firehouse Without Being FamousBY RICHARD VINES

Chiltern Firehouse is filled with so manycelebrities, it’s almost impossible to get atable.

It’s like when I tried for a midweekdinner reservation at the Ivy in July 2007and was offered a booking for January2008. I took it. If somewhere is thatpopular, I want in.

Times change. I called the Ivy recentlyand got a table for the same night.Chiltern Firehouse probably faces asimilarly accessible future. That doesn’thelp right now if you want to go and arenot famous enough to snag a reservation.

There is a way in. The restaurantrecently started serving breakfast. It’s notbeing promoted anywhere and there is nogreat crush. It’s not particularly expensiveand on a sunny day, the windows are allopen and the sunshine streams in.

The first thing to notice about theChiltern Firehouse is that it is unusual andbeautiful. The dining room of the formerfire station isn’t glitzy at all. The glamouris understated, blending industrialtouches with comfortable banquettes, atiled floor and lots of cream-painted wood.

The lighting is subtle and flattering. Icaught sight of myself in a mirror andeven I looked like I belonged there.

Second, the service is good. Theowner, U.S. hotelier Andre Balazs, hasbrought in talented staff members fromrestaurants across London. The factmany are also gorgeous helps. Theuniforms are beautiful and the servicestyle is American: friendly not stiff.

And so to the food.The menu is accessible, with steaks

and salads and simple fish and vegetabledishes. At breakfast, you might start withcroissant, blueberry compote at 6 pounds($10) then move on to smoked salmon,poached eggs and herbed potato cakes(12 pounds).

If you’re feeling adventurous, the spicedcrab omelette with turmeric, potatoes andchervil (17 pounds) is aspecialty. It looks pretty, served in askillet, but it’s too sweet. I go for the

Spiced Crab Omelette

Iberico pork sausage and crispy smokedbacon with toast.

The juices are fresh. The coffee isweak. The cappuccino is for babies orpeople who don’t like coffee. If theywanted to decaffeinate it, they’d needsniffer dogs to find the caffeine.

My general feeling is that if there’s timefor breakfast, there’s time for an extrahour in bed. But if you are one of thosepower people who like to set upearly-morning meetings, ChilternFirehouse may be the place for you.

Other options include steamed eggwhites chawanmushi with mushroomsand greens — a Japanese custardcosting 12 pounds; and French toast,smoked bacon, spiced maple syrup (9pounds).

The Wolseley is my favorite place inLondon for breakfast. Chiltern Firehousecurrently comes second.

If you do make it in for lunch or dinner,it’s useful to know in advance that thecooking is not ambitious. The websitegives no information and word-of-mouthabout the place is hard to come byunless you hang out with celebrities. It’s comfort food and some diners may be

Comfort Food

disappointed not to be wowed.That’s understandable. Lisbon-born

Nuno Mendes is one of the U.K.’s mostcreative talents. At his previousrestaurant, Viajante, his kitchen was alaboratory, his menu sizzled, his disheswere like fireworks. You might considerFirehouse a damp squib if Caesar saladand sirloin steak are not your thing.

But I am not disappointed. I like hiscooking and if he is giving you a familiardish, he will still spice up your life.

The snacks of corn bread andespecially the crab-stuffed donuts aredelicious. The steak tartare comes with atwist in the shape of a chipotle sauce; theCaesar salad is topped with crispychicken skin rather than a chunk of breastmeat.

If you can put to one side the celebritymadness surrounding Chiltern Firehouse,you have a glamorous restaurant withgood service and decent food and a winelist that isn’t too greedy. If you show uptoward the end of lunch time, you mighteven be able to get a table withoutbooking.

Failing that, I may see you at breakfast.



Follow him on Twitter @richardvines

DESTINATIONS


Chiltern Firehouse really was a Victorian firehouse. Note the chair-webbing in the ceiling.


DESTINATIONS

San Francisco's Technology-Meets-Finance Culture Reaps Culinary RewardsBY PETER ELLIOT

San Francisco is gentrifying faster than they can make apps tokeep up. Technology giants like Google, incubated in thesuburbs, are finding themselves drawn back to the dense urbancenter where financiers and jeans makers used to roll. Twitterhas built its world headquarters in an old furniture store onMarket Street at the edge of the Tenderloin, one of America’sroughest neighborhoods. Newly minted tech billionaires rubswimming pools with Hearsts and Gettys high on Pacific Heightsand buses shuttle gurus from the burbs to areas like the Missionand Noe Valley and Sausalito.

Between them all lies a culture that continues to celebrate playas much as it relishes work. And play they do, usually at 3 p.m.PST when the East Coast finally leaves them alone and they canhead out jogging or surfing, followed by serious eating anddrinking.

San Francisco is a food mecca because of the availability ofingredients, its multi-ethnic heritage and a surplus of peoplewilling to try new flavors. Substantially lower costs for both foodand real estate (at least for restaurant spaces) make it allpossible. It’s like a giant Brooklyn where if you’ve got a dream,you can probably try it and someone will probably eat it.

Top Restaurants:State Bird Provisions: Believe the hype. Creative, not

pretentious, with food served dim-sum style.

Boulevard: Traditional American-French for the financialcommunity. Bay views, great food and solid service.

Tosca Cafe: April Bloomfield's sexy, clubby rebirth of an old SFfavorite. Think Carbone via April. Seriously fun.

Commissary: Traci Des Jardins' new spot in the Presidio. Likea trip to a perfect world circa 1945 but with modern food.

SPQR: This is how modern, fancy Italian gets translated insmooth, relaxed, rich Pacific Heights. Matthew Accarrino is oneof the most lauded chefs of 2014. Get the squid ink pasta.

Bar Tartine: The famous bakery makes one of the bestrestaurants in the world. I'd travel back just for the chicken liverswith turnips and chili oil and the sparkling Zweigelt rose.

Top Bars and Clubs:Burritt Room + Tavern: Aureole's Charlie Palmer's new,

funky, club/hotel/restaurant with a well-known secret (ask for theWingtip) is shockingly avant-garde and very good.

The Battery: The home of the new tech-intelligentsia is ownedby Bebo's Michael Birch. Private but if you can code they breakthe rules. Members club, bar and hotel all worth the price.

Zeitgeist: This Mecca to all things metal is a great startingpoint for a tour of the Mission District. Order a pitcher of localbrews like Bear Republic, Anchor or Speakeasy.

Hard Water: Watch worker bees pour in for the seriouscocktails and bay views. The small plates are good, too.

Local Edition: An old speakeasy turned bar/lounge. Classy,fun and great location near everything.

Martuni's: In the city that fostered same-sex marriage, this is alively spot to check out the gay scene and do a sing-along.

— Conquer BART, the city's subway system. Getting up and down Market Street, San Francisco's main corridor,Getting Aroundis a breeze. It means the food ghettos of Berkeley and the Mission are closer than they look. SF is also the home of Uber, whichchanges the way you get around a large, very hilly city. Beware of surcharges. I also tried ride-sharing company Lyft.

— Homelessness, drugs and squalor are very visible. Not violent, just visible. Areas like the Tenderloin comeSocial Inequalityup faster than you think.

— As an Uber driver told me, "We know how to work and we know how to play." It's true. Surfing, boating andWork and Funhiking are all fantastic and readily available. Don't sit in the office. Join the fun. Then hit the bars and stroll Valencia Street.

— I got a seat at Mission Chinese and at State Bird just by showing up and being nice. Try it. The city responds inFood as Sport kind. Also, don't miss the Embarcadero and Ferry Building — a great palace for food, shopping and people watching.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Hong Kong. Tips? MSG me at [email protected]

HIPSTER WATCH DATA BY LAURIE MEISLER, BLOOMBERG RANKINGS


The new home of Twitter on San Francisco's Market Street.


RANK METRO AREAHIPSTERSCORE

TOTALPOPULATION

(000)

POPULATION25-34 (000)

GREENCOMMUTERS

(%)

EMPLOYEDRESIDENTS

25-34 (%)

HIPSTEREMPLOYMENT

QUOTIENT

MIN.HIPSTER

WAGEMEDIAN

MAX.HIPSTER

WAGEMEDIAN

NEXT UP ANDCOMING

NEIGHBORHOODS

1New York-Northern New

Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA86.20% 19,160.02 2,771.18 41.86 74.98 1.75 $28,730 $101,230

Astoria(Queens),Bushwick

(Brooklyn),Yorkville

(Manhattan)

2Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa

Ana, CA71.81% 13,052.92 1,937.24 14.62 73.47 2.89 $30,470 $119,810

Los Feliz, SilverLake

3San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont,

CA56.71% 4,455.56 678.35 27.86 76.47 1.44 $27,650 $92,330

Inner Richmond,Tenderloin

4Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,

DC-VA-MD-WV56.55% 5,804.33 909.43 23.13 81.11 1.36 $20,550 $70,430

Adams Morgan,ColumbiaHeights

5Chicago-Joliet-Naperville,

IL-IN-WI53.64% 9,522.45 1,372.27 19.25 76.57 0.96 $25,400 $93,090

Lake View,Logan Square

6Boston-Cambridge-Quincy,

MA-NH50.81% 4,640.80 657.66 22.97 79.99 1.01 $22,500 $93,250 Dorchester

7 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 48.25% 3,552.16 553.11 18.74 76.14 1.24 $25,200 $81,280 Capitol Hill

8Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington,

PA-NJ-DE-MD46.31% 6,018.80 805.07 18.04 73.86 0.87 $24,660 $78,440

NorthernLiberties

9Minneapolis-St.

Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI46.02% 3,353.72 496.48 12.60 83.49 1.22 $24,520 $82,730 Seward, Whittier

10Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro,

OR-WA45.10% 2,289.65 342.81 18.45 75.61 1.13 $23,020 $75,990 Buckman

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census, 2012 1-year American Community Survey, Realtor.com, Yelp, Zillow *Data as of Aug. 19, 2014. Methodology: More than 260 metropolitan statistical areas were ranked on the number of 25- to 34-year-old residents; the % employed within that age group; the % of commuterswho use "green" transportation to work or work at home; and employment in fields including art, design, media, writing and music. The ranks were converted into %s and averagedto determine the order. Then Yelp and other sources were used to identify neighborhoods within the top 50 areas that had numerous "hipster" amenities while being relativelyaffordable. Among the amenities considered: vintage clothing stores, bars, independent music venues, record stores, tattoo parlors, etc.

HIPSTER WATCH DATA BY LAURIE MEISLER, BLOOMBERG RANKINGS

New York Tops Hipster Rankings; Portlandia Clocks in at No. 10Bloomberg ranked the neighborhoods

where young, creative andenvironmentally conscious people — incommon terms, hipsters — tend tocongregate. No Brooklyn resident shouldbe surprised to learn the New Yorkmetropolitan area tops the list of the mosthipster-filled communities in thecontinental U.S. Los Angeles and SanFrancisco are also major assemblingpoints for skinny jeans, beards and ironictattoos, Bloomberg data (and commonknowledge) show.

Those falling into the anti-hipster campblame the group for gentrifyinglong-standing communities and disruptingan existing way of life. On the other side,as hipsters ride their fixed-gear bikes intonew areas, they tend to bring with themall sorts of modern culinary creations,from craft breweries to artisanal cheesemarkets. Below, the ten "hipster-est"cities in the States.

— Anne Riley


San Francisco draws a notoriously hipster crowd.


Q&A


Q&A

How Two Guys in a Studio Apartment Became a Major International Food Group

As poor roommates, worked forMario Carbone

Mario Batali and worked for DanielRich Torrisi

Boulud. They dreamed of restaurants that took

their Italian-American culinary vision to another

level. They started with a tiny deli by day,

restaurant by night, called Torrisi. Next was Parm.

Last year saw Carbone, a 50s style, Godfather

club, and they’ve been expanding ever since.

They've won the commission to open a spot under

the Highline and a Carbone in Hong Kong. Will

Asia take to waiters in burgundy tuxedos with frilly

shirts? Peter Elliot talked with Rich and partner

at their fourth restaurant, ZZ’sJeff Zalaznick

Clam Bar. Mario joined by phone.

Q: Your first spot was tiny at 18 seats.How do you morph from renegadechefs to major restaurant operators?Rich: It's really the nature of ourrelationship, the reason we got together. Ialways wanted to do Torrisi. Mario alwayswanted to do Carbone. It was his destiny.Then we met Jeff and it was somethingwe were all passionate about: food, thebusiness of it and dreaming big.

Q: I think of you as the quintessentialobnoxious chef dude. Does growthmean you have to rein in that impulse?Rich: I'm still the obnoxious chef dude. Jeff: When you look at what we decidedto do together, what we have done, thetruth is, yes, he is the ultimate crazy,obnoxious chef. It’s also true that both ofthem wanted to build a restaurantcompany. They're as interested in talkingabout deals as I am in the food. That’s avery unique dynamic.

Q: Carbone HK, Dirty French, Underthe Highline, more Parms. As yougrow, how do you maintain thequality? Mario: We work like business partners.It's not the classic bi-polarchef/restaurateur relationship. We discusseverything. Constantly.

How do you go from chef-drivenJeff:company to be an expanding business?We’re both, at the same exact time.

Rich: We don't hold on to ideas. Wemove fast. There's no feelings. Nothing ispersonal. And we do it together. That'sthe thing really. We see a problem, we fixit in minutes, not days.

Q: You all went on a dim-sum tour ofAsia and wound up with a restaurant inHong Kong. Seems erratic. Was it? Jeff: If you'd asked us a year ago, we'dhave said, "You're crazy." What we are isopen to new ideas if they make sense forthe business. And we found partners thatmade sense just at the right time.

Q: Who are your Hong Kong partners?It's Black Sheep, a spin-off of DiningJeff:

Concepts. So the two guys we're workingwith have opened every major shop outthere from a food side and the businessside. They opened a lighter version ofMission Chinese and Motorino. In a lot ofways they reminded us of us, but there.

Q: Will Hong Kong take to the Carboneconcept? Why not Torrisi or ZZ's?Mario: They'll take to it because it is avibrant and exciting city that is verysimilar to New York in many ways.Jeff: And they love Italian. New YorkItalian doesn't exist and we're theambassadors for that. It was also theeasiest to duplicate. They also really likebusiness dinners and large groups.Rich: There’s never going to be anotherTorrisi. It’s the one that doesn’t getreplicated. Ever. Not while I'm alive.Jeff: Everything about Torrisi is aboutRich and his ideas. ZZ’s could bereplicated at some point down the road.

:Q But why Hong Kong? The opportunity for me is two fold;Jeff:

present Carbone to a new audience in agreat city but more importantly I think forour company, it’s a great springboard tothe rest of Asia. It opens us up to a part ofthe world that's growing. Like us.

Q: Now that you've got the gold ring? Jeff: Have we? I'm not sure we're there

yet. We're moving from a small mom and

pop shop to a medium-sized companywith 150 employees. The trick is keepingtalent and rewarding them as we grow.

Mario and I are very, very differentRich: chefs and we have very, very differentsensibilities. And we've been reaching forthe gold ring since we started. Being poorwas the price you paid. But we know a lotof different people and draw on verystrong relationships. People gravitate tous now and we keep them.

Q: Yes, but how?Because we’re expanding. That’sJeff:

how it works. If you don’t expand youcan’t keep anyone. So it’s really about ourability to create interesting projects.Most talented cooks, chefs and front ofhouse people want to move to better,bigger positions. Growth is what’sallowing us to maintain that quality. Andto Rich’s point, he can be here in NYC,Mario in HK and I can go back and forth.It's a unique dynamic.

Q: What's the best thing you'velearned about Hong Kong so far?

That it's now my favorite cityMario: in the world other than New York. It helpsthat I get to eat the best shrimp dumplingsfor breakfast!

Source: Dylan + Jeni

Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, Rich Torrisi

October 2014

Sponsored by:

October 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com


London1. — Still scorchingChiltern Firehouse2. Beast — Live seafood and steak3. Gymkhana — Best Indian 4. City Social — A room with a view5. Berners Tavern — Modern British

New York1. — Bobby Flay takes SpainGato2. — Billy Joel ItalianCarbone3. — Torrisi goes French Dirty French4. — Super, popular ItalianL'Artusi5. — Bistro super-clubCherche Midi

Hong Kong1. — N.Y. Italian goes EastCarbone2. — Everyone loves itJamie's Italian3. — Fab building Aberdeen St. Social4. — Best burger in townButchers Club5. — Upscale-ish fast foodCaliBurger

Singapore1. — Thai plus lemongrass mojitosSoi 602. — Best ItalianBuko Nero3. — AustralianSalt Grill & Sky Bar4. — N.Y. styleLuke's Oyster Bar5. — FrenchRhubarb Le Restaurant

Am I already too late to book aholiday party? Should I quit my dayjob and become a chef? Peter Elliotdiscusses. Click the photo to launchor go to: http://bit.ly/OctReservePod



reviews and ratings. Updated Oct. 2, 2014.

Autumn Leaves Means Party Planning Happens Now

BY PETER ELLIOTOctober or not, sleigh bells are just around the corner. If you’re planning to throw a

party this holiday season, the smart money gets its act together now.Whether you're organizing an outsized office party or a dinner for 12, the best room

and table options for the best times fill up fast.It’s not that there’s a shortage of party venues. It’s more that there’s a shortage of

venues that are flexible. The ideal is a room that can grow or shrink to accommodate asyour party plans materialize.

Work the phones now and know what you want, for how many and when. When youhave the booking (and they have the down payment), you can make alterations.

Once you've selected the spot, some tips: 1. Be flexible. If they suggest an earlystarting time, listen. It's in your interest and theirs to "turn-over" the room twice in a night.2. Minimize food and drink options. Have one star item to streamline service. 3. Have anafter-party plan. Whether late-night drinks are on the company card or not, it's helpful tocoordinate a group-wide rendezvous point for when the open bar closes.

Here are some holiday spots in London and New York I’d be scoring now:

London1. Covent Garden screams Balthazar:Christmas. Keith McNally's N.Y. bistrotransplant has the best room in the area,with its own entrance and bar.

2. It'll be hard to beat this hip Ace Hotel:set of spaces in Shoreditch this holidayseason. Go for the 100 Room. Try

for another option.Rochelle Canteen

3. Chinese food lends itself to Hutong:holiday events. At The Shard, this HongKong twin has multiple party rooms andoptions. If you're lucky, you'll get a view.

New York1. Andrew Carmellini's spot-on Lafayette:French bistro is close enough to bothmajor train stations. Hooks you into TheDutch, Locanda Verde and Bar Primi.

2. Danny Meyer's newest at the Marta:Martha Washington Hotel. Any of hisrestaurants will have the rooms you want.

3. A solid corporate space Brasserie:that works for multiple party sizes. Forswankier affairs, go upstairs to The Four

Across the street Seasons. Casa Leverhas a Marc Newson-designed space.

IF/THEN


Looking out at the Pool Room at The Four Seasons. When the trees turn red, it will be booked.

October 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 10

Q&A

Pok Pok Grows Beyond Portland and Brooklyn to a New Dream Hub in Los Angeles

Andy Ricker opened his Thai restaurant Pok Pok

in Portland, Oregon in 2005 when he was in his

early 40s, a career-changing refugee from the

house painting business. Its melamine plates and

low prices have since come to define Thai food in

America. As he approaches 50, his mini-empire —

already established in New York along a restored

section of the Brooklyn waterfront — is expanding

to Los Angeles with two new restaurants. Peter

Elliot sat down with Ricker to discuss a mid-life

food career, where he goes next and the best way

to eat Thai food.

Q: You're opening two restaurants inLos Angeles. Why there? A: The number one reason is that I canget all the product that I need there. I’vealways opened in the Northwest and theEast Coast, which are about as far awayfrom the products I want as you canpossibly imagine. And two, I’m definitelyexpansion minded. it’s a masochistic kindof mindf**k but I actually kind of reallyenjoy the process.

Q: You must be in it for more than thetorture, the hot oil, the fear of failure.

It sounds crazy but I’ve got aA: background in construction so I enjoylooking at a space and solving the puzzle.It’s just problem solving. I'd go crazyotherwise I'm sure. It's my therapy.

