SECESSION/BOULEY3.0 Options

[abbe]

okay so the maybe not-so-good news first:

Secession aint lookin so hot to me WHAT HAVE THOSE FUKKERZ DONE TO MY BELOVED DANUBE ?? but i will give them the benefit of the doubt it shall improve with more time.
(they still have their awesome staff so that's a major plus.)

the menu has like 18,000 items on it i am not even kidding. and the price point looks pretty reasonable, although admittedly i won't actually be trying any of it until maybe next week or so. it could be the food sucks for that "reasonable price" i don't know.
(they still have the schnitzel though! hooray)




now the better news:

O MY GAWD the future Bouley3.0 is FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. geezus christ on a stick is it the most beautiful restaurant i have ever seen in my life ?? it could be -- no joke. umm hmm... HôtelCostes is the only one comparable i can think of right now. but i'll keep thinking.

the bathrooms alone are gorgeous. and at that size, david fucking chang could open two whole separate restaurants up in those muhfuhs.

there's no bar though. kinda a bummer, but one i am even willing to overlook, given the fact Bouley3.0 is so beautiful, maybe i don't want your stupid skank ho-trawling cheezy cocktail-swilling ass ruining the aesthetics anyways.

look out, thomas-keller !! david-bouley (ick!) is about to put the FIIIIIINE back in "fine dining," bitch.

apparently they are just waiting for licenses and then they are moving Bouley2.0
they already have fresh apples lined up in the foyer, which leads me to believe it could be any millisecond now. unless those things are there for private functions and/or whatnot. in any case, they are totally ready to rip.

oh yah, holy cow even the kitchen is magnificent.

the only thing that's pretty unfortunate is i'm not exactly the biggest david-bouley fan. but he'll probably get over it the first time i plunk down what's sure to be about a $250.00 per head food fee.
fucker.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Aren't both Bouley and Hotel Costes by Jacques Garcia?

[abbe]

Aren't both Bouley and Hotel Costes by Jacques Garcia?

yah but i don't like all jacques-garcias

i hated Vsteakhouse and SpiceMarket isn't that great to me either. i liked Danube a lot, but i wouldn't say i loooooved it. even HôtelCostes is only kinda so so to me-- i'm probably impressed more by its size than anything else.

but this new Bouley is SMOKIN. i really really really like it.

[Dick Johnson]

look out, thomas-keller !! david-bouley (ick!) is about to put the FIIIIIINE back in "fine dining," bitch.

Of all people, it's David Bouley that's bringing the sexy back?

LOL.

(And before anyone argues that sexy never left - yes, she did. And, she didn't just leave - she packed all her things, uprooted and hopped on the nearest space shuttle.)

[john.smith]

okay so the maybe not-so-good news first:

Secession aint lookin so hot to me WHAT HAVE THOSE FUKKERZ DONE TO MY BELOVED DANUBE ?? but i will give them the benefit of the doubt it shall improve with more time.
(they still have their awesome staff so that's a major plus.)

the menu has like 18,000 items on it i am not even kidding. and the price point looks pretty reasonable, although admittedly i won't actually be trying any of it until maybe next week or so. it could be the food sucks for that "reasonable price" i don't know.
(they still have the schnitzel though! hooray)

garlic coconut soup not bad.........shnitzel ok............fries good.....zucchini fries good..........two salads both good..........goat 'pretty good' if that's your thing..............prices: reasonable...........space: trying too hard............

[abbe]

garlic coconut soup not bad.........shnitzel ok............fries good.....zucchini fries good..........two salads both good..........goat 'pretty good' if that's your thing..............prices: reasonable...........space: trying too hard............

oh ha !

i did go back after all, and i had the garlic/coconut soup too ! i thought it was good, but honestly Kittichai's is better. and i had a bit of the schnitzel-- it seemed the same to me, but i heard later it was possibly a "cheaper cut" and maybe a bit over-breaded.

i liked my chicken livers though. even though i'm not such a fan of peppercorns and they were alls over the dish.

pureed potatoes are the same as always (yay)

i'd been looking forward to trying the terrines and boudins but i got there a few days too early, they weren't planning on serving them til after october 13th. so i guess if you go now, you can try them out.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Supposedly Secession is changing the menu to prix fixe? Anybody else hear about this? Didn't even get a chance to try it yet!

[mss]

Supposedly Secession is changing the menu to prix fixe? Anybody else hear about this? Didn't even get a chance to try it yet!

apparently so, 3 courses for $45. apparently still finding their legs and shaky. i'll give them some time.

[abbe]

Supposedly Secession is changing the menu to prix fixe? Anybody else hear about this? Didn't even get a chance to try it yet!

apparently so, 3 courses for $45. apparently still finding their legs and shaky. i'll give them some time.

nope. evidently, the prix fixe thing was temporary, for some kind of zagat (?) "special promotion" or something like that. it's back to its original 8,000 item menu.



