PrintNew York Magazine's Best-Of-New-York Food List May Not Be The Best
I love best of lists, but I'm always frustrated at the random incompleteness of the New York Magazine Best of Food Lists. I know I'm late in commenting on this, but I was away all last week. I think the issue suffered from editor burnout, in that the editors are tired of having the writers write about pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, hot chocolate, and all the other obvious things New Yorkers love and live for that they left out. I think Rob and Robin do an absolutely terrific job of food reporting, (they are as good as anyone doing the same thing in NY) but I think what they decide to include on their list defies logic. Also, wouldn't it be useful to know which other places Rob and Robin considered for best fried chicken before anointing Blue Ribbon Sushi and Grill, which does have excellent fried chicken? Best hot dog is from the Smoke Joint? I've had the Hadfield hot dogs they serve there and was never blown away. Seems like Hatfield hot dogs make for good, fresh, newsworthy copy but are not necessarily the right choice. I like the unbeef burger from Anthos, but there are actually a lot of interesting non-beef-only burgers around that the magazine fails to mention. Some items on the list are spot-on to my way of thinking, like the lasagna at Insieme. But in general the randomness of the categories they list and the too-cute-by-half approach to something I and others take seriously in a fun way leaves a great deal to be desired.
That said, here are the choices I found to be spot-on, along with a few questions I'd like Rob and Robin to answer:
Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill's fried chicken is excellent, but did you consider Blue Smoke's or regular Blue Ribbon or even Rack and Soul?
Can't and will not argue with El Quinto Pino being the best (or at the very least one of my favorite Tapas bars.
I haven't had the Grilled Cheese from Resto, but did they consider the Bouchon Bakery's classic version or Artisanal's killer bacon, English cheddar, and apple grilled cheese sandwich?
I of course agree with them about the charcuterie at Bar Boulud.
I think it's difficult to pick one barbecue joint in NYC as being the best. Robin and Rob chose Hill Country, which has exemplary short ribs and moist (fatty) brisket, and clod (beef shoulder). Daisy May's whole hogs are a thing of beauty, Blue Smoke's beef ribs are killer, and John Stage's pork ribs at Dinosaur are damn stellar as well.
I haven't had the chowder at Dovetail, but could it be better than the Haddock chowder at the Spotted Pig or the Rebecca Charles' insanely good scallop chowder at Pearl.
The veal chop at Alto is crazy good.
What did other serious eaters think about New York Mag's choices?
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3 Comments:
I thought the inclusion of Aquavit was slightly bogus. As I personally was not blown away by the smorgasbord. I too agree that it'd be great to see the top three selections before just crowning a winner. What if I can't get out to get the best burger at anthos, but there is another best non-beef burger closer to me? That information would be quite useful. Also is Lucali the best neighborhood pizzeria? And what type of category is that, I mean Franny's is in a neighborhood? Di Fara's is in a neighborhood.
Oh well, at least it's entertaining and mildly useful.
ginsbera at 6:07PM on 03/10/08
I haven't read it all yet but I don't think I could endorse El Quinto Pino for best tapas, if that's what it says. Of course I'm mainly going by the uni bocadillo which may be great if you're looking for a sandwich but not if you're after uni. I have yet to find a dish that does uni better than it does by itself.
dbird at 11:11PM on 03/10/08
I couldn't believe that Setagaya won Best Ramen. Their ramen was delicious when they first opened up, but recently, when I tasted it again, the broth was almost flavorless except for salt. My friend's tsukemen was also extremely salty. It was easily the worst ramen I'd ever tasted in NYC.
chowmeow at 1:56PM on 03/15/08