Q: And? I'm sensing something else.A: Age. Language. I'm ashamed I can'tspeak Thai as well as I'd like. When you start as late as I did, now I only wantmore. My plan when I opened was, 'I’ll dothis and we’ll close down in the winter.'My goal is/was to eventually spend sixmonths of the year in Thailand and learnto speak fluently, build a school, a home.But we started expanding and startedgetting super busy. I had no idea thatwhat was going to happen was going tohappen. I went way into debt. I thought Iwas opening a little restaurant that wouldjust do its little thing and I'd be able to

make a living, have a place to live and I could travel and carry on with what I’dalready been doing the past 10 years.

Q: Is expanding now more importantthan pursuing your dream?

No. For one thing Pok Pok isn’t theA: right model for someone to swoop in andpay $40 million. If we were a burger chainthen I'd understand it but the food we dois really hyper specific and there’s not awhole lot of people in America that havethe same skill set. I’m not tooting my ownhorn. It’s just a fact. So to sell out tosomebody and not retain control wouldn’tbe valuable to somebody. And I'm not[Mario] Batali or Altamarea; I don't have a$90 check average. We're far lower.

Q: And you do or don't want that?Doesn't expansion go hand and handwith building higher revenue? A: Not to me. To me it's the food. Thai isnot high price point food. It never will be.

very day IAnd I get frustrated. Look, ewonder if I should just shut downeverything except for Pok Pok in Portlandand Whiskey Soda Lounge and just f**koff to Thailand for six months and write.

:Q And what would you do there?Where is this dream going?A: My ultimate philosophical andemotional goal is to try to do my best tofurther the stature of Thai food outside ofThailand in whatever small way I can.That’s important to me. I just think it’s amisunderstood cuisine outside ofThailand and L.A. is the place to do that.It's a big audience. The more audienceyou have, the more chance you have tospread the vision.

Q: But always on your own? On my own terms. Look, I come fromA:

nothing. If everything goes wrongtomorrow and I go back to being acontractor, I can do that. I'm not worried. Ican make a living. So I can go into thisstuff not feeling like I need to bring on an

investor. I could stop now and be OK.

Q: There are plenty of good restaurantrelationships.A: And mostly bad ones. Hey, I've justworked out how to have a girlfriend who Ithink gets me. That's enough for 50!

Q: But what does Andy really want forAndy? I feel like we're near it. A: I'd love to teach. I’d like to find a wayto do it that matches my dream. Having aplace in Thailand, land in Chiang Mai andenough space to operate. A test kitchen.Bring people who are dedicated enoughmake the trip. That's real and doable infive years while I still am young enough. Ihave just enough chutzpah to pull it off.

Q: And L.A. can start to do this — theRicker Institute for Thai Cooking?A: No. There's not enough room there.But yes, it's getting me a lot closer to mydream.

Q: What's the best way to eat Thai?A: With a spoon! The best way to eatThai food is with a spoon, not withchopsticks. It drives me nuts. If I couldjust teach that.


Pok Pok's Andy Ricker in Brookyln, N.Y.


IF/THEN

If You Like Cherche Midi, Then You'll Love...Englishman Keith McNally opened Balthazar in New York’s Soho in 1997 as an ode tothe all-day/all-night brasseries of Paris with new nicotine stained walls and a bakery. It'srelaxed yet trendy, French yet accessible. It has become so popular that McNally hasopened a smaller, more French sister, Cherche Midi, and it has been an instant hit. Ifyou like either of them, you’ll likely find these restaurants compelling, too.

IF: CHERCHE MIDI

282 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

Setting: Fin de siecle Paris done new.

Food: Upscale French brasserie.

Bar Scene: Small. Huge selection.

Noise Level: Loud but not unbearable.

Date Factor: Almost perfect.

Groups: Besides the booths, the onlyway is to buy the restaurant for a night.

Secrets: Go to any of the group'srestaurants often enough and the secretreservation number will be yours. Think ofit like air miles. And it works.


LondonThe Wolseley: It came after Balthazar,

but does very much the same thing.

Andrew Edmunds: 18th Centurytownhouse lit by candles and a menu thatchanges daily. One of my favorites.

Galvin La Chapelle: In a former churchin Spitalfields. Laid back and luxurious.

New York A more feminine approach.Claudette:

Soft blues, vegetables as light as air, anda bottle of rosé on ice.

L'Absinthe: An uptown institution thatdeserves its great reputation. Or , ifOrsayyou need to be closer to Fifth Avenue.

Buvette: Joie de vivre from JodyWilliams. Delicious, playful. Private room.

San FranciscoBar Tartine: This is a brasserie done

the west coast way. Breathtaking foodand pastries from the original .Tartine

At the SeaMondrian London: Containers building on the SouthBank with N.Y. chef Seamus Mullen.

Quaglino's: Full-scale renovation ofMayfair classic run by D&D London. Tredwell's: Marcus Wareing opens intheater-land with British fare done insmall or large sizes. Very clever.

Park Avenue (Autumn): In the spacethat was briefly General Assembly. Will Autumn turn to Spring?

Charlie Palmer Steak: An outpost ofhis Washington D.C. hit in Midtown.

Danny Meyer does pizza in aMarta: modernist Annabelle Selldorf space.

Rainbow Room: Art-deco gem atopRockefeller Center is regilded. Privateparties only. Open to public Sundaybrunch, Monday dinner, holidays.

Bread Street Kitchen: GordonRamsay comes to town, above HardRock Cafe and below Carbone.

OPENINGS

London

New York

Hong Kong


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YOUR NIGHT OUT

Source: Nick Solares for Balthazar

The power booth at Cherche Midi.


YOUR NIGHT OUT

Behold Yorkville: New York's Upper East Side Gets an Injection of YouthBY PETER ELLIOT

Manhattan's Upper East Side gets abad rap for having outdated anduninspired food, aimed at the wealthy folkwho live around Fifth and Park Avenues.With many of the long-standing spotsserving breakfast, lunch, dinner andbrunch while also sporting an oversizedtake-out menu, it's almost always a recipefor mediocrity.

Fortunately, the neighborhood's culinaryoptions diversify as you head away fromthe doormen buildings and toward theSecond Avenue subway constructionzone. As you near FDR Drive, you’ll findplenty of terrific options on First andSecond Avenues and the side streets inbetween. This vibrant subset of the UES— Yorkville — is full of young families,closet-hipsters and fortunately, the variedfood options to sustain them. Fromcocktail bars to delis, the gastronomicpossibilities in this subway-desert areworth exploring.

Go With Clients

DRINKSThe Regency Bar: A total renovationhas made this a post-work hot spot.

The murals, drinksBemelmans Bar:and space are classic. Call to reserve. DINNERCafe Boulud: The secret center ofthe Daniel empire. It's like his heart ishere plus everyone important.

Morini: Marea North. Where thepeople who go to Cafe Boulud gowhen they have to trek above 79th St.

East Pole: Downtown moves uptownin this near-but-not vegetarian twin tothe . Healthy and fun.Fat Radish

Sojourn: Solid Mediterranean fare.Rare BYOB (pre-arranged.) Bestplace to drink your wine collection. LATE NIGHTThe Mark: The pony-skinned frontroom of Jean-Georges Vongerichten'schic and clubby restaurant.

Go With Friends

DRINKSThe Penrose: Three bars tended bymen who escaped Brooklyn. Fun. The Pony Bar: Terrific beer, nibbles.

DINNERThe Writing Room: A hint of Elaine'ssurvives with American food, a fun barand a great fire-placed back room.

Jones Wood Foundry: Englishgastropub. Standout chicken andfish-n-chips. Beer and wine only.

I love and Donguri: Sushi Seki but if I had to choseSushi of Gari

one Japanese spot, this would be it.

LATE NIGHTJbird: The most serious cocktail bar.Think hand-cut ice and craft bitters.

Caledonia: Awesome Scotch bar.

Earl's Beer and Cheese: Mostrelaxed outpost of mini-empire , ABV

and . Vinyl Wine Dough Loco

Go With Family

DINNER/LUNCH/BRUNCHHospoda: In an area settled byimmigrants, a modern take on classicBohemian beer hall. Big tables.

Atlantic Grill: The one-size solutionto family, parents and kids. Worksevery time for almost every occasion.

T-Bar: The insiders all-oversteakhouse. Tony Fortuna knows hisaudience better than anyone in NYC.

J.G. Melon: Beloved of Brearley,Chapin, Dalton and Wagner studentsforever. Home of best NYC burger.

Second Ave Deli: Now on First Ave.As good as the original. Best overalldeli in a land of them.

Our Place: I've just come back fromChina. Trust me — this is pretty good.

:The Metropolitan Museum of ArtYou have to be a member or knowone for the dining room, but the RoofGarden is open to all. Unique.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: LONDON


The post-work scene at Earl's is about as relaxed as it gets on the upper part of Park Avenue.



Chef Ducasse Glows in London Basement Where the Sun Don’t ShineBY RICHARD VINES

Rivea — housed in the unpopularbasement of the unloved Bulgari Hotel —is the restaurant of a French chef forwhom there has been limited affection inLondon.

Rivea is known primarily for its locationin a room without natural light. Itcombines the aesthetic of a Dubai resortwith the psychology of a casino. Stop allthe clocks? There are none.

It is one of my favorite restaurants inLondon.

The Mediterranean cuisine isexceptional. The wine list is unusual andaccessible and the service combinesprofessionalism with a friendly andinformal style.

It should not be a surprise that it is sogood. It’s run by Alain Ducasse, a chef ofglobal repute whose establishmentsrange from fine gastronomic restaurantssuch as Louis XV in Monaco to brasseriessuch as Benoit in Paris.

He also has venues in Hong Kong, Italy,Japan, Russia, the U.S. and Qatar. InLondon, he owns Alain Ducasse at theDorchester, a restaurant that quickly wonthree Michelin stars but is just a little tooFrench and formal for British tastes.

Rivea replaced Il Ristorante, an Italianrestaurant that garnered hostile reviews,earlier this year. The chef, DamienLeroux, is 29 years old and is alreadyskilful. He makes his pitch with a selectionof about nine small dips, with flavors fromcourgette and marjoram to tomato. Thebread is great.

The menu is divided into severalsections — starters, pasta, plates, littlebites and desserts — and you may needhelp from a waiter to navigate. Whilesome of the portions are too small forsharing, two or three people can pulltogether a table of varied and colorfuldishes.

At lunchtime, it’s 35 pounds ($57) fortwo starters, one plate and one dessert,

So Many Temptations

plus coffee and water. The trouble is thatthere are so many temptations (not tomention a couple of supplements) that itis easy to spend more.

And then there is the wine list. I wentalong with Tom Harrow (aka The WineChap) and we spent a merry afternoonexploring southern France and Italy with adetour through the Champagne region,where the entry level Selection AlainDucasse costs 84 pounds. Confusingly,the wines by the glass are hidden at theback of the list, where they hang out withthe cocktails.

I ploughed through much of the menuand don’t think me too undiscriminating ifI say there was nothing I didn’t like.

Highlights included some sensationalpotato, sage and Parmesan gnocchiwhich are light as Kate Moss and fluffy asJamie Oliver.

There was a saddle of Scottish lamb sofabulous that I might have voted forindependence just to keep it in mycountry, if I were Scottish. (A vague claimto Campbell ancestry didn’t entitle me tovote in the recent referendum.)

And then there is the salad with all thecrunch of an Ed Balls football tackle. I’mthe kind of person who fishes out some of

Vote for Independence

the lettuce before eating a kebab late atnight, but I love the crisp vegetableswrapped in a cone of soft socca (crepe).Dressing, as at a nudist colony, isn’tnecessary.

Artisanal paccheri pasta with chestnut,sauteed mushrooms? Corn-fed chickenbreast with macaroni au gratin? Roastduckling and figs? I want them all and Iwant them again. Now.

I want the desserts, too: the green plumcookpot with almond ice cream; thelemon shortbread with Limoncello sorbet.

You know what? This room isn’t so badat all. I like the colors and the sense ofluxury. It’s not exactly understated but itisn’t shouting at me either. The hotel isOK, too. There’s a bar on the ground floorwhere you can even see daylight.

Come to think of it, Ducasse is a greatguy. I have enjoyed fabulous meals at hisrestaurants in France and the U.S. I’vefollowed him round the world forinterviews. Next time I see him, I’m goingto bend his ear with how good Rivea is.

He’s recently published a book, “J’AimeLondon.” Now, London should be ready toreciprocate.

J’aime Rivea.



Follow him on Twitter @richardvines

ASK THE EDITOR PETER ELLIOT, BLOOMBERG BRIEF EDITOR

Source: Alain Ducasse via Bloomberg

Rivea is housed in the basement of the Bulgari Hotel in London. Natural light is in short supply.


ASK THE EDITOR PETER ELLIOT, BLOOMBERG BRIEF EDITOR

Peter Elliot's Guide to Joining the Food and Wine IndustryQ: My son went to an Ivy Leagueschool, spent a year at a tech firm andhas just announced he wants tobecome a chef. How does he getstarted, and is it the right move today?

Thank you for your question.And thanks, Mom or Dad, for keeping

your cool when he came out to youcareer-wise. This is a seismic changefrom when I started 23 years ago andmade the switch to food and wine frommy previous post in commodities.

From Hong Kong to Oregon, this is byfar the most frequent question I'm asked.The inquiry comes from young and old,female and male.

More than ever, despite the incredibleodds against success, I tell anyone whoasks to go for it, especially if they areyoung. The worst thing that happens isthey fail, and that isn't always a bad thing.Just ask .Andy Ricker

Of course, there are different levels of"going for it," and not each approach is

right for everyone. For those who arereally still exploring, be it the front of thehouse or the back, I advise them to takestarter courses at places like theInternational Culinary Center in New York(ICC, formerly the French CulinaryInstitute) or their local communitycolleges. Test the waters. And then if theyare really serious, the big schools — theCulinary Institute of America, Johnson &Wales, Cornell, the Ecole HoteliereLausanne — are worth the tuition.

For those who already know for surethis is what they want, school isunnecessary. They should instead do a"stage," or in layman's terms, slavery forchefs. Professional chefs love thesewannabes. They're hungry. They'redevoted. They're free. For the prospectivestagiaire, I ask them which chefs theymost admire and then suggest they point,aim and throw themselves at said chef'sfeet and stay for two to three solid years.And never waver or mention an interest inreality TV or cooking shows.

Offering your services is the easy part.It's the day in, day out that's hard. Everyperson who succeeds in the high-endfood and wine industry lives, breathesand sleeps it, like a prima-ballerina or astar pitcher. It's a tough, merciless andoccasionally lonely existence.

At the same time, you'll find yourselfsurrounded by passionate people in atwisted, happy and loving family.

If they want to be happy, not televisionstars or millionaires, this is the route. Andsometimes the money follows.

Please send your questions to . [email protected]

may be edited or condensed.







@mrpeterelliot.


RESTAURANT REVIEW: NEW YORK



Simple Tasting Menu Shines at East Village’s The EddyBY TEJAL RAO

The finest peach I ate this year wastucked under anise hyssop and basilleaves on a wreck of burrata at The Eddy,delivered by a serene waitress in abackless tank on one of the last hotevenings in September. The fruit wassweet, deep orange, richly textured, andmade more exciting with a few tiny shardsof crisp chicken skin ($13). It was sogood, it made me feel like I’d wasted theend of my summer doing things otherthan eating peaches.

The Eddy, which opened in May, is acasual little bar and restaurant with acompact menu on a noisy stretch of theEast Village. Outside, the sitar playerfrom an Indian restaurant down the streetmay pace and chain smoke while he talkson the phone between sets, his cigarettesmoke wafting through the open windowsand messing with the delicious smellsfrom the back kitchen.

As the evening wears on, grown menand women will be drawn to the actionaround the glowing bar and press theirshining faces to the long glass windowslike children at the zoo. Some of them willcome inside: a long-haired bro in short,brightly colored pants and high tops witha woman in a silk romper, a klatch ofyoung women in denim mom shorts andripped boyfriend jeans. Many tablesdecide to go for the set menu when theysee it’s just $58. It’s called a tasting, butit’s not formal at all, which suits the way alot of people like to eat: Some plates areshared, some are not, a few things cometo the table at once.

The Eddy isn’t the only place in towndoing this style of unfussy set menu.Huertas, Jonah Miller’s fantastic Basquebar just a block away has a back roomwhere the $55 menu of the day recentlyinvolved a stunning dish of half-raw rubyred shrimp and gently-flavored garlicpuree swimming in loads of olive oil.None of the plates were shared, butthere’s a similar sense of casualness (andlow prices) to the operation that tricks youinto thinking you could eat like this once aweek. And maybe you could. These are

Everyday Tastings

not special occasion, once-in-a-lifetimetastings to plan out months in advance.Yes, the latter can be great, but so ismaking a night of it for no good reason.

At The Eddy, the format matches thefood, unpretentious and often elegant.Take the tendon, that tough cordconnecting beef to bone, which doesn’tsound like a good match for delicatebeads of trout roe. It requires some effortto convince the tendon to play nice.Braised for hours, finely sliced,dehydrated, then finally deep fried in oil,the tendon curls and puffs into a crunchy,grooved chip. When it’s filled withsomething like onion dip and capped withroe ($8 for 4), it’s as pretty as acaviar-loaded blini and a fine way to startdinner.

If you’re vegetarian you’re probably sickof Every Lazy Kitchen’s Vegetarian PastaOption. But the ricotta gnocchi here, whenyou eat them immediately and they’reextremely hot, melt away on your tongue.They are giants, three to a plate, glazedwith butter ($14). Otherwise there’s justpeas, toasted hazelnuts, and a few thinslivers of shiitake in the bowl. It may notbe groundbreaking, but it’s very welldone.

I’m not sure if The Eddy really serves“coastal cuisine,” one of those vague tagsstuck on places that serve seafood, but

Vegetarian Win

the kitchen does well with tender squidpiled on thick, intensely flavored ajoblanco with corn and whole leaves oftarragon ($14).

There were several times when Iwished the food was just a touch sharperand more carefully seasoned, like when aplate of roasted carrots on fatty cashewpuree seemed to be missing a layer ofacidity. And I couldn’t quite wrap my headaround the fried eggplant — thevegetable was undercooked inside in avery thick layer of batter, then glumlydraped with strips of pancetta. But thatwas a rare case of going overboard, at ayoung restaurant making its mark byknowing when and where to hold back.

Some of the loveliest, simplest, andmost vegetable-focused dishes at TheEddy — the quartered heirloom tomatoesin cool bonito-infused tomato water ($14),and that burrata salad — aren’t actuallyon the tasting menu. This means thatwhile tomatoes and stone fruits are stillaround, while it’s still warm enough tocrack open the windows, before fallmenus change over and the evenings getshort and dark, you have more than a fewgood reasons to pop in for dinner.

Tejal Rao is the New York food critic for

Bloomberg. Follow her on Twitter @tejalrao

Occasional Misses

DESTINATIONS

Source: Dominic Perri for Bloomberg

The mid-rare prime rib on a pile of crisp-edged potatoes with a touch of melted cheese.


DESTINATIONS

In Hong Kong's Intense Restaurant Scene, Don't Be Ashamed to Try Hotels and MallsBY PETER ELLIOT

Hong Kong, throbbing with energy andwealth, was constructed around theneeds of business. Majestic bridges,tunnels that pierce mountains andwalkways that weave through indoormalls are packed with workadaycommuters, yet easy to use. It’s not justdense; the city is physically large andsteep. When I saw apartment towers,pinned to a mountainside swaying in thegusts of a typhoon, I asked an engineer,“What holds these buildings up?” Hisanswer? “Money.”

The city's mix of architecture, wealthand cultures — and recently,pro-democracy protesters — makes forone of the most interesting scenes I'veencountered. With one of the highestconcentrations of restaurants per personin the world, great food is sport, soknowing what's best is held close. For thisreason when you ask for “real” Cantonesefood, locals often suggest hotels or evenmall eateries in Central. Don’t feel

cheated. They're more reliable and saferfor an overseas visitor.

Western restaurants abound, stacked innew hotels or buildings one on top theother. Jamie's Italian was jaw dropping to

see but tasted the same as its otherglobal storefronts. My advice? Keep tryinglocal food until you find something youlike. If you’re only there a short time, gofor the hotels and posh Chinese saloons.