BUT
i'm finding some inconsistencies. certain things i thoroughly enjoyed the first time around were kinda bleah the second time around.

of course, that might just be cuz everybody was maybe all preoccupied with THE CRITIC (i aint sayin who) in the house this time, so maybe everything kinda sucked cuz they just didn't give a fuck about anybody ELSE'S food, i don't know.

[Dishwasher]

nope. evidently, the prix fixe thing was temporary, for some kind of zagat (?) "special promotion" or something like that. it's back to its original 8,000 item menu.



BUT
i'm finding some inconsistencies. certain things i thoroughly enjoyed the first time around were kinda bleah the second time around.

of course, that might just be cuz everybody was maybe all preoccupied with THE CRITIC (i aint sayin who) in the house this time, so maybe everything kinda sucked cuz they just didn't give a fuck about anybody ELSE'S food, i don't know.

Daily News just gave Secession 3 stars..

[abbe]

Daily News just gave Secession 3 stars..

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/...s_in_tribe.html

hhahahahahahahahahhaaa. YAH

mind you, i have no idea how many times she visited overall, but i do know the night i saw her there, my dinner was WORSE THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN.

which just totally buttresses THE POINT I'VE MADE BEFORE


yah that's right-- it was ME who pointed out danyelle-freeman to the staff that night.

and lo and behold, MY dinner (and others as well, perhaps?) suffered for it, while they all scrambled to make sure she was utterly happy. i am very glad to see it paid off. good for them.



i would like to emphasize, however: i didn't do it for david-bouley. i did it for the STAFF-- who are completely deserving of any accolade bestowed upon them, as they are, in all likeliness, the best collection of FOH employees ever assembled in all of downtown new york city.

i'm just sayin.

[Inkslinger]

Abbe Diaz Rats Out Restaurant Girl, Searches for Herself on Craigslist
11/12/08 at 2:23 PM

We’ve seen how restaurants scramble for critics, and now former “maître d’ to the stars” Abbe Diaz is claiming that she’s the one who I.D.’d Danyelle Freeman to the staff at Secession shortly before it got three stars from the Daily News critic. According to Diaz, the staff went into a tizzy that caused her to get a sub-par meal — proof, she says, that the critic’s lack of anonymity is egregiously disruptive. The question is, did the folks at Secession really not know what Restaurant Girl looked like? Would they also have to be told that the guy that just came down the chimney is Santa Claus? Who knows. But while we’re talking Diaz, we were totes amused by the following Craigslist ad recruiting folks to play her in the Web series she’ll soon shoot.

Do you appear ethnically ambiguous and/or of multi-racial heritage (Ideal candidate type: Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Thandie Newton, Maggie Q)? Can you pass for the age of 25 and 35? Do you wear standard size 6 (or smaller)? Can you dance? Do you have any martial arts training? Can you ride a motorcycle? Are you comedic and bright/sharp-witted?


And are you just a little bit in love with yourself?

http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/11/abbe_d...restaurant.html

[Inkslinger]

Oh ha, funny guy-- not nearly as much as YOU'RE in love with me, CLEARLY.
[I didn't write that ad, creepface. But nice try, though.]

As to the Danyelle Freeman thing-- I wasn't alone that night, duh. I have witnesses. I can't help it if homegirl is unrecognizable, because she's way better looking in person than her photo, and she also looks like she's about seventeen years old.

In any case, hooray for Secession. They do deserve it, regardless.

By abbe_diaz on 11/12/2008 at 2:48pm

[Dick Johnson]

And are you just a little bit in love with yourself?

Now that is a stupid question.

LOL.

[abbe]

okay so i had thanksgiving dinner at Bouley3.0

it was very good, the first course "truffle flan something or other" being far and away the stellar knockout.

the rest was-- what can i say? -- typically Bouley. no more or less than one would expect. PERFECT for a special occasion or a fancy date or important meeting or whatever. if you can afford to dine there regularly otherwise, gawd bless your lucky soul.

i'm not sure if this was a special price for the holiday but it was $125 for four courses ($225 with wine pairings), which-- ya know, considering the competition-- isn't so awful.

the only thing that was kind of surprising is that the front foyer area wasn't set up to accommodate any sort of service. which i think is strange, seeing as it's really quite beautiful and the furniture is great. i'm not sure if they're just opposed to any kind "drinking only" crowd (or again, if this was just for the holiday). it might just be that since it's fairly new, they're just trying to keep out the non-dining gawkers, i don't know.

in any case, i would totally recommend at least one visit if you can swing it.

whatever. i'm just sayin.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I heard that Secession bit the big one in NY Mag. 0 stars.