Top Restaurants:Fook Lam Moon: This is the Le Cirque (circa 1984) of Hong

Kong. Paparazzi line up to snap celebrities and governmentofficials. Classic Cantonese done flawlessly. Business lunch.

Island/China Tang and China Club: These are over-the-top inevery way. David Tang as Gatsby. Every bite is also amazing.

Yardbird: Stylish Japanese yakitori. Next to ,Bo Innovationthis is the best example how East and West are merging.

Lung King Heen: I resisted and gave in happily. Yes it's theFour Seasons Hotel. It's also some of the best Dim Sum.

Top Bars:Bibo: Behind a hidden door a museum of Koons, Basquiats

and more. Raffish chic and a great cocktail list. Get the absinthe.

Sevva: A penthouse terrace with 360-degree views and soliddrinks make this one of the most glamorous bars in the world.

Ozone: Floor 118 in the shimmering ICC tower. It's a sci-fiBlade Runner thrill.

Lan Kwai Fong: Like Piccadilly and the Meatpacking District inone — on a hill. It's lively, real and totally insane. Get lost, havefun. In the morning, you'll be closer to understanding Hong Kong.

Travel — Taxis are inexpensive and work great. Write down where you're going and hand it to the driver. UBER has started buthasn't taken over. Get your Octopus card for public transit. Not only does it get you around the city, it lets you travel in the city'smaze of tunnels. It's a key to the life of the city and the equivalent of a cash card — use it in most small shops and stores, too.

Etiquette — Get your business card technique down. Be ready. Hold two corners, lean forward, present it. Look people in theeye. Don't give a firm handshake. Locals wear surgical masks to prevent you from getting their colds. They're being polite.

Language — You won't learn Cantonese or Mandarin in one trip. You can learn the key phrases. It really helps.

Tailoring — High rents have killed the days of cheap shirts and suits in Central. Remaining shops offer better service and you stillget good prices. When it's 100% humidity and you're tired, you'll appreciate professionals like or Ascot Chang The Armoury.

Food — OpenRice.com puts every other user-generated food review site to shame. The Private Kitchen scene is amazing butrequires planning. If you are in pursuit of "local and authentic," go with friends. Or if you're on your own, be brave and resolute.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Miami. Tips? Things you want to see? MSG me at [email protected]

Source: Bloomberg/Mario Polytaridis

Thousands of restaurants and bars are in Lan Kwai Fong, the hub for Hong Kong's nightlife.


Q&A

November 2014

November 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com


London1. — Medieval eatingBeast2. Chiltern Firehouse — Social central3. Gymkhana — Indian mecca 4. Berners Tavern — Atherton British5. City Social — Atherton with a view

New York1. — Like the name saysDirty French2. — Gargantuan ItalianCarbone3. — Danny Meyer does pizzaMarta4. — Spain via Bobby FlayGato5. — Popular ItalianL'Artusi

Paris1. — Classic bistroChez Georges2. — Best steakhouse?Frenchie3. — Pricey vegetal valhallaL'Arpege 4. — Best of the global chainRobuchon5. — Alain Ducasse reimaginesAllard

Sao Paulo1. — Low key Brazilian stunnerMani2. — Italy/BrazilSupra di Mauro Maia 3. — Indigenous food. Ants, tooD.O.M.4. — Best traditional ItalianPomodori5. — Spanish paella and tapasAzur

What can the British and Chineseteach Americans about steakhouses?Does befriending the sommelier meana higher or low bill? Peter Elliotdiscusses. Click the photo to launchor go to: http://bit.ly/RsvNovPod



reviews and ratings. Updated Oct. 30, 2014.

Avoid Holiday Cooking: Call in the Caterers

BY PETER ELLIOTPlenty of people don’t like to prepare the big dinners, chic cocktail parties and family

gatherings that mark the holiday season — and even more hate to clean up afterwards.Fortunately, many top restaurateurs have developed sideline businesses as home andevent caterers that help eliminate the chores and amplify the chortles.

Catering your holiday meal will come at a cost — $100 to $200 a head, on average,depending when you call, what you serve and if you use your own utensils. However, ithas its benefits: primarily that the staff is busy in the kitchen so you don’t have to be. Ifyou know cooking isn't in your year-end calendar, get on their schedules now. If they saythey're booked, raise your per-head cost and they'll come running.

There are also options for ordering whole parties online or from restaurants where youcan pick up pre-made dishes. Fresh Direct in the U.S. and U.K. is a particularlyaffordable bet. Or try Blue Apron in the U.S. as an in-between solution. They sendquality ingredients and a recipe, and you do the rest. It's like painting by numbers — andyou never have to go to the store.

London1. The essence of Arnold & Henderson:A&H is food. Margot Henderson is thewife of Fergus of St. John fame. ChefAnna Tobias was at the River Cafe.Favorites of the art and fashion world anda hopelessly chic space in Shoreditch.

2. Mark Hix's expanding Hix Outside:empire of British restaurants has thebandwidth to take care of you at home. I'dinclude too.Urban Caprice,

3. The contemporary choice At Home:and a favorite for people who live in thehome counties. Terrific in every category,from home service and corporate eventsto your child's 21st birthday party.

New York1. An offshoot of Daniel Feast & Fetes:Boulud's Dinex Group. It doesn't get moreprofessional or more delicious than this.Yes, it comes at a price but you'll havethe most relaxed holiday season ever.

2. Founded as aGreat Performances:waitress service for artists to earn money.Still female-owned and one of the mostcapable all-purpose, farmer-focused anddelicious caterers in the Northeast.

3. Scott Skey and Nick Hosea are Bite:hard-core chefs who decamped fromvarious New York kitchens to set up theirown shop. Food driven with a morerelaxed vision of service. Fun and flexible.

IF/THEN

Source: Jean-Christophe le Picart via The Dinex Group

A professional server prepares canapes to go out to waiting guests at an apartment in NYC.

November 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THEN

If You Like Modern Steakhouses, Then You'll Love...Americans' affinity for steak has traveled the globe and now restaurants from London toHong Kong are teaching the U.S. a thing or two about the tradition. Hawksmoor, whichhas six locations in London, leads the pack with a distinctly British sensibility andingredients: Yorkshire pudding along with french fries. You can taste the difference.

IF: HAWKSMOOR

157 Commercial Street, London, E1 6BJ

Setting: Imagine a modern pub.

Food: Consistently excellent.

Bar Scene: Active post-work.

Noise Level: Gentler than the U.S.

Date Factor: Risky. Ask first.

Groups: This is what they do best.Large tables, lots of nibbles.

Secrets: Each location has a slightlydifferent character. Decide which one isright for you and keep going back.


New YorkBLT Steak: BLT stands for Bistro

Laurent Tourondel, the Frenchman whotaught Americans that not all steakhouses have to have sawdust floors.

Charlie Palmer: Just opened inMidtown and meets the busy executive'srequirements for a modern steak house.

Minetta Tavern: If you're looking for anew take on the classic steakhouse,some argue this is the best in town.

Strip House: Long my favorite N.Y.steakhouse in this vein. The Midtownlocation is just as sexy as the original.

Hong KongThe Butchers Club: Home of the best

burger in town (sorry fans, it'sCaliBurgerjust a fact) and an equally amazingsteakhouse, deli and Frites club.

ParisFrenchie: Leave it to the French to

define and master the best steak house inEurope. Divine.

The Wild Game Co.: This formerpop-up celebrates all Scottish meats:venison, pheasant, rabbit and hare.

The Araki: There are only nine seatsat the bar, six in a private dining roomand one £250 omakase menu.

Spring: Somerset House opens itsdrawing room. Chef Skye Gyngell witha classic produce-led menu.

Vic's: Five Points reborn asItalian-Mediterranean. Samemanagement, new decor and chefHillary Sterling.

Kappo Masa: Masa moves to theUpper East Side, under LarryGagosian's gallery. Dinner cost isequal to a down payment on a Koons.

Jockey Hollow: New Jersey'itesrejoice. Chris Cannon's newrestaurant/event space in Morristown.

The Pawn: U.K. bad-boy Chef TomAikens reopens this former pawnshop in the heart of Wan Chai.

OPENINGS

London

New York

New Jersey

Hong Kong


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YOUR NIGHT OUT

Source: Toby Keane for Hawksmoor

A British rib-eye steak at Hawksmoor


YOUR NIGHT OUT

A Changing East Village Stakes Its Claim as Home to New York's Culinary EliteBY PETER ELLIOT

If you squint, much of New York’s EastVillage looks as it did 100 years ago. Thatisn’t a compliment. Narrow sidewalks arelined with fire-escaped tenementscrammed with everything from tattooparlors to bodegas. The area's Bohemiansoul is never far away.

That hasn’t stopped chefs from makingthe area a laboratory.

What the East Village lacks in looks andgreat housing stock, it makes up for withunusual bars, restaurants and street life.

Alex Stupak, a pastry chef for WylieDufresne before he changed course andopened Empellon in the trendy WestVillage, is just one of the neighborhood'snew culinary transplants.

“The city is moving West to East and sodid I,” Stupak told me. Like many of hispeers, he isn’t afraid of a changing EastVillage. “Bring it on. It just forces me tomake what I do better every day.”

Go With Clients

DRINKSPDT: Beyond a hot dog joint via atelephone booth is an institution. Callthat day for tables. is Angel's Shareanother speakeasy worth visiting.

DINNERHearth: Marco Canora is one of thegreat owner-chefs in the business.Still a guaranteed pleasure.

Jewel Bako: Jack Lamb was an earlycolonist on East 5th St. Classy sushi.

Momofuku Ssam/Noodle Bar:Where the David Chang/Lucky Peachempire started. Still cutting edge andfun. is closed temporarily. Ko

LATE NIGHTThe Library at The Public: Grown upfun with a chance a post-performanceactor will sit next to you.

Booker and Dax: A cocktail cousin toMomofuku. It's in the old Milk Bar site.The drinks reek of Chang's lineage.

Go With Friends

DRINKSDeath & Company: With a seminalnew book, this is the deadly serioushome of the NYC cocktail trade. DINNEREmpellon al Pastor: Drinks menuand sublime tacos near Stupak'spopular andCocina Taqueria.

Tuome: Chinese hinted Americanfrom Eleven Madison Park veteranThomas Chen. I loved every bite.

Miss Lily's 7A: Caribbean twin ofWest Village hot spot. A total scene.

Molecularist Wylie DufresneAlder:moves north from the LES andrelaxes. Edible tiny franks and fun. LATE NIGHTGin Palace: Like the name says,you'll find the martini of your dreams. Mayahuel: How about mezcal infusedwith Jamon Iberico? Special spot.

Go With Family

BREAKFAST/BRUNCH/DINNER East Village pizza grows upGG's:

with a special focus on meat toppings.Hottest East Village brunch. Back Forty: Peter Hoffman is one ofthe godfathers of Slow Food. Try theburger here and you'll know why.

Veselka: If you're craving stuffedcabbage or don't want to make yourown pierogies, this is the right place.

Momofuku Milk Bar: Christina Tositurned cereal into dessert. My godsonhad his first date here which justproves Tosi has changed the world.

Pylos: One of the most sensibleGreek restaurants in town, grown upenough for a date and fine for family.

: A classic Vietnamese thatIndochinedoesn't fail. Perfect location.

Best all-around JapaneseKyo Ya:restaurant in NYC. If you can find it.



Chef Alex Stupak outside his new $4 taco joint, Empellon al Pastor, latest in the Empellon family.



Dirty French: A Flashy Bistro From the Carbone TeamBY TEJAL RAO

Usually, I’d say don’t bother withanything for two when you go out,especially not the chicken. It’s anincreasingly tedious and overpricedperformance in New York and if everyonewants to eat the same thing, you can do afine job of that at home, roasting a birdover some vegetables, improvising asauce with the caramelized bits stuck tothe bottom of the pan.

The chicken and crepes dish for two($72) at Dirty French is something else.You will need a large table to comfortablyhold the setup. The breast meat has beenroasted and sliced beautifully, laid oversome kind of creamy mustard sauce. It isserved with many fixings: a sweetapricot-tamarind jam and pleasingly oilyharissa to drip over thin pancakes, plusraw chiles, basil, and mint to pile on top.The legs, which arrive separately, arepoached slowly in chicken fat, thengrilled. You’ll want to pick them up withyour fingers so you can work at thesweet, black, crackling skin, which tastesof kaffir lime leaves.

If you set aside the technical issues withthose crepes (they are useless, cold, andcracking within minutes, served inridiculous scrolls of parchment paper) thisis a very good chicken dish. It’s also areminder of the fun you can have atrestaurants, eating elaborate things youmight not make at home.

The restaurant on the ground floor ofThe Ludlow hotel on the Lower East Sideis the latest from Major Food Group, theteam behind a series of themed diningrooms including Carbone, where thecliches of Italian-American dining areelevated with style.

Here, the team has turned to the Frenchbistro for inspiration. But there’s a glitterof ras al hanout on the duck a l’orange($39), and the exquisite cloud of warmflatbread with fromage blanc is dustedwith something approximating za’atar.You’ll also notice feuille de bric on themenu, a sheer pastry from Tunisia, whereit’s used in many ways, most famously towrap a street snack filled with runny eggs,chopped onion and harissa. Dirty Frenchmakes the pastry in house, and takes it

as far away from the street as it possiblycan, filling it with foie gras and rolling it uplike a sleek, unsnipped cigar ($24). It’s adramatic presentation, covered with amassive heap of perfectly cut chives(someone is cutting an awful lot of chivesback there), though it doesn’t really snap.

Like chefs in France have done foryears, Rich Torrisi and his cooks arereaching for traditional North Africaningredients and applying them to Frenchstandards. The kitchen is also drawingfrom Louisiana — the boudin isn’t madein the French style, with pig’s blood, butAmerican style with rice and liver ($16).

And now for a brief potato interlude.Boulangere. Frites. Puree. The last is justmash, of course, but the French wordindicates there will be more butter and afiner, softer texture. Dirty French deliversboth. The frites, on the other hand, arethey frites? They are long, wide,tongue-shaped pieces of potato that haveall the crispness, but none of thesoftness. They aren’t bad, but I tell you allthis because to remedy the situation, myfriend and I dipped the fried potatoes inthe mashed potatoes like animals, andthe charming waitress applauded ourefforts. This sort of thing comes easy atDirty French.

Some of the best dishes are closest totheir bistro counterpart, and I fangirled abit over the frisee salad with big pieces of

sweet, salty pork because it was finishedso elegantly at the table. It came with askewer of hot charred chicken giblets andgreen peppers and so much tarragon,and the spry French waiter made a showof sliding the giblets off into the leaves,breaking the egg with a silver spoon, andturning everything around to coat itproperly before serving us. Like atCarbone, the theater of service is a bigpart of dinner.

The beignets were disappointing, withbig, fat, greasy bottoms, but there may beno finer citrus tart in New York City thanHeather Bertinetti’s beautiful version here.The curd is cold, extremely smooth andbuttery, tasting of fresh lemon and lime— it’s a bright acidity but also somethingrounder and softer, all flowers andperfume, not at all raw ($10).

There is so much to enjoy at DirtyFrench if you’re in mood to eat richly andspeak loudly over the music, a relentlessstream of ’80s hits that seem picked bymediocre wedding DJ.

“What’s with the music?” My friendshouted. “Does it ever change? Can youmake it stop?” The waitress frowned andleaned closer to us, and I worried we’doffended her. “I know, it’s so bad,” shesaid. “And believe it or not, it gets louder.”



PETER ELLIOT'S GUIDE TO...

Source: Bloomberg/Dominic Perri

The bistro has the look of a palatial chalet.



Navigating Wine Lists Like a Pro in Five Easy StepsQ: Is it just me or are wine lists getting bigger? I was recently in a restaurantwhere I was presented with a 30 pagewine list. Any advice?

Thank you for your question.Here are some simple rules to get you

through an evening with a daunting listlike a pro.

Step One: Decide what color it is you’dlike to drink. If you’re the host, offer thequestion to the table first. You’ll find mostare willing to confess their inner red orinner white preference. Forget about redswith meat and whites with fish. Choosewhat your table likes and vary within. Allsize wine lists are divided by white, red,dessert and Champagne.

Step Two: Engage your table. Try andget a sense of their palates. Heavy?Thick? Medium? Light? Gain a consensusand you’re almost there. Information ispower.

Take some time with theStep Three:

list. Don’t let the price tags fool you. Atthis stage, money isn't the object. If you’rein the red section, see if you canfamiliarize yourself with what is there.California, Italian, New World, classicFrench. See if there are names or regionsyou recognize.

Step Four: Now ask for the sommelier.This is the hardest part, and for many, themost intimidating. A good sommelierreally wants to help. If he or she startsspeaking in wine-speak and your eyesglaze over, start over. "I’m looking for alight red." "I’m looking for a full bodiedwhite." "We're an adventurous table."They’re trained to pick up the cues.

Step Five. The ancient code ofsommeliers is that they’re not meant toembarrass or bankrupt you. Lean thewine list towards them. If they point to alight red that costs more than you reallywant to spend, indicate with your fingerthe price point you like. They’ll get it.

Final Word: Unless you’re in a

steakhouse where thick reds rule, you’llalmost always wind up with somethingthat’s in the middle — a crisp Sancerre forthe whites and a Burgundy/pinot noir orChianti for the reds. These tend to becrowd pleasers and safe bets.

Lastly, at the holidays, sparkling wine isa stunt double for beer. Anywhere you’dusually have a cold one, supplant adecent, not expensive, Champagne, cavaor prosecco and everyone will love you. I promise.









@mrpeterelliot.

DESTINATIONS


DESTINATIONS

Miami Is Booming, Fueled by Cars, Sports, Food, Fashion and New BloodBY PETER ELLIOT

Miami is in mid-boom. People from allover the world have chosen to live here,all the time, making the metropolis cometo life. It’s no longer Miami Beach versusdowntown versus the Design Districtversus Wynwood or Coral Gables.Residents and visitors use each areainterchangeably like a giant tropicalplayground. You can lunch downtown andthen head to the beach for cocktails.

Architecture contributes to the game.The Miami Heat plays in anArquitectonica-designed arena in theheart of downtown. There's Herzog & deMeuron’s parking garage-cum-eventspace on Lincoln Road and the Perez ArtMuseum, Frank Gehry’s New WorldCenter concert hall and miles ofeye-catching condos. It feels like ashowcase of all that America does right.

And how does the food fare? Right nowit’s in a Las Vegas-like flux. There’s a branch of almost every restaurant you

can think of and it tastes like home with lychees. Chefs used to a resort culture

are forced to up their game here. Still, you’re not heading to Miami just for thefood. You’re heading there because it’swarm and it’s a direct plane ride from

almost anywhere in the U.S. You're there every car is a showpiece. Andbecause

from sports to art to food, there’s nochance you’ll be stuck by the poolchatting with your Aunt Sally.

Miami has indeed come of age.

Top Restaurants:

Prime 112: The best show in town. Brontosaurus-sized cuts ofmeat. Bacon strips at the bar. Cars and sports-stars dominate.

Casa Tua: Forget most other Italian restaurants. It remainspopular because it feels like the Ligurian coast all year.

Yardbird: Just off the bustle of Lincoln Road, the best friedchicken south of Atlanta and a great selection of bourbons.

Zuma: A more refined Nobu. Solid but still creative pan-Asianserved in a glamorous room. Popular business lunch.

Top Hotels:W South Beach: The best locale/vibe for attending Art Basel

and the boat show. And a great way to get into .The Dutch

The St. Regis: Seasoned travelers complain Miami has noculture of great service. They do. They're all here.

Soho Beach House: Best for families. A nice combination ofDelano/Raleigh Art-Deco chic and responsible parenting.

Mandarin Oriental: On its own island between everything. is the tiny one-seating sushi nearby. They can get you in.Naoe

Transportation — Miami is a car city. People rent Lamborghinis for the week. Just ask Justin Bieber. Metromover looks like themonorail at Disney World and connects downtown. During peak season and events, the cool folk get drivers. Uber, which could be

— yet. It's a valet parking city and parking is hard. Keep lots of cash handy. For everything. It mostly works.a real player here, isn't

Joe's Stone Crab — An institution. It's said that the best paid people in Miami are the front-of-house at Joe's. $20 does the trick.

Attire — The unofficial dress code is designer jeans and sock-less shoes for men and stilettos and big jewelry for women.

Art Basel — Housed on the beach at the convention center but the real scene happens in the Design District and at privateparties at collectors' houses. Breakfast at the Rubell Family Collection is the official kick off for the serious collectors and theirpilotfish. This year Jennifer Rubell will do an edible installation called "Fifty Cakes." To get in? Buy pictures. And tip your concierge.

South Beach Food& Wine Festival — Another highlight of the winter season. For the big events like the Burger Bash, or anyevent on the beach, don't delay. Get your tickets early, pay the most for them and have a great time. VIP access is the way to go.

Time — Get used to a Latin time scale. As Prime 112's Myles Chafetz told me, "You have to understand that we're sitting tablesof ESPN guys at midnight." If you work on New York time, you'll wonder why you're in empty restaurants at 7 p.m.

Safety — There's still a certain honky tonk element to Miami, especially on the beach. Those long pools out to the Atlantic areaccessible to just about anyone clever. Keep your wits about you and your gadgets close. Hotel security can only do so much.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Zurich. Tips? Things you want to see? MSG me at [email protected]

DRINKING: LONDON


A yacht moored on the Miami River outside of Zuma with Miami Beach in the distance.


DRINKING: LONDON

Why Gin Is Cool and How the Designer of London Buses HelpedBY RICHARD VINES

The River Test flows through the newhome of Bombay Sapphire gin atLaverstoke Mill, in the Hampshirecountryside between London and thesouth coast of England.

It’s among the country’s purest chalkstreams. You can watch the fishswimming in the crystal water and smellthe fresh, cool air. The sound is ofbirdsong. It’s as if the distillery — old redbrick and modern glass — is in harmonywith nature.

Shame things weren’t always like thatwith gin.

The Oxford English dictionary wasn’talone when it described it as “aninfamous liquor” in 1714. Gin wasuniquely vilified when it became the drinkof choice for the poor in 18th centuryLondon, destroying lives, families andcommunities.

Prostitution and violence accompaniedthe gin craze, which was seen as a threatto the social fabric. The drink becameknown as Mother’s Ruin, a name that alsorelates to the fact it was used in attemptsto induce miscarriages. Eight acts ofParliament were passed between 1729and 1751 in attempts to undo thedamage, Williams says. And after cornergin stores —insalubrious neighborhoodjoints dispensing cheap liquor — wereforced out of business, gin palacessprung up.

These bore some resemblance tomodern fast-food joints: They were smartand clean with consistency of product andservice. And lingering wasn’t encouraged.These ornate bars made their money byserving a lot of customers quickly withoutmaking them too comfortable.

Demand for gin finally eased over thedecades, to the point where it wasconsidered unfashionable by the time Iwas growing up in the 1960s. My firsttaste was during an impromptu party as ateenager when my parents were away.My friends and I swigged the Gordon’sfrom its green bottle.

I have rarely been so sick.So what’s with the current gin craze,

Back in Fashion

where bartenders push crafted cocktailsmade with the stuff? I tried ordering avodka cocktail at Sushisamba and thebarman said, “We don’t really like vodka.”Gin is a much safer bet to be cool. Thecuriously named Worship Street WhistlingShop in Shoreditch specializes in it. Here,their signature Black Cat Martini uses acream-infused gin as its base. (In18th-century London, an illicit distillery —called a whistling stop — had a woodensign of a cat on the door, according toWilliams. Customers put coins in the cat’smouth and whispered the word “puss” and got a “mew” in return. They couldthen lift the paw and gin was dispensedvia a hidden pipe.)

In recent years the spirit has taken overat even more cocktail bars acrossLondon. Tony Conigliaro, who servesinnovative cocktails at 69 ColebrookeRow, is among the bartenders who havehelped make gin fashionable again. Hefounded the Drink Factory in 2005 (inPink Floyd’s former recording studio) topromote creativity and won InternationalBartender of the Year in 2009.

That was the year after the award waswon by Nick Strangeway, another hero ofthe U.K. cocktail business. He co-foundedStrange Hill Ltd., a creative agencyworking with drinks brands such asBeefeater Gin and he helped create thedrinks served at the restaurants of chefMark Hix. These include the Pegu Club:Barrel-aged Plymouth Navy Strength gin

Drink Factory

with orange curacao, lime juice,Angostura and Bitter Truth orange bitters.This is a drink that started life in a Britishofficers’ club in Rangoon, now known asYangon.

The flavor of gin comes from theso-called botanicals that are added tograin neutral spirit, or GNS. At BombaySapphire, there are eight core botanicals— juniper, lemon, coriander, orris root,almonds, cassia bark, licorice, andangelica — along with grains of paradise(a relative of ginger) and cubeb berries(from the pepper family).

At the new distillery, a re-purposed300-year-old paper mill, the botanicalsare displayed in dramatic curving glassdomes created by Thomas Heatherwick,designer of the Olympic Cauldron thatwas lighted during the opening ceremonyat the London 2012 Games. Heatherwickis also the creative brains behind the newRoutemaster red double-decker bus, amodern interpretation of a British icon.

“Gin has had a very peaky-trough kindof existence: It’s back and forward infashion,” says Sam Galsworthy,co-founder of Sipsmith, which distills ginin an old garage in suburban Chiswick,west London. “Vodka came in through the’80s and ’90s and gin was pretty uncool, apretty dour spirit.”

Sipsmith’s range includes VJOP (VeryJunipery Over Proof) and Sloe Jin. Thecompany won Best U.K. Newcomer in theObserver Food Monthly Awards 2010.

Sipsmith is one of several smalldistilleries that has sprung up in Londonin recent years — after an incredible lull.When the company sought a licence todistil gin in the city five years ago, it wasthe first such application since 1823.

It may have taken 90-odd years, but thedrink that was once the ugly face ofLondon life has undergone a rebirth. Ginis kicking.


Bloomberg. Follow him on Twitter @richardvines

Key Botanicals

A New Batch

Q&A

Source: Bloomberg/Chris Ratcliffe

An employee holds a handful of juniperberries at the Pernod Ricard SA Beefeater gindistillery in London, U.K.


Q&A

Buddakan's Stephen Starr Opens Upland in New York and Bets Long on Miami

Stephen Starr is one of the independent

restaurant business's most successful stars.

Buddakan NY made $21.5 million in sales in 2013

— the third highest in the city after Smith &

Wollensky and Tao. He says his sales are near

$250 million across the 35 restaurants he owns,

from Verde in Miami's spectacular Perez Art

Museum and Le Diplomate in Washington D.C. to

his home-bases of Philadelphia and New York.

That's set to grow with the opening of Upland in

New York. What are some of the lessons that

keep the 58-year old former club promoter at the

top of his game? Peter Elliot sat down with him

while Upland finished construction.

Q: Why are you so bullish on Miami? A: Beyond the normal reasons. It’s notabout the beach or the sun or the resorts.It’s truly a real city. I just feel it. Off thebeach it feels alive and young. There aremany Miamis. There's touristy Miami,South American Miami and then there’sthis whole other part that feels likeBrooklyn, Wynwood and the DesignDistrict. I just love it.

Q: It's a classic boom/bust town.What's different this time? A: Before it was you go there for a quickvacation. New Yorkers who want to getaway. Philadepahians. Same old sameold. Now it's much more international.,More important, people are establishingroots and actually living there.

Q: Tell me about Perez. A: Isn't that building amazing? There'sthe restaurant but it's really about events.

e now have a bigger part of ourWbusiness in the event business in Miamithan we have up north. We’re about tosign another deal for more. So we’regrowing in restaurants and in events.

Q: Isn't Miami sinking? A: Not yet — and world climate change iseverywhere. I have to develop a strategyfor my company that diversifies usgeographically. In years past the

Northeast got clobbered while Miamistayed nice. And that saved the P&L. Sowe want to do more in the southernclimates, be it California, Arizona orMiami.

Q: What effect does Art Basel have onyour Miami business and plans?A: You can't predicate a business on oneevent, like Fashion Week in New York. Isit great to be open in time? Sure. And wetry. But that's what I mean about Miami.

It’sIt's the boat show, it's a lot of things. growing up as a city; the restaurant sceneis still in its infancy. It’s done much betterthan it used to, but I still think it’s like theWild West; it’s open for people to come inand try new concepts. Q: Miami has grown up, but have you?

Sometimes I still think I’m 12. I’veA: learned that you can’t do big productionsevery time. With Buddakan and Morimoto,I was very lucky to open on that level withthat kind of money. It was not very smart,even though it worked out. You have tobe much more economical. I’ll never stepback from saying you must spend timeand money on the details. It’s extremelyimportant to me. But I’d rather opensmaller, paying attention to the details,than bigger and taking that kind of risk.

:Q You're talking about 2008, right? A: Yes. After 2008 — those were scarydays — and now I avoid risk as much aspossible. But not at the expense ofquality. I’m just more careful and littlemore conservative.

Q: So, how's business? A: Business is good, especially in NewYork. It’s so good. Like I said, you have toremember 2008, and I hope people do,and remind yourself not to get tooconfident and secure in how you are rightnow. Be careful and make sure you havea cushion. Buddakan is doing as much asit was when it opened and a little better.I’m happy with that. Every time someonetells me the Meatpacking District is over,

it comes back. New hotels, new retail; it’san amazing location.

Q: Upland takes your employee countup to 4,500. That's a big number for aguy still obsessed with every detail. A: And I am that guy. I want to know alltheir names. And I do. And I resist addinglayers of management. I want to hire thebest, young, smart people. It’s daunting. Ifeel like I’m responsible for all 4,500people. That’s the other thing I've learned:My decisions are not all about me. I’m okfinancially. So any decision I take affects4,500 people. It's why Justin is my partnerand the chef. I don’t want to do anythingto screw people's lives up because if Iscrew up my life, I can screw up theirs.

Q: You've opened Asian concepts,Mexican concepts, Japanese. Uplandis your first foray into Italy. Why?

The right answer as a restaurateur isA: to say they’re all the same as long as thequality is right. But the food I like the bestis Italian. I like clean Italian food. Theolder you get, the more you want to eatright. I want to live longer! Of course Ilove the others, El Vez and Morimoto andof course they’re healthy, but honest, Ilove what we’re doing here with Justin —light pastas, salads. I'm very excited.

Q: Upland looks and feels like a hit.A: Please. I can never tell. It's always upto chance. Well, if I live long enough andhire right, maybe I can beat the odds.


Upland Chef Justin Smillie and Stephen Starr

December 2014

December 2014www.bloombergbriefs.com


London1. — Live food. Livelier crowdBeast2. City Social — British with a view3. Kurobuta — Japanese pub food4. Gymkhana — Pub style Indian5. Berners Tavern — Atherton fun

New York1. — France meets AfricaDirty French2. — Pizza plus controlled mobMarta3. — Theatrical ItalianCarbone4. — Spanish hot spotGato5. — East Village cowBowery Meat Co.

Hong Kong1. — U.K. steak chain goes EastGaucho2. — Transplant of NYC originalCarbone3. — Chic Japanese YakitoriToritama4. — Ramsay in HKBread St. Kitchen5. — Central Chinese favoriteMott 32

San Francisco1. — Best Greek in U.S.?Kokkari2. — Pan-Asian by Corey LeeBenu3. — Koji JapaneseIzakaya Yuzuki4. — Crab Louie classicSam's Grill5. — Beloved ItalianDelfina

Why gift certificates are a good thing,help to get you through the holidays,plus a quick trip to Zurich. http://bit.ly/DecReserve

*Top is compiled from on the DINE <GO>Bloomberg Terminal. The formulaincludes hits, reviews and ratings.Updated Dec. 1, 2014

Give the Gift of a Great Restaurant This Holiday Season

BY PETER ELLIOTOne of the best gifts you can give to someone on your holiday list is a luxurious night

out at a restaurant they might not want to fund from their own pocket.It's a win-win: They get a decadent night out with your money, rather than another

trinket to store, and you get one of the easiest shopping experiences of the holidayseason. That's because the days of having to go to a restaurant and get a physical cardare long gone. Most fine dining establishments now offer gift cards online, and manyhave programs where they’ll send you something elegant that you can put under the treeor in a stocking if that's more your style.

One of the hidden advantages of giving gift certificates is they can make it easier foryour guest to get a reservation. Want to gild the lily? Throw in a gift card for a car serviceto get them there and home again. Now you're the gift giver who thinks of everything.

New York1. This is arguably New Peter Luger:York's most revered steak house. All youneed to know is that it's an all cashbusiness, so a gift here really is a bonus.If you want to splurge, get your loved-onea house account. Budget $200 per head.

2. The new UES branch of Kappo Masa:sushi mecca Masa is under LarryGagosian's art gallery. Dinner for two canbe $1,200, practically a down payment ona Koons. It's the kind of meal you'll enjoybetter if someone gives it to you.

3. This is Eleven Madison Park:America's current reigning ultra-luxurious,multi-course, blow-your-mind destination.You might never go, or be able to get in,unless someone buys it for you.

London1. This spot foreverRestaurant Story:puts to rest the notion that the Britishdon't know anything about food. They justhad a few bad decades. Servers walk youthrough the history of a noble cuisine.Prepare to be there all night.

2. Just walking into the Helene Darroze:Connaught dining rooms makes you feelbetter about the world, so long assomeone else is paying for the pleasure.One of the last bastions of luxury andinvisible service.

3. Simon Rogan serves up perhaps Fera: the most perfect expression of thehigh-end farm-to-table movement. Whereelse on earth can you feel like you're onthe farm and still be at Claridge's?

IF/THEN

Source: Jody Storch for Peter Luger

The Porterhouse at Peter Luger in Brooklyn surrounded by all the classic side dishes.

December 2014 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THENIf You Like Tavern on the Green, Then You'll Love...New York's Tavern on the Green may be the most famous "celebration" restaurant in theworld. A two-year renovation has integrated the old structure more fully into Central Parkby removing some famous excesses. Now celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower, 72, is turningout classic dishes like a Gruyere ham and cheese and lobster chowder. Give in. IF: TAVERN ON THE GREEN

Central Park West and West 67th St.

Setting: An integral part of the park.

Food: Upgraded American bistro.

Bar Scene: Surprisingly cool.

Noise Level: Active.

Date Factor: Only if you're proposing.

Groups: Multiple options for huge (orsmall) groups.

Secret: Lunchtime during the week, youcan eat in the prime front row tables in theCentral Park Room. Magic.


New YorkLincoln: Jonathan Benno's impeccable

Italian menu combined with the etherealDiller Scofidio space on the plaza is a joy.

21 Club: A favorite with plutocrats for areason. It still exudes a sense of historyand NYC-laced energy. Multiple roomsand options like the Wine Cellar.

LondonThe Greenhouse: Marlon Abela of A

Voce fame took this dowager and gussiedher up brilliantly. Just walking through themews to get there is an event and thefood is world class.

Between the food, theKoffmann's:service and the location inside TheBerkeley, this may be the perfect place totake mothers — and their paying children.

ParisJules Verne: There are few restaurants

as exciting to visit as the South Pillar ofthe Eiffel Tower. The food can be spotty,but it's always breathtaking.

Frescobaldi: The Italian wine familyopens its first restaurant and bar inthe U.K. Pure Tuscan in Mayfair.

Rex & Mariano: The Goodman steakteams try seafood. You order freshfish by tablet from your table.

15,000 sq. footM Restaurants: combination raw bar, steakhouse,wine-tasting bar and "secret" den.

DesThe Fish & Chip Shop: McDonald of and Q Grill Holborn

with two classic chipDining Roomshops. Trust me, it's good for you.

Almanac: Galen Zamarra may be themost technically proficient chef inNYC. This is a walk through hisrepertoire one dish at a time.

Chefs Club: A new concept fromFood & Wine magazine where theypick four up-and-coming chefs to cookfor one quarter per year.

Huxley: Saison veteran Kris Esquedawith Brett Cooper and AsadorEtxebarri. Global farm-centric.

JUST OPENED

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New York

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Lunch on frigid day in the Central Park Room


YOUR NIGHT OUT


YOUR NIGHT OUT

London's Chic Mayfair Remains One of the World's Premier Dining DestinationsBY PETER ELLIOT

The quaint streets, elegant arcades andgiant squares of London’s Mayfair, thearea to the east of Hyde Park andextending to ceremonial Regent Street,are home to some of the most exclusiverestaurants, clubs, shops and hotels inthe world.

Its conversion during the past 70 yearsfrom a residential enclave to one of themost expensive city districts in the worldhasn’t diminished its Dickensian charm. Ifanything, the wealthier London becomes,the more restaurateurs seem determinedto prove they can triumph here in the faceof soaring rents and extreme competition.This makes for a culinary paradise forconsumers.

There are few bargains here. It's moreabout choosing whether you wantsomeplace quick in between shopping ora long luxurious lunch or dinner. Pretendyou aren't shocked at the cost.

Go With Clients

DRINKSNovikov: Half Italian, half Asian hotspot with something for everyone.

28-50: Cozy French wine bar withenormous and excellent selection.

Classy bar specializing inCartizze: bellinis and other prosecco cocktails.

LUNCH/DINNERThe Square: This sedate stalwart isthe go-to business destination.

Umu: Serious but accessible sushi istucked behind a secret sliding door.

Scott's: Perhaps the most glamorousand dependable Mayfair option. Don'ttrip over the Rolls-Royce Phantoms.

The Indian of choice forBenares: business folk on Berkeley Square.

LATE NIGHTClaridge's: The Fumoir is the chicestplace to tie up a deal. The spiritualhome of the London-style martini.

Go With Friends

DRINKSPunchbowl: One of the best trendygastropubs. Farm Street chic. Pubs on Bruton Place or in

After workShepherd Market: gathering spots for 300 years. The

is the best of the lot. Guinea

LUNCH/DINNERGymkhana: Looks like a pub, tasteslike the best Indian food you've everput in your mouth. A sensation.

Coya: Trendy Peruvian fun. Howceviche should be.

London's answer toThe Wolseley: Balthazar remains stylish and chic.

LATE NIGHTMahiki: Tiki decor and matchingdrinks are a nice alternative to Trader

which is so tacky it's now cool.Vic's,

The Loop Bar: Party central. Almosteverything can and probably willhappen here after 11 p.m.

Go With Family

TEA/DRINKSPalm Court at the Langham: Thishas replaced Brown's and even theRitz as the go-to tea salon fordiscerning tea aficionados.

Sketch: The modernist version of tea,nibbles and sweets for the ClockworkOrange shopping crowd.

LUNCH/DINNERLe Gavroche: Still one of the mostpleasant dining institutions. It's theonly bargain in Mayfair. Hence whyit's the toughest table to get at lunch.

Cecconi's: Fashionable go-to spotafter a trip down Savile Row orshopping around Bond Street.

Popular twin toHakkasan Mayfair:the original, this is more suited tofamilies, teens and their parents.

Quaglino's: Enormous space perfectfor large groups, especially after a dayat the Royal Academy or powershopping with the family.


Source: Bloomberg/Mario Polytaridis

Shoppers parade past Burlington Arcade in front of the gold-festooned branch of Laduree.



Keith McNally’s Cherche Midi Is a Meaty Time MachineBY TEJAL RAO

On the corner of Bowery and Houston,at a table draped in pink linen, a youngblond couple in matching polo shirts issharing the prime rib ($49). The meat isdry-aged, left to ripen for over a month sothat enzymes can work away at theprotein and fat, drawing out its sweetnessand depth. That’s why the steak,drenched in a thick, concentrated jus, isso goddamn delicious. So soft. Soalarmingly easy to chew.

McNally, the son of an Englishdockworker, moved to New York in 1975to become a director, and went on to buildone of the city’s most influentialrestaurant empires, beginning with TheOdeon and later Balthazar and Pastis, toname a few. He draws a particular crowd.You come to Cherche Midi to look good,but also to get a good look at othergood-looking people: Two men withgolden, hairless, tattooed arms,celebrating a milestone birthday over aplate of miniature cookies — hot pinkmacarons and cubes of jellied fruit.Girlfriends in designer cable-knit sweatersreenacting some filthy anecdote from thepast weekend with a handful of Frenchfries.

Cherche Midi doesn’t quite have theswank of Minetta Tavern, McNally’s toughreservation in Greenwich Village, but itdoes have a comparably handsomecheeseburger ($21) which almosteveryone orders. It arrives on a pile ofcrisp fries and the fattest of these havecenters like mashed potato. On top of theprime rib patty — a mix of dry-aged andfresh meat — there’s a lacy melt ofgruyere, a very sweet, boozy-tastingsauce of roasted mushrooms, and what iscasually referred to as bacon marmalade.It is almost too much to handle, a burgerthat will obliterate you.

This used to be the Italian-leaningPulino’s, which McNally opened in 2010,but the pizzas, along with the fluorescentlighting, are gone. Daniel Parilla andShane McBride are in the kitchen now,and their prime rib comes with aparticularly esoteric potato dish: puffs ofpommes soufflés, an old-school French

preparation that requires expertly fryingthin slices of potato so they inflate withair.

It’s not the only surprising French relicresurrected on the menu: Frog legs ($19)adhere to McNally’s particular brand ofhyper Frenchness. The wee bones arecleaned at one end to encourage you touse your fingers and lift them out of a poolof salty, extremely buttery green garlicsauce, with chips of fried garlic on top. Onone visit, they were just the thing toconvert anyone afraid of frogs — sopretty, so delicate — but on another, themeat was cold and the sauce was atbreaking point. It was like pulling the legsfrom a murky pond. Lobster ravioli ($28)was tucked under a blanket of gingerbeurre blanc and piquillo peppers, thatcould have been stitched with the phrase,“I <3 the 90s.” And while it tasted good, ithad the look of something you’d polish offat the front of the airplane.

Who would have thought thatchoucroute would beat pizza? Payattention to Cherche Midi’s daily specials,a list of four or five dishes, and you’ll berewarded with excellent stuff like gentlytangy sauerkraut crowned with pork andbullets of turned potatoes ($19). It’s

intensely salty and fatty stuff. It also involves a slab (really quite a big slab) of

Benton’s bacon.The room is less crowded with manic

energy than it was this past summer, rightafter it opened, and the food is moreconsistently delicious, the service moresure. Waiters in blue shirts with carefullyrolled sleeves bring you food with amassive grin, and runners with peppermills tucked into their apron strings movegracefully through the space when it’spacked. Everyone smiles, no matter what.There are often a couple of seats open atthe copper-edged bar and even if you’renot on McNally’s famous list of VIPs,you’re greeted warmly when you walk into see if those seats might be open.

Pastis, which McNally opened in 1999,shuttered its French windows earlier thisyear and the space is set to transform intoa Restoration Hardware. These can seemlike dark days for the New York bistro, butMcNally is planning to reopen Pastis in2016. He seems to know — and ChercheMidi certainly makes the case — that we’llnever tire of steak-frites and hot souffleson paper doilies.




Source: Bloomberg/Evan Sung

The dry-aged prime rib with pommes souffles at Cherche Midi, Keith McNally's ode to the bistro.



Buying Gifts for Your Foodie Friends Without Breaking Your BudgetQ: So many of my friends are cooks,and I never know what to give them.They surely know more about whatthey want than I do. Any advice?

Thank you for your question.Cooks — like gadget freaks, sports fans

and all sorts of collectors — can neverhave enough of what they like and areloathe to pay for it themselves. Never beafraid to ask what they need, and keep aneye out when you're in their homes forthings they might be lacking. It'll come inhandy when you're a houseguest, too.Here's a list that will make almost anyonehappy.

1. No cook has everKitchen Towels:been unhappy to get new ones. Pick 100percent cotton from almost anywhere.

2. Everyone should have aCast Iron: Lodge cast iron frying pan and dutchoven. It's exactly the sort of thing peoplenever get for themselves. They aren't thatexpensive, either.

3. Even if they say theyCookbooks:don't want them, they do, trust me.Cookbooks are also a great place to slide

This.restaurant gift certificatesseason's hits:

, Dorie GreenspanBaking Chez Moi

, Gabrielle HamiltonPrune

, Christian PuglisiRelae

Thomas McNaughtonFlour & Water,

, Karen PageVegetarian Flavor Bible

4. Home cooks are notoriously Knives: stingy about getting themselves good

knives. They're expensive. It's a great giftparticularly for newlyweds. A simple 12inch chef's knife will do. I give all metalGlobal knives a lot. Super easy to clean.

areKnife sharpening kits or stones also welcome additions under the tree.

5. The days of hand sucking airCoravin:out of wine bottles to keep a bottle freshare over with all sorts of new gadgets.This is one of the best and it works.

6. Don't worry about wineWine:collectors and their collections. They'realways thrilled to get a case or half-caseof something you've selected. Still afraid?Get a gift certificate from a wine store.

7. We never have enough and Olive Oil: we hate to pay for it. Just a fact.

8. Natural fiber sponges are inSponges:

high demand in kitchens. Even better,they're dry so kids love to watch themexpand in water. A gift that's a party trick.

9. A secret chiliPiment d'Espelette:spice that cooks (and you) can put onalmost anything. Always welcome.

10. Maldon salt from England is mySalt: favorite salt gift. Rock salts from theHimalayas in various colors are fun, too.Good salt and pepper shakers fornewbies are always a safe bet.







@mrpeterelliot.





Bye Bye Barcelona: New London Tapas Bar Brings It All Back HomeBY RICHARD VINES

Earlier this year, I went to Spain with acouple of friends to dine at El Celler deCan Roca, a past winner of the World’s50 Best Restaurants awards.

We were so excited about tapas inBarcelona; we packed in three lunches inone day before heading north to amulti-course tasting menu in Girona. Yes,three. Food people are like that.

El Quim in the Boqueria market, whichis filled with fine ingredients, was our firststop. Then came Cal Pep, a favorite ofchefs. We ended at El Bodega 1900, aninnovative restaurant from Albert Adria,who worked at El Bulli with brotherFerran.

And then this fall I tried the newBarrafina in London’s Covent Garden. Myhops to Spain are over for a while: I enjoyBarrafina as much as anywhere I’ve beenin Barcelona.

It’s mainly the food, of course, but thecharming and knowledgeable servicehelps. The place is almost always full,often with a queue, yet the servers havetime to smile and to discuss the dishesand the wines. They look happy to bethere.

I’m happy to be there, too. Take asimple option such as the crab croquetas,which cost 4.50 pounds ($7.12) for two.The coating is crunchy and very light,while the filling is a zap of moltenshellfish, soft and almost liquid, with greatflavor.

That sudden release of a hot, sticky,intense filling reminds me of the first timeI tried a McDonald’s apple pie, around1974. Bring on the strawberry thickshake.

The pan con tomate (2.80 pounds) — atBarrafina, not McDonald’s — smells sobeautiful you wonder where anyone findssuch tomatoes. They are sweet as asentimental movie. The meats, thecheeses, all are good. And the milk fedlamb’s kidneys (8.50 pounds) — servedon a mini-charcoal grill — are smoking.

I like these simple dishes, includingpimientos de Padrón and oysters with

Sublime Simplicity

lime and chilis. There are moreadventurous options such as herb-crustedrabbit shoulder, which was a bit dry formy taste. I’m working my way up tomilk-fed lamb’s brain. The excellentwines, mostly available by the glass, help.

The executive head chef is NievesBarragan Mohacho, who is alsoresponsible for the original Barrafina, inSoho, and Fino, in Fitzrovia. All areowned by Anglo-Spanish brothers Samand Eddie Hart, whose other restaurant isQuo Vadis, also in Soho.

They cite Cal Pep, that cheffy fave fromBarcelona, as their inspiration.

There are just 20 stools along a counterand no reservations. Go early, or late, orbe prepared to queue.

The really exciting thing is that Barrafinais not alone. You can also get excellenttapas at Iberica, which has three outlets.More formal Spanish restaurants are inshort supply in London. Cambio de Terciois the standout here.

Another group — Salt Yard — ownsfour establishments, including the latest

In Good Company

Ember Yard, which takes its inspirationfrom Spanish and Italian cooking overcharcoal.

The roasted and chargrilled Ibericopresa (9 pounds), a prime cut near theend of the loin, comes with a whippedjamon butter. It’s so fat with piggy flavor, itwouldn’t be more of a star if it were on theMuppet Show.

The oak-smoked Basque beef burgerwith tetilla (a Galacian cheese) andchorizo ketchup is punchy as a pugilist onspeed. The broad bean, smoked ricotta,and mint croquettes with basil pesto aresiren sultry. (The current menu listsspiced lamb burger with piquillo,aubergine, and garrotxa cheese. Where’sthe beef?)

Desserts include a cinnamon and milktart with chestnut ice cream and cranberryjam. Throw in a couple of smoky cocktailssuch as the Fino & Tonic, with Olorososherry perfume and flower ice and youmay feel a little misty-eyed.

I wonder if three lunches in Londonmight be a good option.



DESTINATIONS

Source: Barrafina

Deep-fried sea anemones, or ortiguillas, are served at Barrafina in Covent Garden.


DESTINATIONS

Sedate Zurich Reinvigorated as Technology Meets High FinanceSwitzerland's financial capital Zurich

conjures an orderly picture of privatebanks, clean streets and German cars.That's being shaken up by a techinvasion. Google has moved a researchand development center here and newrestaurants in old brick barns buzz withtechies talking about their start-ups.

How did the home of money becomethe home of coding? Look up. The SwissFederal Institute of Technology (ETH)hovers over the city between classicchurch spires and guild halls. It's thesepeople who are filling up new areas likeZuri West, with its modern towers stackedover factory conversions. Gone is thesleepy burgh dominated by theBahnhofstrasse, Zurich'sChamps-Elysees. It’s more likeCambridge, Massachusetts, except it’s aneasier place to live. You can get to themountains for skiing or on board a boaton Lake Zurich in minutes.

The food scene matches the relaxedvibe. If you want Rosti — Swisshashbrowns — done right, or liver

dumplings in a golden consomme, or an extra portion of veal lathered in

mushroom cream sauce, this is the place.

For a city dominated by business, thiscity still brings a lot of charm. Oneimagines that in a hundred years, SanFrancisco will feel as civilized, functionaland productive as Zurich feels right now.

Top Hotels:Park Hyatt: It's modern, in the center of everything, and

probably the best overall choice for business travelers.

Baur au Lac: This grande-dame stretches down to the lake. It'slike being at the Ritz in Paris. Classic, fussy and perfect. OwnerGigi Kracht is the city's unofficial art world matriarch.

Storchen: Alongside the Limmat like a Venetian palazzo,guests can walk through the lobby and have their swim.

The Dolder Grand: A classic 19th-century Swiss spa withNorman Foster's $500 million 2008 addition wrapped around itlike a stern and very well-dressed parent. Worth a visit.

Top Restaurants and Bars:Kronenhalle: Forget that you're eating the best Swiss food and

concentrate on the original Chagalls, Miros and Picassos. It's likeno other restaurant on earth. If I were a bar I'd be the Giacomettidesigned teak, red marble and green lacquer wonder next door.

Terrasse: All purpose bistro great for people watching.

The George: Fun rooftop bar/restaurant atop the old Oberdepartment store. Great views. A hangout for urban techies.

Atop Zurich's tallest building, the view is staggering ifClouds: the clouds haven't rolled in. Top notch fare and buzzing bar.

Helvti: The best hamburgers in town in an old tram station.

Language: Most everyone speaks English but Swiss-German is preferred to its cousin, Hochdeutsch. Know your "gruezi" (hello)and "merci vielmal" (thanks a lot) from your "guten tag" and "danke schoen."

Travel: Load up the ZVV app on your mobile phone for the public transport system. Between trams and buses, it's the easiest cityin the world to get around and even rich Swiss bankers and FX traders are proud to use it. Cab drivers don't like credit cards.

Swimming: If you love to swim, this is Valhalla. You can swim in the river, or select the pools carved out of the rivers themselves,one of which, Mannerbad, becomes the happening bar at night. I chose the Art Deco Hallenbad for a chlorinated approach.Rimini

Time: In the country of luxury watches, promptness is appreciated. Trains, trams and people work by the clock. Meetings beginon time. Calling ahead if you are late is fine. If you are on a delayed train, take a photo! You won't see it that often.

Christmas: Other cities have a famous department store; Zurich has chocolatiers like Lindt & Sprüngli where Christmas neverends. See the Swarovski tree at the station. Lights cover the city like icicles and almost every shop or stall has beautiful decorationsor nutcrackers. Come home with one of these from your trip and everyone will forgive you any sins of omission from previoustravels.

INSIDER TIPS

Q&A

Source: Bloomberg/Matthew Lloyd

Street lights illuminate the Pfingstweidstrasse road in the Zuri West district of the city.


Q&A

Martha Stewart Starts a New Chapter Selling the Holidays and Her Brand Worldwide

Martha Stewart, 73, is starting a "new chapter" in

her career. The domestic diva’s parent company

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia shed its

unprofitable magazine division this fall (it will still

supply all the content) to focus on merchandise

and making sure people all over the world can

slide into cozy flannel sheets or buy perfectly

decorated trees. Peter Elliot met with her at her

office overlooking New York’s Hudson River.

Q: How did you become so associatedwith the holiday season?A: Associated? We’re not associated. We

the holidays. Here, the holidays neverarereally end. It’s a huge focus for ourbusiness — an almost a $100 million part.We’re at Home Depot. We’re selling treeson Black Friday. Last year we sold 90,000trees on Black Friday. So everything wedo, from photo shoots, to trees, to — welleverything — it never really stops.

Q: Could we define your core businessnow as “the holidays?”A: No. The holidays are just a part.Flannel sheets. I’m not kidding. I’m all intoflannel sheets. Would you have everthought flannel sheets would be aprofitable business? But they are.

Q: What’s the Martha Stewart quick fixfor last-minute gifts? What do you tellthe trader or executive who has runout of time?A: It wouldn’t be bad to give them cash.Especially for kids. They would be thrilledto go out and buy what they really want,And your wife, you should really be betterat planning that — listen for somethingshe’s been hinting at. Wives have a wayof doing that.

Q: For a woman who sells sheets, doyou recommend household goods asgifts?

No. Women can get those thingsA: themselves. What they want is a beautifulpiece of jewelry, a handbag — somethingyou’ve thought through. That's somethingyou don't mess up.

Q: What if you’re the kind of guy who has no idea what that even means?

We’ll have to have a whole discussionA: on that another time! The secret here is toask. If she’s hinted she wants a handbag,go to one of the better stores — she’llhave hinted at that, too. And ask for help.And you know what? Your wife wouldn’tmind a wad of cash either!

Q: So if you’re planning a holidayvacation, how do you fit that in?A: Like many men, I forget to make plans,too. So then I try to be creative. I’m abusiness person, I want a vacation at theend of the year but I also love the habit offamily, the kids and grandkids, ChristmasEve, opening the presents. But then? Iwant to be off to the airport, not too early.

:Q That sounds hard to execute.A: It's easy. Agree on a holiday plan by Oct. 1. You both agree what you’re doingand where you’re going. Have yourassistant put it in your calendar so it’s nota secret. It’s a pact. Decide where — or if— you’re going away. Whatever youdecide, plan it, agree to it, and put it in thediary. It’s a pact that over the years canbecome a habit, too.

Q: There's a saying, “In business,never look back. Only forward.” Doesthat apply to you too? A: 1000 percent. I’m only looking forward.I want to make our business match ourbrand. That’s why last week I was inKorea, the week before in Istanbul. I’mlearning about the different countrieswhich will accommodate our brand andalmost all of them do.

Q: How do you define the MS brand? We have thousands of products thatA:

have to do with the home, the holidays,the indoors, the outdoors. Everythingrelated to a home. They’re well made,they’re good looking and they’reaffordable and that’s exactly why it'sappealing to a homemaker in emergingmiddle classes all over the world.

Q: Are you starting over? I feel like a new chapter is beginning.A:

A new international chapter. The world,as Mr. Friedman says, is flat. There areno boundaries. People all over the worldwant and need the same things. They’relooking for comfort, they’re looking for ahome. They’re looking for a place to puttheir heads so they can go out and buildbusinesses.

Q: As you start on this next chapter,what will you do differently that youmight not have done before?A: Now I’m more devoted to makingthings really, really good than makingthings monetarily successful. If you makethem good, the success comes. Mycompany is a case in point. This companyhas to grow now. It has to. It has everysingle quality of a really good companyand now all I have to do is help make thathappen.

Q: It sounds like it all comes back tobusiness. Does that make you happy?A: I’m a total workaholic. You learn asyou get older to get joy in other ways. Ihave two grandchildren that give me greatjoy. And my gardens; a party next week.

Q: What's your holiday wish for yourgrandchildren?

All I want for them is that they surviveA: fabulously in this very complicated world.And survive happily.


Martha Stewart at her office in New York.

January 2015

January 2015www.bloombergbriefs.com

Forget New Year's Resolutions: Just Get Real (Food)

BY PETER ELLIOTIt's the first week of the new year, and odds are good you stood on a scale this

morning. January is the time most everyone starts new diets, makes lofty resolutions andchecks to see if their gym membership still exists. Stop scouring the Internet for thesecret weight-loss solution and follow what experts, scientists and food lovers alreadyknow: eat real, non-processed, healthy food, and exercise. Michael Pollan had it right.

It’s simple: If it has a label, and you intend to put it in your mouth, read it. If there’ssomething in there you don’t recognize, put it back. If it’s wrapped, frozen or boxed, putyour antennae up. That doesn’t mean everything you eat has to be organic or from afarm where you know the cow personally, though it does help. It just has to be real. Thesame applies to restaurants. If it feels processed or like it came out of a microwave, itprobably did.

Here are some of my favorite spots that capture the ideal of whole, healthy eating:

New York1. Chef Jody Williams has Via Carota:made a name for herself cooking honestfood with integrity at . Her newBuvettespot, with Rita Sodi of , is a study inI Sodihow even fried food can still be healthy.

2. The food of the Middle Bar Bolonat:East from hummus to kibbeh is at its besthere. It's like all of Yotam Ottolenghi'sbooks came to life in a restaurant.

3. Now a culinary superstar, Chef Craft: Tom Colicchio still lives by the principle ofgetting the best ingredients and try to doas little as possible to hurt them.

is a great choice, too.Narcissa

San Francisco1. Activist, Chez Panisse (Berkeley):chef and Edible Schoolyard founder AliceWaters started with this humblerestaurant. It's worth the trip just to see(and taste) food so good that MichelleObama imitates it at the White House.

2. Its dim-sum State Bird Provisions:approach to healthy American food andingredients has changed the game. Howto get in? Patience and cancellations.

3. Year Ferry Building Marketplace:round the restaurants and stores at thisvast hall facing the Bay Bridge typify whatit means to live and eat healthy.


London1. — Medieval modern hitBeast2. — City Social British fare with a view3. — Celeb centralChiltern Firehouse4. Kurobuta — Japanese beyond sushi5. Gymkhana — High Indian meets pub

New York1. — North African FrenchDirty French2. — Sexiest pizza parlor in townMarta3. — All about cow Bowery Meat Co.4. — Italian with ruffled shirtsCarbone5. — Spain via star chef Bobby FlayGato

Hong Kong1. — Korean fried chickenUncle Padak2. — NYC Italian transplantCarbone3. — Craft beersTipping Point4. — British steak moves EastGaucho5. — Favorite banker ChineseMott 32

Copenhagen1. — Neo-Nordic on sabbaticalNoma2. — Danish ItalianScarpetta Islands 3. — Non-touristy Nordic Manfreds4. — Organic wines, Nordic fareKadeau5. — Scandinavian steak houseMash

What do thawing relations betweenthe U.S. and Cuba mean for food?Plus a look at 2014's best and worst.Click the photo or to launch.link

*Top is compiled from on the DINE <GO>Bloomberg Terminal. The formulaincludes hits, reviews and ratings.Updated Dec. 24, 2014.

IF/THEN

Source: Michael Thomas Cooper for Little Collins

Roasted cauliflower, freekeh, pomegranate seeds and fresh persimmon salad at Little Collins.

January 2015 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THENIf You Like the Oyster Bar in New York... ...Then You'll Love Swan in SanFran

Just after New Years it always amazes me how I start to crave oysters. Maybe I'm rationalizing that seafood and a martini is somehowhealthier than everything caloric I ingested in December. There are few places on earth where you can get as much variety and volumeof fresh crustaceans as the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York. If you love oysters as much as I do, in SanSwan Oyster Depot Francisco, while not the same size, matches Grand Central punch for punch in quality, killer specials and sheer masculinebrusqueness. Just beware that both places have hours like the tides.

IF: Grand Central Oyster Bar

Location: Grand Central Station, NYC

Setting: Majestic. Lights line theGuastavino-tiled vaults under the station.

Food: Stick to the oysters.

Bar Scene: Commuter after-work.

Noise Level: Loud and audible.

Secrets: The entrance is the famous"whisper gallery." Put yourself in onecorner, a friend at the other and speak.More fun after a few martinis.

THEN:

A Williamsburg version of the model, replete withMaison Premiere (New York): candlelight, mustaches and superlative cocktails. Also try and .John Dory Blue Ribbon

B&G Oysters (Boston): No. 9 Chef Barbara Lynch's ode to Boston's historicproduction and dominance of the fish trade. Still, like all these, I'd stick to the oysters.

Huitrerie Regis (Paris): Celebrated in Mireille Guiliano's (Why French Women Don'tGet Fat) new book "Paris Oyster." Classics like and work, too.Le Dome Terminus Nord

GT Fish & Oyster (Chicago): Chicagoan's argue they're ideally situated to get thebest from both the east and west coasts of America. This is an elegant, modern take.

J Sheekey (London): This harks back to a time of thespians slurping in CoventGarden. I'm also partial to in Chelsea and in the City's heart.Bibendum Sweetings

OPENINGS

Redbird (Los Angeles): Chef NealFraser's seasonal American opening inthe rectory of the amazing VibianaCathedral after a five-year build-out.

The Progress (San Francisco): StateBird Provisions' long-awaited, grown-upspin-off.

Rintaro (San Francisco): Smelling offresh cut cedar and burned wood, this isthe hottest izakaya opening in town.

CaliforniaBad Egg: Neil Rankin of Smokehouse

fame focuses on egg dishes withinfluences from India to Mexico.

Rabezzana: Smithfield enoteca fromChef Guglielmo Arnulfo of Acciuga.

Cereal Killer Cafe: The name says itall. Will Britons give up traditionalbreakfast to have distinctly Americancereal and milk combinations? All day?An unexpected sensation.

LondonStanton Street Kitchen: Erik Blauberg

was the chef at the giant 21 Club for 8years. This is his return. A smaller venueof American fare on the LES.

Momofuku Ko: David Chang's babygrows up and moves to a new location.It's just as hard to score a reservation.

Madiba Harlem: A larger version of theFort Greene original in happening Harlemat MIST (My Image Studios).

New York

YOUR NIGHT OUT


Oyster schuckers at work at The Oyster Bar in Grand Central StationSource: Bloomberg/Peter Elliot

Anchor Steam on tap and West Coast oysters at Swan Oyster Depot


YOUR NIGHT OUT

Farewell Los Angeles Traffic: Stay Downtown and Find Everything You Want to Eat

BY PETER ELLIOTOnce upon a time city planners

crisscrossed Los Angeles with freewaysand created a desert island out of thearea known as downtown LA (DTLA).Once buzzing with the city's originalbanking area and the Broadway thatmade The Roxie famous, DTLA laylargely dormant for 30 years after thepavement invasion. Various attempts torevive it only seemed to make its isolationworse.

Now artists, students, restaurants andspeculative developers are rushing back.It's like Brooklyn's culinary and artisticboom, plus sunshine. Between FrankGehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall, arestored Union Station, hip hotels,industrial lofts and a financial district ofmodern skyscrapers, DTLA now offerssomething for everyone. Finance folkhave more and better lunch options thanWall Street can ever hope for.

It's an authentic urban experience,complete with public transport, and that'swhat makes it manageable. In this

hallowed city of automobiles, some wholive in DTLA don't bother owning them.

Go With Clients

DRINKSCana Rum Bar: Near the StaplesCenter, a perfect place to leaveBacardi behind and try sipping rums.

The Varnish: Arguably the city's bestbartenders are tucked behind Cole's,famous for The French Dip and itsrivalry with in Chinatown.Philippe's

DINNERQ-Sushi: Chef Hiroyuki Narukeserves in the edomae style: no rolls.

Faith & Flower: A giant room thataims to be a West Coast bistro: partFrench, part Asian, part Italian.

Bottega Louie: Combinationpatisserie and restaurant in an oldBrooks Brothers. Chic and popular.

French bistro in theChurch & State: old Nabisco building, now lofts, shops.

LATE NIGHTSeven Grand: DTLA's coolest placeto sip a wee dram of Scotch.

Go With Friends

DRINKSPerch: The best views of the city (allof it!) from the corner of PershingSquare. Pretend you've just arrived onthe Super Chief from Chicago.

Ace: The rooftop bar of the Ace Hotel,the converted former United ArtistsTheatre is the hottest place in town.

DINNERBestia: This is about Chef OriMenashe's love of fire. In an industrialwasteland soon to be breweries, it'slike Italian barbecue bliss.

Orsa & Winston: The fine dining twinto more relaxed next door.Bar Ama Serious cooking from Josef Centeno.

Chef Ari Taymor's hand in theAlma: multi-course molecular game. Veryworth it.

LATE NIGHTTony's Saloon: This forlorn lookingspot halfway to Skid Row is where thecool kids hang out.

Go With Family

Engine Co. No. 28: In an old firehouse, a perfect all-American eaterysolution near downtown (financialdistrict) for kids of all ages.

Food trucks on Bunker Hill: WellsFargo, Bank of America and othersrejoice! You can go to McCormick &Schmick's but why when some of thebest food is outside on the plaza?

Grand Central Market: DTLA'sanswer to SanFran's Ferry Building,but funkier and with more variety. It'sjust below the towers of Bunker Hill soa short walk or a ride on "AngelsFlight" when it's repaired. These aresome of my favorites inside:

Horse Thief BBQ: Get your handsmessy. Ribs, smoked meats andsome serious sides.

Wexler's: How did Brookyln getbetter in LA? The best bagels andReubens.

Belcampo Meat Co.: Bring on thefight over who really has the bestburger in the U.S.A.



Pizzas are prepped to go into a natural wood fired oven at Bestia in Downtown Los Angeles.



Upland Offers Stylish Cal-Ital Comfort From Former Il Buco ChefBY TEJAL RAO

This past year has been a bit crud, butit’s over, and dinner in a warm, glowingdining room like Upland’s can be a finedistraction. The restaurant is located justoff Manhattan’s Park Avenue at 26thStreet, but named for a city east of LosAngeles, thousands of feet up in the SanGabriel Mountains, where the chef, JustinSmillie, was born.

For all its Cal-Ital marketing effortsthough, it has the unmistakable feeling ofa New York eatery. Look, there is SalmanRushdie in a booth, and beside him agroup of fashion editors coming downhard on a plate of beef tartare. All around,there are loud, wine-fueled power dinnersinterrupted by long, luxurious smokebreaks.

Smillie’s food is very good, generouslyportioned, shaggy and effortless. A giant,thickety hen of the woods, for example, isfried in olive oil and served whole. Thisway it looks less like a mushroom andmore like a pompom belonging to sometenaciously cheerful woodland creature.That is to say, it’s delightful, and deliciouswith a squeeze of lemon, swiped throughsome very soft goat cheese.

Many of the pastas at Upland are madein house — don’t miss Smillie’sparticularly delicious estrella in a creamymelt of chicken liver and sherry, choppedherbs and shallots, all of it coating everyridge of the long, tubular stars. The dishsounds plain and simple, but it alsoharnesses the comforting powers ofchicken liver, which should never beunderestimated.

At Upland things are on the bonewhenever they can be — whole branzino,crisp confit duck wings smudged withyuzu kosho, beef ribs served almost asthey would be at a smokehouse, under acrust of spices, but with raw gratedhorseradish, ribbons of celery, and biggreen olives. It’s joyful and satisfying, andvery nearly the same as the rib thatSmillie used to serve at Il Buco Alimentarie Vineria, the Italian restaurant on GreatJones where he

In House, On The Bone

cooked until June.Upland is a very good-looking

restaurant, too. It has green leatherbanquettes and gleaming copper fixtures(though with a fairly ridiculous quantity ofjarred preserved lemons lining the walls).Serving dinner only for now, it’s packedand noisy, with waiters weaving around inblue checked aprons, enunciating wordslike nduja correctly.

A bit of smoked cabbage stole the showfor me when it arrived with the sea trout,whiffing of a campfire at the end of thenight, the outer layer crackling likechicken skin and the inside melting andsweet. Like many of Upland’s best dishes,it was rich and deeply flavored, withoutcarrying any unnecessary weight.

Smillie’s Caesar salad is particularlystunning, a colorful pile of puntarelle,kale, and speckled heirloom lettucesdressed in a sharp anchovy and lemondressing, everything delicately fishy andbitter and fresh. When you go here inJanuary, to repent for holiday overeating,it is the dish to get — lean, but deeplysatisfying, smacking with so much flavorso you might not even notice the egg yolkand cheese are MIA.

The piglet, cooked so the meat is tenderand the skin is firm and sticky as hardcandy, comes with longs slices of Jimmy

Chili Roulette

Nardello peppers. The chili was namedfor a farmer, not a school bully, but it didsome serious damage to my diningcompanion who panted and gulped waterlike he’d lost a dare at a ghost pepperconvention. It’s generally mild and sweetand even floral, but this particular pepperhad the wallop of something muchstronger. Proceed with caution.

Service is cool and professional, butthere were occasionally long, excruciatinggaps between courses, with no onecoming over to reassure us that our foodwas on its way.

Desserts are good, but chances arewith portions like this you’ll be too full tofinish Leigh Friend’s fat slice of walnut piewhich is monstrously big but very good,with crisp pastry and a firm filling that isn’toverly sweet. It comes with a lovelychicory ice cream (and the salted brownsugar ice cream, available a la carte, isalso fantastic) though I preferred Friend’smore elegant desserts, like a barelysweet pomelo salad, and a pumpkincustard with candied pumpkin seeds, acloud of cake, and a tangy ginger icecream. This one came at the end of a bigmeal and it was light and tart, with all thesweetness of a well-constructed breakfastbowl, promising a good day ahead.

Elegant Desserts




Source: Bloomberg/Virginia Rollinson

Just-shucked scallop with chile and fermented radish



Ivy Market Grill Captures Future of London Dining Right NowBY RICHARD VINES

It's that time of year when people like tomake predictions about trends for thecoming 12 months.

Funny how those forecasts frequentlydescribe what has been happening overthe past year. Let's face it: We probablysee more in a rear-view mirror than acrystal ball.

In such a spirit, I'd like to boldly gowhere no man has gone before and saythat all-day brasserie-style dining is likelyto become increasingly popular in Londonin 2015.

These places are popping up all over.Now, the new Ivy Market Grill joinsHolborn Dining Room, Strand DiningRooms, the ace Zedel, and HeddonStreet Kitchen in ploughing anot-so-lonely furrow that was popularizedby The Wolseley in 2003.

What distinguishes Ivy Market Grill frommuch of the recent competition is that it isbetter. Sure, the menu is — shall we say?— a "homage'' to the Wolseley in terms ofdesign, but the prices are low and thecooking doesn't lack ambition.

The pre-theater option (served from 5p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) is particularly goodvalue at 16.50 pounds ($25.86) for twocourses and 21 pounds for three. Youmight start with smoked mackerel rillettesserved in a jar with lemon, pepper, andgranary toast. No shortage of flavor there.

Then, if you are not really poor or tootight-fisted, you can splash out a 3.50pounds supplement and order steakfrites: Australian rump with fries andwatercress. The fries aren't the best —limp and lukewarm — but just push asidethe green stuff, slap on some mustardand ketchup and you are away.

Even the desserts are worth ordering.The baked meringue with vanilla creamand clementine jam is particularlyenticing, without being too sweet; a plateof Keen's Cheddar with granny smithapples and crisp breads is pretty good,too.

If you go a la carte, the prices are stillforgiving. Most starters cost less than 10pounds, and I've had some good ones.The winter salad comes with shavedapple, hazelnuts, golden raisins, andcelery, with a Stilton dressing.

I don't make a habit of ordering salads,but they're okay as an occasional changefrom meaty offerings. Come to think of it,the mushrooms on toast, with marjoramon toasted brioche, are decent, too; andthe baked open ravioli with spinach, peas,broad beans, creamed ricotta, and basilisn't bad.

It's like I'm having a strange vegetarianturn. Avocado, tomato, and sesame onthe breakfast menu has caught my eye,and what's that sandwich? HLT — grilledhalloumi cheese, lettuce, and tomato withFrench fries. That sounds goooood.

Okay. There's a bunch of fish andsteaks available from the grill, and I havea soft spot for Chicken Milanese:brioche-crumbed bird with fried hen's eggand black truffle. I am very relaxed withcomfort food, especially when it'sinexpensive and served in a restaurantwith a hint of glamour.

Be warned: Some restaurants start withlow prices, which they increase once thecritics have been through. I am not for amoment suggesting that Ivy ownerRichard Caring would do any such thing.Certainly not. (Dear lawyer: Does thatcover it?)

The restaurant name is slightlymisleading. Ivy Market Grill is a differentkettle of fish from The Ivy, which is

closing for a renovation. (Among otherthings, they are taking down the wall thatdivides the bar from the dining room.)Where the Ivy feels clubby and exclusive,Ivy Market Grill is more democratic, thekind of place you might find the populistpolitician Nigel Farage at the next table,though not White Van Man from therecent Rochester by-election. The serviceis friendly and efficient.

The low prices can free up funds forgood wines such as the Chardonnay,Morgan 'Double L Vineyard', California2012, at 90 pounds. The houseChampagne is 55 pounds. If you fancysomething unusual, there's a Uruguayanviognier — Bodega Garzon 2013 — at 34pounds that is easy drinking.

You might say the Ivy Market Grilloccupies territory somewhere betweenclassic and old-fashioned. You'd bewrong.

It is the restaurant of the moment, atrend-setter, the future of London dining,the most important development since thediscovery of the hamburger a couple ofyears ago. It captures the zeitgeist beforethat zeitgeist even exists.

I look into the mirror on the wall andwhat do I see? 2015.Richard Vines is the chief food critic for


DESTINATIONS BY PETER ELLIOT, BLOOMBERG BRIEF EDITOR

Source: Paul Winch-Furness/Caprice Holdings via Bloomberg

The main dining room at Ivy Market Grill feels democratic. It's classic without being intimidating.


DESTINATIONS BY PETER ELLIOT, BLOOMBERG BRIEF EDITOR

Mexico City Dazzles From Pancho Villa Bullets to Knightsbridge ChicWhen you mention a visit to Mexico

City, you’ll hear one of two things: that it’sone of the largest cities in the world orthat it’s dangerous. The former is true:The Distrito Federal, or DF, has 21 millionpeople. But stop in for a visit and it seemslargely removed from the violence that ishappening in the rest of the country. Infact, the city is becoming a model forother fast-growing Latin American cities.

Restaurants are a huge part of therevival, though in some ways its open airmarkets remain at the heart of MexicoCity's culinary soul. Ask people for theirfavorites and keep small bills handy. Justremember, lunch is the big meal of theday here and starts at 2 p.m. Dinner ismore like the Spanish tradition: lighterfare where you're really just getting readyfor a night in the bars. Don't miss out ontrying different tequilas and mezcals.They drink it here like beer.

As you explore the city, utilize themetro, which is helping reduce DF'snotorious air pollution and introducing away around the area’s biggest problem:traffic. You'll discover a magnificent,architecturally fascinating food paradise

that emerges slowly as you cross throughinterlinked neighborhoods.

Some are as chic as Knightsbridge,while others like Brentwood have morecolor. Polanca is bustling with brand newshopping malls, office parks, housing

developments and the most exotichappening in the city: Carlos Slim’saluminum-tiled, mushroom shaped MuseoSoumaya. It's as good inside as outside.Same for the Museo Jumex.

Don't be afraid. Bienvenidos. Top Restaurants:

Contramar: A Mexican brasserie focused on fish. Families,business people and tourists clamor for the freshest Uni shippeddaily from Ensenada topped with salsa. Bustles night and day.

Pujol: Chef Enrique Olvera is to Mexican cuisine what JoseAndres is to Spanish. You'll never think of Mexican food as justtacos ever again. His new Cosme in NYC is even better.

Dulce Patria: Insane glamour from Martha Ortiz. Red floors,themed meals. I had a Dia de los Muertos black bean soup. Fun.

Think of your favorite local French bistro, takeMaximo Bistrot: it up a notch, then make it Mexican infused. Try the local wines.

Top Bars:La Nueva Opera: Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa

blew a bullet hole in the ceiling in 1910. Probably the mostfamous bar in Mexico and one of the few solid ones downtown.

La Terraza at Hotel: An Art-Deco hotel in the heart of thetrendy Condesa area. You can imagine Diego Rivera walking in.

Biergarten: South of the Column of Independence, it's on topof the Mercado Roma with an open terrace and sliding roof.

Cosmo: In the heart of chic Polanco, this feels like asophisticated European bar with a Mexican twist. Everyone lookslike a million pesos and many guests have bodyguards.

It's a bit chaotic to get in and out of both terminals. Getting there can be even more challenging: locals will advise youAirport:not to take the Metro into town unless you're bag-free and not to take the taxis. Solution? Car service apps, which work well there.

It's hard to feel unsafe in a city where there's a policeman at every corner and in every store with loaded machine guns.Safety:Once you get used to that, keep your eyes and wits about you just like anywhere else.

At certain hours (9-11 a.m. and 2-7 p.m.) nothing moves. is the local bike share program. The bikes are primitiveTraffic: EcoBici but work. The Metro is similar to NYC outside of Manhattan. It works but leaves you farther away than you think. Just prepare towalk. With taxis, I stuck to the "No VW Beetle" rule. And don't hail them from the street, only designated stands.

The Palacio de Bellas Artes has Diego Rivera's original murals (including the one he intended for RockefellerSeeing the Sites:Center.) Walk the vast Plaza de la Constitución dominated by the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest in the Americas, as well as thearchaeological dig just northwest of it, where they're uncovering what the Aztecs believed was the true center of the universe.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Las Vegas. MSG me at [email protected] with favorites and tips.

SPOTLIGHT: PERU


Getting ready for the Saturday lunch crowd at Contramar in the Roma district of Mexico City


SPOTLIGHT: PERU

Pisco Sour With Your Ceviche? Gastro-Tourists Storm LimaBY JOHN QUIGLEY

With dishes of grilled baby octopus,barbecued cow heart and baked bayscallops with parmesan cheese spread ontheir table, Anna and John Kenneke wereregretting their departure from Lima thenext day.

"We would extend our trip if we couldsee more, eat more, experience more,''said Anna, 29, before their return toPortland, Oregon. "It's been really easy toeat well here,'' she added, as herhusband scooped up some shreddedguinea pig meat on toast.

Peruvian cooking, which combinesfoods from the coastal, mountain andjungle regions with traditions ofimmigrants from Europe, Asia and Africa,has become a global sensation in thepast five years. It has put Lima on thetourist map, transforming a city racked byterrorist attacks in the 1990s andconsidered an inconvenient stop on theway to Machu Picchu.

Peru was named the top global culinarydestination for a third year running at theWorld Travel Awards, trumping China,France, Italy and the U.S.

Ceviche and pisco sour cocktails havebecome popular worldwide. Ceviche barsrun by celebrity chefs such as GastonAcurio have popped up in New York, SanFrancisco, London and Madrid.

“Fifteen years ago, Peruvian cuisinewas unknown,” said Mariano Valderrama,vice president of the country’sgastronomic association, known asApega. “Now it’s in fashion, and Peru ispositioning itself globally as a first-classtourist and gastronomic destination."

Tourist arrivals to Lima increased by athird to 2.2 million last year from 2009. A16 percent jump last year was the biggestin Latin America, according to the WorldTravel & Tourism Council, an industrygroup based in London.

“In the ’80s there were very few goodrestaurants in the city, and now you have50 of them,” said Lucas Montes de Oca,founder of the Lima Gourmet Company, aculinary-tour operator.

The gastronomic boom has transformedonce-forlorn neighborhoods. Clusters ofrestaurants and bars have emerged in

areas of the Barranco district overlookingthe Pacific Ocean where crime previouslydeterred visitors, Montes de Oca said. Nguyen Chavez remembers drugdealers hanging around the potholedAvenida La Mar in the Miraflores areawhen he opened a seafood restaurantthere in 2001.

“It was an ugly, lawless area that noone wanted to visit unless they werefixing their car” at one of the repair shopsthat lined the street, Chavez said. Withtwo partners, he invested $140,000 toturn the site of a furniture workshop into a36-seat restaurant called PescadosCapitales. “We never imagined the placewould become so successful so quickly.”

Today, there are more than two dozenrestaurants, including tourist spots suchas La Mar and Embarcadero 41. Thegarages are giving way to offices,apartment blocks and furniture boutiques.

Lima was the commercial andadministrative center of the Spanishempire in South America for threecenturies until independence in 1821. Thecity's population has almost doubled since1980 to 9.5 million, about a third of Peru's31 million. It accounts for half the $195billion GDP. Work on the first of fiveplanned underground lines is due to startby the end of next month, while about$2.3 billion of expressways, underpassesand bridges are under construction toease traffic congestion.

Meantime, tour agencies such as Lima

Gourmet are organizing restaurant trips,coffee tasting and classes whereparticipants are taught how to makeceviche and pisco sours.

John Kenneke, the 35-year-old visitorfrom Portland, said visiting Machu Picchu— a mountain peak and the site of 15thcentury Incan ruins — and exploring thelocal gastronomy were the main reasonshe and Anna chose Peru for their holiday.Their two days in Lima included ahalf-day culinary tour.

Restaurants also benefit from growingbusiness travel to Lima. The city will hostthe annual meetings of the InternationalMonetary Fund and World Bank nextyear.

Lima has emerged as a training groundfor chefs, with more than half thecountry's 85 cooking schools, includingthe only Le Cordon Bleu campus in SouthAmerica, according to Apega. Food topsthe list of things residents most like aboutthe city, the gastronomy association says.

The chefs can tap into Peru's richbiodiversity for ingredients andinspiration. Peru has 84 of the planet's104 micro-climates and 75 percent of itsecosystems, resulting in the world'swidest variety of potatoes, corn, chilis andfish and 650 types of fruits, according tothe Agriculture Ministry.

"We're looking within the country,seeing what we can bring here and takeabroad,'' said Marilu Madueno, head chefat Huaca Pucllana restaurant.

Q&A

Source: Bloomberg/John Quigley

The annual Mistura food fair organized by Peru's gastronomy association


Q&A

How Lee Schrager Runs the U.S.'s Largest Food Festival: South Beach Wine and Food

Lee Brian Schrager may be the most powerful

man you’ve never heard of. His title of vice

president of corporate communications for

Southern Wine and Spirits belies what everyone in

the culinary world knows: He controls the budget

of America’s largest wine and spirits distributor.

With some of that budget, he runs the industry's

biggest event in the U.S., the South Beach Wine

and Food Festival (SOBEWFF) held in Miami

Beach from Feb. 19-22. Peter Elliot spoke with

him as he prepares for this year’s event.

Q: As you get ready for your 14thSOBEWFF, what have you changed tostay competitive? A: What makes SOBEWFF different isreally the mix. We've come a long way butwe've adapted. You have a great mix ofpop culture: the Food Network Stars,Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay withMichelin-starred chefs like Juan MariArzak and Rene Redzepi. It's a MAD starlike Alex Atala next to the Burger Bash.You'll see we've added a taco event, anda paella event with Jose Andres. It's justan incredible diversity.

Q: The Burger Bash is always soinsanely popular. How do you keep itunder control? A: Control? I don't. I think that might bewhat keeps it so fun. What it has done ischanged. We tweak it. Our first barbecueevents were all great, but now they'vemorphed from Bubble-Q to Meatopia, theultimate carnivore event. Wholespit-roasts on the beach, all hormonefree. We have to evolve.

Q: Does this mirror what's going on inthe wine and food world as a whole?A: Sure. That's what keeps a festival likethis going. Did anyone care about raisinghormone-free animals in 2002? Yes, ofcourse, but it didn't become an eventsomeone would want to pay to come tountil recently.

Q: You're famous for keeping tabs on everything that's going on in the

industry. How do you do it? A: The old fashioned way. I watcheverything. I try to read everything. Itravel. I listen to people. I wish I could tellyou there's some management secret butthere really isn't. I don't sleep a whole lot.

Q: I'd say you're very experienced atseeing new trends and adopting newtechnology. Is that fair? A: Ha. Yes, that's fair. I was probably thefirst to try Siri but that's because I hate todrive. But yes, when Bobby Flay said"let's do a taco" event, my head says, "Idon't really like tacos" but another part ofme knows it was a smart business move.It's a trend of the moment.

Q: Has the food world changed thatmuch since you started SOBEWFF? A: Yes, it really has. And I'll tell you why.It's not that food itself is different. It's thatconsumers are much more educated thanthey were in 2001. Social media hasmade everyone an expert and a critic.That only helps. It makes it easier forpeople to try new things, new foods, newwines. The proof is that they're willing tospend millions of dollars to buy tickets tothese events. It's that simple.

:Q So lets talk numbers. How manypeople attend SOBEWFF nowcompared to when it started? A: Let's just say that if my stock portfoliodid this well I wouldn't be on the phone somuch! The first year we had 6,000 peopleattend over three days. Now it's well over60,000 people over four days.

Q: That's a sizable increase. Have youhad to increase your staff that much tomanage?A: We started with me and a few people

at Southern over two days and now we're14 full-time people who work all year on

this for a four-day festival. When theevent actually happens it skyrockets intothe many hundreds — consultants,insurance people, talent, security, youname it. It does get a bit crazy.

Q: Do you ride to each event on a quadset up for the beach?A: Not anymore. I tried quads up thebeach, I tried Vespas and bikes. Now Ijust walk to everything. It's all close and Iget to everything. And anyone who knowsme knows not to schedule anything thosefour days. Forget it.

Q: That must bring in some seriouscash? Is it worth it for Southern?A: It's a $12 million not-for-profitbusiness. It all goes to the Chaplin Schoolof Hospitality & Tourism Management andthe Southern Wine & Spirits BeverageManagement Center at FIU. Between $5million in ticket sales and the rest insponsorship, we're able to get them $2million a year. That makes it worth it.

Q: You've expanded to New York,which has even larger attendancefigures. Do you ever get tired? A: I go through periods where I think I'mtired and then I think, "Maybe one more."

Q: And the lucky city?Well. Ask me when this is over. ButA:

Los Angeles or Chicago. Maybe.

PETER ELLIOT'S GUIDE TO....

Source: Angela Pham for SOBEWFF

Lee Brian Schrager at the Burger Bash


PETER ELLIOT'S GUIDE TO....

The Best Bites of 2014 and What to Expect for 2015Q: What were some of your favoritedining experiences of 2014? Do yousee any trends developing for 2015?

I love these kinds of questions.My year took me to all corners of the

world, from Asia to Europe to LatinAmerica and home again — and eachregion offered me at least one of myfavorite bites.

Topping my list of memorable diningexperiences in 2014 was dinner in HongKong during a T-8 typhoon. The cityseemed near abandoned though therewas not yet any rain. I decided to ventureout to chef Alvin Leung's ,BO Innovationstorm warnings and all. The mostmemorable taste of the evening wasLeung’s take on a soup dumpling, oxtailxiolong bao with a dollop of caviar nestledon top. Was it the best dumpling I’ve hadin China? No. Was it the most interesting,beautifully presented and original? Yes.As the meal proceeded in the emptyrestaurant, the rain started poundingagainst the glass. A week later, BOreceived three Michelin stars.

Zurich at Christmastime offered anotherbite worth celebrating in 2014. Dining atold-world , surrounded byKronenhallePicassos and Chagalls that transformedmy view of each artist, a waiter in awhite-coat prepared for me a secondhelping of veal strips in a mushroomsauce and Rosti — Swiss potatoes —which he

reheated over a flame. Silver service stillexists, at least in Zurich.

Mexico City presented me another ofmy favored dining moments of the year.At in the capital’s RomaContramardistrict, a waiter brought me a woodentray packed to its edges with fresh Uni. Itwas enough to supply Sushi Nakazawain NYC for a night and it was just for me. Iate it with three types of corn tortillas anda salsa of coriander, lime, red onions andnothing else. Where was the rice? It turnsout it doesn’t need it in a Latin context.

On my home turf of New York, theyear's highlight was Enrique Olvera’s newMexican restaurant, . Every night,CosmeZita, the "corn lady" in the basementkitchens, presses discs of corn flour witha wooden press. The corn and theprocess create a different taste thanmachine-made tortillas in both texture andsophistication of flavor. I can still taste it.This is only one of the reasons that willmake Cosme the most importantrestaurant opening in recent history.

A handful of other moments stand out: , Keith McNally’s new bistroCherche Midi

in New York, is the first place I want toreturn to when I’m home. I lunched at

in London on ricketyRochelle Canteenchairs on a pristine green lawn in an oldschool where the food was honest:poached salmon and well-dressed haricotvert. I met Alexandre Petrossian, the thirdgeneration in his family to help run Paris'

famous caviar business by the samename, and learned from him that caviar ismore than a taste — it's also a sound.

What do these food memories of 2014presage about the year ahead? I think the"Four-Star" experience will continue toevolve toward, and beyond, theMomofuku model. People still like whitetablecloths and great service. I'm just notsure they want the fuss. Calling forrestaurant reservations will also fade. It'sa computer age, or people are just ashappy to show up and wait.

Lastly, I think the flavors of LatinAmerica — be they from Mexico, Brazil orCuba — will ascend and becomedominant, like those of Asia did over thepast decade. The traditional culinarycenters of the world have dispersed andmy prediction is that the trend willcontinue.

Brace yourselves for 2015: it's going tobe a year full of new flavors and frontiers.







@mrpeterelliot. Please send your questions to pet

. Questions may be [email protected]

or condensed.


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February 2015

February 2015www.bloombergbriefs.com

Six Places Where You Should Spend This Year's Bonus

BY PETER ELLIOTOnce upon a time, executives had lavish dinners all the time. You weren’t doing your

job if you weren’t dining out three or four times a week. Those days haven’t entirelyvanished. They’re just more circumspect and confined to certain segments of theindustry. (Head to Bowery Meat Company or Hunt & Fish Club in New York or CitySocial in London if you don’t believe me.) Bonus season is a moment when financetypes can indulge in a little conspicuous consumption, sharing what they’ve earned notonly with their friends and family, but with their peers. It’s also good politics. The secret isdon't spend your whole bonus; rather, spend enough to establish that you know the bestnew places, the inside secrets, and that you’re always one step ahead of anywhipper-snapper coming up from behind you. In finance, it’s always about who is top dogon the floor — up to and including who pays the bill.

London1. Crab and steak served at Beast:candlelit communal tables. Insiders gobeyond the set menu and order "The Cutand The Catch" boards. Add three bottlesof 1997 Penfolds (£995 each) and dinnerfor you and three mates is about £4,000.

2. A more traditional pinstripe Scott's:suit affair in Mayfair. Its specialty is biground tables, so invite more friends.Dinner for 12, assuming modestly lavishwine, is about £600 per head.

3. The power-set's favorite. TheZuma:14-seat Kotatsu table has a £1000minimum. Shoes-off. The Chef's Table ismore relaxed but is harder to book.

New York1. Traders love the retro-Italian Carbone:food and big-format wines. Cool catspre-book the round tables in the back andhave Louie Carbone set their menu. Afterrounds of grappa, the $500-plus perperson won't hurt until the next morning.

2. It's deadly Fugu, or Morimoto:blowfish, season. No one does it moresafely than the Iron Chef. Call ahead foravailability and when you're there askdiscretely. $90 each. Hopefully you'll live.

3. Danny Bowien is Mission Chinese:redefining Chinese food. The bread (BarTartine) with kefir butter plus caviar at$110 per order will impress anyone.


London1. — See your food alive firstBeast2. Gymkhana — Favorite Indian returns3. — Social meccaChiltern Firehouse4. Kurobuta — Super loud Japanese5. British in the skyCity Social — Mod-

New York1. — North African FrenchDirty French2. — New trader hang-outHunt & Fish3. — All about steak Bowery Meat Co.4. — Tiny chic bistroLittle Prince5. — High-end pizza and designMarta

San Francisco1. — Best Greek in the U.S.?Kokkari2. — Comfort foodWayfare Tavern3. — The originalMission Chinese4. — Old SF at its bestSam's Grill5. — California FrenchBoulevard

Singapore1. — Revelatory Italian tapas/pastaNoti2. — Expensive MexicanEl Mero Mero3. — A real Jewish deliSacha & Sons4. — Haute SzechuanShisen Hanten5. — Steakhouse/modern AmericanSear

A Valentine's Day primer. WhatMcDonald's can learn from ShakeShack and Bobby Flay. Stupid money.Click the photo or to launch.link



reviews and ratings. Above list updated Jan. 30.

IF/THEN


The 'Bread Service' with caviar at the new Mission Chinese on New York's Lower East Side

February 2015 Bloomberg Brief Reserve 2

IF/THENIf You Like Per Se in New York... ...Then You'll Love Oblix in London

Thomas Keller’s Per Se, the New York outpost of The French Laundry in California, is the most sought after (and expensive) choice forValentine's Day in NYC. Besides its view over Central Park, no place comes close to the level of service showered on only 64 patrons.It’s still the ne plus ultra of luxury dining experiences. To my mind the nearest equivalent is Oblix on the 32nd floor of London's Shard,where Zuma’s Rainer Becker is equally zealous in his drive for Keller-like levels of perfection. The food isn’t an exact match; it’ssimpler, and getting better. Another common denominator? The best cocktails. For sheer modern luxury these two are the ones to beat.

IF: Per Se

Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle,NYC. Take an elevator to the fourth floor.

Setting: Quiet rosewood-hinted luxury

Food: Lavish, American/French modern

Bar Scene: None. An elegant lounge

Noise Level: Like being in First Class

Date Factor: Only if you're proposing

Groups: One of the best private roomsin New York. Eight to 10 seats.

Secrets: Regulars get special privilegeslike being able to pop in for cocktails, orjust a late-night dessert or cheese course.

THEN THESE EQUIVALENTS:

La Grenouille (New York): Still the most romantic restaurant in America. Does it feellike the Ile de France circa 1953? Yes. As it should. The flowers alone are worth the trip.

The Simone (New York): An Upper East Side secret. It's like a club, run byhusband-and-wife team Tina Vaughn, out front, and Chip Smith, in the kitchen. Sheanswers the phone and decides who gets in and who doesn't. Sedate, delicious andcharming.

Galvin at Windows (London): Modern-French cuisine from Chris Galvin looking outover Hyde Park from the 28th floor of the Hilton Park Lane. Hotel-like but appropriate.

Corrigan's Mayfair (London): Dublin-born Richard Corrigan is one of my favoritechefs. He doesn't take glamorous Mayfair too seriously, serving honest Anglo-Irish farewith solid French technique and value. Try one of their picnic hampers come springtime.

Benu (San Francisco): Corey Lee is to modern-Asian cuisine what Thomas Keller isto French. He's the leader of the new wave and has three-Michelin stars to prove it.

OPENINGS

Sky Garden: The newest skyscraper,Rafael Vinoly's 35-story "Walkie Talkie"building, has three spaces at the top:

- Sky Pod — The bar with the best view, or as one client wrote: "It's the iPhone to Sushisamba/Shard's Flip Phone." - Darwin — More casual but best view. - Fenchurch — More formal, less view. The private room gets you the view.

LondonPolo Bar: Ralph Lauren's new clubby

(in look and feel) restaurant. Prices arereasonable. Dom Perignon by the glass.

Santina: Mario Carbone goes to theItalian coast (or Cuban). The mostinteresting menu in NYC right now.

Zuma: The first New York outpost ofthis London-based pan-Japanese chain.Already open for lunch. Smart move.

New YorkBardot: Michael Mina, a Las Vegas

veteran, ups his game away from thecasino floor at Aria with a French bistro.

Yardbird: At least at the opening, this isa great copy of the hit Miami restaurantserving up fried chicken and bourbon.

Shake Shack: Yes, it's "fast casual" butthis one is beautiful outside and inside.Found, naturally, New York-New York.

Las Vegas

YOUR NIGHT OUT


The main dining room at Per Se at dusk looking over Central ParkSource: Richard Southall for Oblix via Bloomberg

Quiet luxury and a ringside view of London skyline from Oblix


YOUR NIGHT OUT

The Beat Goes On in New York City's West VillageBY PETER ELLIOT

New York’s West Village was once thegrittier part of larger neighborhoodGreenwich Village, the part “off the grid”with hard to find streets and picturesquealleyways. Over the past 20 years,modern towers, townhouses restored byHollywood celebrities, the High Line,boutiques, galleries and, of course,restaurants and hotels have pushed outold-artist types and made the WestVillage a dining and shopping destination.

If there are any poor artists left, they’regasping that where the Beat Generationread poetry are now stores like RalphLauren. What makes the West Villageunique is that there are so many of thebest restaurants in the world all within astone's throw of each other. It helps thatchefs and restaurateurs including MarioBatali, Joey Campanale, Gabe Stulmanand Jody Williams all live and work here.They run small groups of quintessentiallyVillage-like shops, each with their ownfollowing. Mix and match the groups, or

settle on one. Part of the vibe is aboutgetting known at a restaurant and beingable to just walk in with a pack of friends.Waiting at the bar for a table or just eatingat the bar itself is the norm. Enjoy the

people watching. Try not to go atprime-time. Late nights are more fun.

Here’s a selection my of favorites:

Go With Clients

DRINKSHudson Bar & Books: One of thefew places where you can still smokeand drink with wild abandon.

Anfora: Grown up wines, cocktailsand beer. Also great nibbles.

DINNERNeta: Serious sushi. For even moreserious go for Sushi Nakazawa.

Waverly Inn: Vanity Fair editorGraydon Carter's clubby Euro-boite.

is a close second. The Beatrice Inn L'Artusi: The jewel of Campanale'stiny Italians. is great, too.Dell'Anima

LATE NIGHTSpotted Pig: Mario Batali and AprilBloomfield's seminal gastro-pub. Stillsets the standard in the West Village.

John's Pizzeria: Wars have beenfought over whether this is the truestNew York pizza. Personally, I prefer

across the street.Keste

Go With Locals

DRINKSLittle Branch: One of the originaldens of master mixology. Employees Only: Prohibition stylewith devoted following of bartenders.

DINNERTertulia: Seamus Mullen's celebrity-studded Spanish tapas rules.

I Sodi: This discrete Italian is part ofthe group that includes Buvette (French) and . All are chic,Via Carotadelicious and hard to get into.

Alex Stupak'sEmpellon Taqueria:sensational Mexican has spawned amini-empire. Noisy but exceptional.

Fedora: The cooler-than-cool linchpinin the Stulman stable: Joseph

,Leonard Chez Sardine, Jeffrey'sand . Get known.Grocery Perla

LATE NIGHTThe Corner Bistro: Best burger intown, great crowd and open til 4 a.m.

Go With Family

BRUNCHCafe Cluny: American bistro withbold-faced diners in low-key mode.

Morandi: Keith McNally's excellentItalian version of Balthazar.

DINNERRedFarm: NYC restaurant veteran EdSchoenfeld has worked out moderndim sum. No reservations.

Frankies Spuntino: A branch of theBrooklyn original delivers never-failtraditional Italian. Rosemary's: By Jefferson Market,this has a rooftop farm. Beloved for itshipster-meets-organic vibe.

Pearl Oyster/Mary's Fish Camp: Who has the best lobster roll? There'sonly one way to find out. Try both.

Larger thanEN Japanese Brasserie:the others, it's a great spot for familiesand groups. And fairly priced.



Dining at the bar is what the cool cats prefer at popular L'Artusi in Manhattan's West Village



Kurobuta Is a Restaurant to Shout About (You Hear Me?)BY RICHARD VINES

A restaurateur friend told me last yearthat he likes to turn up the volume (andturn down the lighting) in the evenings ata venue where he wants to attract ayoung crowd.

He’s not alone in such aural cleansing.London restaurants are increasinglyfollowing their New York counterparts inplaying music so loud that we old folk askfor our bill — using sign language — andhead home to our pipe and slippers.

Kurobuta is a good example. The roomis split into two sides. To the left, thedriving rock/grunge is loud. To the right, itis louder. I’m only going to say this once,so please listen carefully: It’s worth theear-ache. Do you hear me?

This Marble Arch restaurant — basedon the izakaya inns of Japan — started asa pop-up in Chelsea. (There are now twobranches.) It is the creation of ScottHallsworth, an Australian who wasformerly head chef at Nobu.

Nobu’s DNA is all over it. A crime sceneexaminer would have a match withinseconds of spotting a dish such as babyshrimp tempura with spicy mayo andwarm ponzu dipping sauces. The shrimp— too big and juicy to be babies — areserved on crispy noodles. They are sosweet and soft it would be cruel to passthem by.

Best of all, they cost 10 pounds($15.18) compared with 19 pounds (withall the sauces) at Nobu. This is nocriticism of Nobu, which has a muchlonger menu than Kurobuta’s and is aninternational pioneer in accessibleJapanese cuisine. But it is great to havesomewhere that is cheaper and morerock ’n’ roll.

Kurobuta isn’t just a copycat. Hallsworth

has thrown his own creativity into the mix.Take tuna sashimi pizza with truffleponzu, red onions, and green chilis on acrispy base (10 pounds). It’s an originalmust even for those who are over tuna.The Kurobuta fried chicken is a KFC for2015, its dark and crunchy coatingencasing the moistest of birds.

Ignoring repeated attempts to persuademe to order sticky miso grilled auberginewith candied walnuts — there’ssomething about the texture of aubergineI don’t like — I nodded in the direction ofhealthy eating with grilled mushrooms.They are served on a hoba (magnolia)leaf with gorgonzola, miso, and pinenuts.

This dish has so much flavor, you mightpass up on more meat dishes. I don’t.The BBQ pork belly in steamed buns withspicy peanut soy is too much temptation.And it was only polite to order somesushi. The soft-shell crab maki withkimchee mayo takes care of thatsatisfactorily.

The other big plus — apart from the food — is the service, which is muchbetter than you might expect. The youngwaiters are not just friendly. (Who needsmore friends? A January cull might be inorder.) They are also well-informed andappear to be enjoying themselves — butnot too much. They are attentive andhappy to offer advice.

Throw in a couple of beers — a slushyfrozen Kirin is a specialty — and somewine and you are looking at about 60pounds for a blowout meal. It’s not cheap,but it is value.

So there you have it. While Kurobutasounds (and looks) like it might be toocool for school, it’s not. It swaggers andstruts but the service is charming. Andwhile the restaurant is loud, the food hasits own voice. It is whispering two words.

Eat me.



DESTINATIONS

Source: Kurobuta via Bloomberg

Beef fillet tataki with onion ponzu and garlic crisps


DESTINATIONS

Las Vegas Sheds Sin City to Gamble on Conventions, High-End Eating and CoutureBY PETER ELLIOT

What makes a city a great place to haveyour convention on high-yield bonds orconsumer electronics? The easy answerfor respectable businessfolk is: plenty ofplaces to eat and shop, an abundance ofswimming pools to sun themselves by,and a few places to let their hair downand hit the clubs. Las Vegas provides it all. Over the past15 years the city has transformed itsconvention center to become America'sthird-largest. Besides the center itself, thehotels have vast spaces. And whether it’sa mild winter or a broiling summer, youalmost never have to go outside. Eachhotel complex is a world to itself; atCaesars it's perpetually dusk on theItalian coast. The Cosmopolitan hides aretro-pizza parlor called Secret Pizza.Decide which suits your style best.

The biggest change is the City Centercomplex with its array of starchitecttowers. It marks a clear shift away frompulsating lights to chic modern and better

restaurants like Jean-GeorgesSteakhouse and Bardot. Las Vegas isnow more like Hong Kong with itsinterconnected malls. The rule on restaurants is simple: if it’soff a casino floor, raise your antennae.Exceptions to this rule are L'Atelier de

Joel Robuchon, Le Cirque, WolfgangPuck and Jose Andres. Almost everythingelse are mediocre, expensive copies tobe avoided. You’d play your hand betterat Danny Meyer's new Shake Shack orBobby Flay's Burger Palace.

Top Hotel Complexes:

The Cosmopolitan: Smack in the center of everything. Huge.Tons of good restaurants and hipster shops, plus interiors byDavid Rockwell. It gets the balance between Old and New Vegasjust right. Spending big? Get a terraced penthouse. Blackstonepurchased the complex in 2013. That means: "smartly run."

Mandarin Oriental: Part of the stunning and vast Aria center,this is one of the few non-gambling hotels. A perfect antidote.

Encore: Steve Wynn is LV's reigning King and this is his latestmega-hotel. It's less kitschy than the Venetian, and more refinedthan the Bellagio with some of the best retail shops and golf.

Caesars Palace: The oddest and at the same time mostauthentic mega-hotel. Its over the top-everything typifies the city.A unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp. may have filed forbankruptcy, but don't worry: the champagne is still flowing.

SLS: The new kid on The Strip, this is closest to the AceHotel/Chateau Marmont experience. North but on the monorail.

Top Restaurants/Clubs/Brunches:Bartolotta: A spectacular room facing an artificial lake is the

setting for one of the best fish-focused spots in America. It'ssurreal to have Italian fish flown daily to the Nevada desert.

Bouchon: One of the few copies of a famous restaurant thatworks in part because the room is set apart from the casino floor.

Guy Savoy: Go to a four-star Paris restaurant without leavingthe U.S. Bar seats are available at short notice.

The hottest nightclub in town at the Cosmopolitan.Marquee: Pay for VIP tickets; it makes the "velvet rope" scene easier.

Liaison: The Strip's first LGBT mega-club from Victor Drai,LV's nightclub king (XS, Tryst and Drai's Beach Club.)

Aria: After a night of slamming tequila shots, theall-you-can-eat brunch is the traditional hangover cure. Aria is themost pleasant and best quality of all the deals on offer and thereare many. is a close second. The is a distant third. SLS Bellagio

In a city where gambling remains at the heart of everything, tip big. Bellmen, doormen, even the maid in your hotelCash Is King: room. Closed doors at hot bars/clubs miraculously open. Keep a tidy roll of $10s and $20s. At restaurants/clubs $50/$100.

The LV Monorail connects the Convention Center to the heart of The Strip. There's another system thatThe Monorail Works:connects the hotels on the lower strip. Otherwise you pay for taxis to take you not very far for too much money.

Some good restaurants are off The Strip, like — one of the best Thai places in America. GoLeave Las Vegas: Lotus of Siamsee "old" Las Vegas — the northern Strip. This is where the wedding chapels and original casinos are and it has a Downtown LAvibe. It's also worth the drive to Hoover Dam. If you've scored at Blackjack, take a helicopter to see the Grand Canyon.

INSIDER TIPS

Next month: Portland, Oregon. MSG me at [email protected]

RESTAURANT REVIEW: TOKYO


Steamed buns at Jose Andres's China Poblano in front of a three-story Swarovski chandelier


RESTAURANT REVIEW: TOKYO

Noma Tokyo Brings Natural World Close Enough to WriggleBY TEJAL RAO

It’s dinnertime in Tokyo, and I’m gulpingmy champagne because the raw, pristineshrimp in front of me is so recently deadthat its brain has yet to telegraph thisinformation to the rest of its body. Fornow it’s all twitching muscle and whirringantennae.

“Don’t be alarmed when you pick it up,”says René Redzepi. The 37-year-old chefat the top of his game has moved herefrom Denmark to serve a 15-course menubuilt from Japanese ingredients. He saysother things, too, such as where theshrimp comes from and why it's coveredin ants, but I don’t hear any of thisbecause I’m still taking in the fact that it'sa shrimp covered in ants. It’s like thatmoment in a horror movie when they pullaway the sheet.

Noma, Redzepi’s internationally famousrestaurant in Copenhagen that is widelyconsidered one of the best in the world,has actually been using ants for yearsnow — not to mess with people, but totake advantage of the bugs' naturalreserves of formic acid, which can mimicthe sourness of citrus. (The fruit treesdon’t grow in the surrounding region, sothey’re generally off limits to Noma’skitchen.) In 2012, Redzepi served ants athis pop-up in London, chilling them downso they might wake up slowly andpresumably a little disoriented — whereare we, Frank? — floating throughClaridge’s on cabbage leaves. Morerecently, Redzepi’s cooks have sprawledthem over raw beef and used them toseason grilled cucumbers like a squirt oflemon.

Citrus happens to be in season inJapan, from giant hassaku oranges andsour kabosus to fresh yuzu, and Noma’skitchen makes good use of it all. But here,at the very beginning of dinner, the antsare a reminder that you’re in the house ofRedzepi — at his Tokyo pop-up in theMandarin Oriental hotel. Afterphotographing the shrimp, and almosteveryone finds it necessary to photographthe shrimp, biting down on it is shockinglygood: soft and yielding tail meat,exceptionally bright and sweet, slightlysticky, with some high, sharp,

throat-warming stuff going on. It goesfrom terrifying to beautiful, like the oceanafter a storm.

From the luxuriously spare dining room,Tokyo’s skyline glitters. The next threehours zoom by. Around me arewell-dressed diners from the city andother parts of Japan, and a joyful, tipsy,grownup birthday celebration occasionallysqueals with delight by the window. (Note:Noma is not too cool to send a grinningserver out with a candle.) A few dinershave traveled farther to be here, fromChina, the U.S., and Europe — and someare opting for the nonalcoholic juicepairings, nursing their jet lag with sourorange and pine.

Monkfish liver is outstanding, arriving onjust enough toast to carry it, in thin, coldcurls that melt away in the warmth of yourmouth. Long strands of raw cuttlefishdressed in the animal’s own inky guts arepresented on a wide slotted tray likeJapanese soba noodles, with an ice-coldbath of rose water and pink petals on theside. Dip the cuttlefish into the bath, andthe aroma is instantly pretty and delicate.Is the flesh so easily transformed? No.Chew, and you find it's just a spritz ofperfume. Those darker, unsettling flavorsare still at work underneath.

One of my favorite dishes of the night isa white construction of soft rice and icecream with abstract rice crisps thatchange texture as they soak in a pool oftangy wood-sorrel juice, poured tableside.And I found only a couple of dishes to bemore good-looking than they weregood-tasting, such as the very crunchyroot vegetables around a sticky curedegg.

When reservations opened for thepop-up last summer, the fact that dinnerfor two with wine cost about the same asa flight from New York to Tokyo ($1,350)did nothing to hinder interest, and thebooks filled up almost immediately. Forfans and regulars, and the people whotravel across the world for dinner everytime Redzepi trims his beard, this menu isloaded with references to dishes servedin Copenhagen. The fermentedmushroom, a chewy chocolate-coatedcandy, may look familiar. Variations onthe shrimp on ice are something of a

trademark.To serve a 15-course menu twice a day

from Jan. 9 to Feb. 14, Redzepi and hisresearch team traveled all over thecountry to research local ingredients andmeet purveyors, then relocated Noma’steam of more than 60 cooks and serversto live and work at the Mandarin Oriental.A few of the resulting dishes wereobscenely good one week in, and theones I couldn’t get out of my headrespectfully expanded on Japanesetechnique and tradition, such as exquisitefresh tofu under a snow of pale walnutsand yuzu zest. Alone, it was something —bare and sweet and clean — but at thebottom of the bowl was a thick umami-richsauce that seemed to heighten andrefresh and complicate everything. It wasessentially perfect, and at the time Iwondered, why didn’t Redzepi start themeal with something easier than thatshrimp? Something like this?

Redzepi doesn’t deal in the sort ofsquishy, coddling fine dining that sedatesyou like a massage. Noma wants todelight, and it does, but the kitchen oftenseems more interested in letting you findyour own way to pleasure and in pointingout the places where beautiful and uglyblur. Noma may be on the 37th floor of ahotel in Tokyo for now, but it brings thenatural world in so close, you can taste it.You can almost feel it wriggle.



Q&A

Source: Satoshi Nagare/Noma via Bloomberg

A raw shrimp with ants is the first course ofabout 15 at Noma's pop-up restaurant.


Q&A

How a Street-Wise Adman and a French 'Kid' Make a Restaurant Partnership Work

Phil Suarez, 73, was a New York City-born tough

guy who conquered Madison Avenue, producing

some of the best known commercials of the '70s.

Then he moved to videos like Michael Jackson’s

“Beat It.” , 57, wasJean-Georges Vongerichten

an Alsatian-farm boy sent off to work in French

kitchens before taking New York by storm. The

two met in the late '80s, became business

partners, and now run one of the most successful

high-end restaurant partnerships in the world with

27 restaurants, 6,000 employees and more than

$200 million in annual revenue. Peter Elliot sat

down with them at Jean-Georges, their flagship at

the Trump International Hotel.

Q: Some restaurant marriages workand most don’t. Why is yours theexception?JG: It’s simple. Phil never says “non.”

What a load of … I say “non” all thePS:time; he just pretends not to hear me.Typical Frenchman. My answer? It worksbecause I’m a bit older, I had plenty ofrestaurant experience before I metJean-Georges, and let’s face it, I’m a NewYork City kid, I know the rules. You don’tgo in without knowing the rules.

Q: And what are the rules?PS: Get the deal you want first. Ideas?Ideas are great. Jean-Georges has ideasleft and right. Finding the space. Thelease. Keeping construction costs down,making sure you have the right team.That you’re not paying for somemillion-dollar cockamamie chef. That’s thedeal.

Q: Come on. We’re sitting in what wasone of the most expensive build-outsin the world at the time (1997).JG: We spent a little more. But not much.Our best hits are real-estate stories, goingback to our first, JoJo in 1991. It was abad recession. Phil got the lease for nextto nothing. We spent little and cut ourprices in half from all the other places, orat least half what I was charging when Iwas at Lafayette where I met Phil.

Q: So if someone comes to you today

asking for advice? You say, “know the deal” and …

Don’t leave anything on your back. IPS: never wanted to have him (JG) withanything on his back. Nothing to lookbehind him. Just go do your creativething. The only big risk I ever took was onSpice Market [in NYC]. That was thebiggest risk I ever took.

With almost all the others — thereJG:was a bankruptcy, or, like Mercer [aturnkey] — we really just walked right in.Spice Market was just a big investmenton lots of different levels.

Q: You didn’t choose the path ofbuying real estate instead of doinglease deals?

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. No. AndPS:mostly I’m glad about that. Do good dealsyou don’t need the real estate. It’s veryfreeing. We walked away from Vong, afew others — just because it wasn’t right.

If we had bought the building thatJG: Spice Market was in 2003 ...

Q: Why didn’t you? It wasn’t that easy. Multiple ownersPS:

and a whole bunch of stuff. I just didn’twant to do it. Don't look back.

Q: You have two in Las Vegas. How dothose deals work?

They are licensing deals — you makeJG: a deal with the hotel and watch carefully.

Q: Do you risk damaging your brandname with products you can’t control?

We really do control it. That’s part ofJG: the deal. All the key people there havebeen with us since the beginning. That'sessential. And you can’t do “four-star”food — that’s why it’s a steak house. I dothings I know we can’t screw up.

Q: And how do the deals work? Arethey worth the trouble?

We like to go in there, we offer ourPS: name. We design with them. There’s adevelopment fee for that. We ask for apercentage of the gross and a piece ofthe bottom line. They (the hotel) operate it

but we always have to worry about qualitycontrol — that’s part of our thing.

Q: Each part of that has to be expertlynegotiated or you fail?

I don’t know about expertly! But yes.PS:Whether it’s Vegas, or Shanghai, or NewYork. Each of those parts has to be rightor I wouldn’t even bother. It’s worth it —we did $371,000 in one night, between 6p.m. to 10 p.m. One restaurant in Vegasand $300,000 of it was one guy orderingwine. That’s worth it baby.

Q: Not everything has been a success.What have you learned from failures?

Don't play with tradition! VJG:Steakhouse at Time Warner, I tried toplay with an American steakhouse.Americans want American steakhouses.That’s how I know what do in Las Vegas!So V wasn’t a complete disaster.

For me? I love just going at it again.PS: ABC, everyone is going nuts about ABC.We started with ABC Kitchen, thenCocina, now we’re opening a vegetarianconcept in the Spring — but people forget— we had Lucy there before. Rememberthat? If you have a good deal just keepgoing back ‘til you get it right.

Q: You're one of the few celebritychefs who doesn't do reality TV. Why?

No one can understand my accent!JG: Besides, it's just not my thing. You've gotto be in your kitchens or it all falls apart.

People expect the brand. He's thePS:brand. Not me. Which is why I'm leavingnow to go to Rao's and he stays here.



Phil Suarez and Jean-Georges Vongerichten



Avoiding the Dog House: A St. Valentine's Day Emergency PrimerQ: My wife says that she really doesn'tcare about Valentine's Day but Iwanted to book something anyway.What's the right place to take someonewho says she doesn't care?

Thank you for your question. Theanswer is contained in your use of theword “says” as in “she says she doesn’tcare.” That already tells me there'strouble. Do not fall into this trap. Whenpeople tell you they don’t care, theyinvariably do care. While I’m the first to considerValentine’s Day a “Hallmark” utterlyinvented holiday, I have learned the hardway over the years that it’s one holidaywhere failure is not an option. So what todo?

Step One: Don’t be caught making lastminute arrangements. Make a bookingsomewhere, anywhere, today. Nothingsays I love you like forethought.

Step Two: Think out of the box. The ideahere is to demonstrate your affection foryour loved one. It isn't necessary to go tothe most expensive or most romanticrestaurant. You’d think I’d be the guytelling you to book at One if By Land inNew York or fly to Paris for dinner atTaillevent, but in fact the thing your lovedone wants from you is the hardest thing togive: your time. So unless you absolutelyknow that you’re both going to like a large

multi-course formal meal, I’d head forplaces that are simpler, more romantic,and get you in and out so you can dosomething you don’t get to do normallylike:

Go for a walk in the park

See a show or head out to a nightclub

Go to the theater

Hire a babysitter, rent a luxurious hotelroom for the night and order in (mosthotels have specials).

Prove your undying love by doingsomething you never do, like cooking.

On the restaurant front, especially forpeople with children, do your best tosecure a babysitter before you worryabout the restaurant. Then chosesomeplace close enough to home so thenight is still young when dinner is over. Ithink we could actually graph the numberof divorces hatched on the road to TheFat Duck in Bray. Closer is always better. What happens if everything is full at thehours you want? Don’t panic. If you live innorthern climates, it rarely fails thatinclement weather forces many people tostay home. So if you really do want themulti-course extravaganza, or the chictable at Del Posto and it’s already full up, you’d be amazed how likely it is that youcan get in on V-Day. Make it part of theplan but have a back-up ready. No matter where you choose, make itsomeplace your partner likes or is likely to

like. Like cooking a dish you’ve neverprepared for a dinner party, this is not theday for experimentation. Lastly, if you do have a reservation butyou suddenly can't go, every lover shouldhave a simple, standard recipe they canjust whip up. Scrambled eggs on toast ismy go-to. Add a dollop of caviar (orsmoked salmon or cheese), buy a box ofchocolates, add some flowers and acandle and voila — instant romance.Make sure you have all of thosepurchased and ready, just in case.

Some of my favorite romanticrestaurants:

Spiaggia (Chicago)

Andrew Edmunds (London)

La Grenouille (New York)

L'Astrance (Paris)

Jardiniere (San Francisco)









@mrpeterelliot.


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