restaurantgirl

As this month marks the ten year anniversary of Payard Patisserie and Bistro, we deemed it appropriate to go "Behind Kitchen Doors" with executive chef Philippe Bertineau.   Bertineau cultivated his technique as sous chef at such prestigious restaurants as London’s Auberge de Provence and New York City's Daniel before joining up with pastry chef Francois Payard to launch Payard on the upper East Side.  With a talent for the southwestern cuisine of his native France, Bertineau sticks to his roots and dishes out some of New York’s best modern bistro fare.  From rich homemade foie gras with pearl onion chutney to succulent duck leg confit on a corn galette, his dishes reveal themselves as elegant as this David Rockwell-designed classic.

Status: Single/Married/Divorced
Married

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Growing up in France my dad wanted me to be a farmer, like him.  But when I discovered the light of Paris, where my brother was living, and we went out to restaurants I started cooking.  First I cooked for my family, and then I knew I had found something that I enjoyed.  No one was a chef in my family before me.

With over 300 varieties at this year's sake celebration as well as a handful of noteworthy NYC restaurants in the mix - Megu, Nobu & wd-50 - we thought we'd check in with expert & Joy of Sake event coordinator, Chris Pearce, for a few tips on the basics of sake.   

There are three main sake categories - junmai, ginjo and daiginjo - with different ratios of rice polishing.  Generally speaking, the more the rice is polished before steaming, the higher the quality of sake produced. Junmai sakes are polished to at least 65% of their original size, while daiginjo sakes can be polished down to 40% or less.  Junmai sakes are more robust and earthy in flavor, while ginjo and daiginjo tend to be more floral.

Once upon a time, Shinbashi served as a NYC midtown restaurant fixture where waitresses wore customary Japanese garb and the kitchen peddled in dishes still foreign to American palates.  Ruth Reichl regarded Shinbashi a "venerable Japanese"  in 1998, while Bryan Miller awarded it: "Weirdest Dish II: Raw lobster in the shell," in 1986.

Though the raw lobster is conspicuously missing from the new menu, Shinbashi is nonetheless having its second coming in the three-story space, formerly home to Savannah Steak.  Owner Shinichi Tomonari is dutifully carrying on the family tradition, initiated by his mother in 1974, when the notion of eating raw crustacean was a novel concept.

The menu offers a generous selection of raw fish as well as cooked dishes, including beef sukiyaki, toro tartar with quail egg and tempura udon.  Chef Kazutaki Imori (Nobu) oversees the maple sushi bar, with seating for twenty.   

Phone: 7 East 48th St., btwn Madison & 5th Aves.
Address: (212)813-2406
Hours: Dinner, Mon-Sat, 5:30pm-9:30pm; Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11:45am-2:30pm; Closed Sundays. 

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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Johnny Iuzzini's earned three stars from Michelin, four stars from the New York Times, and a James Beard Award for Pastry Chef of the Year in 2006.  He's worked under the highest acclaimed chefs in the industry (Payard, Haas, Poitier), and now proudly wears his title as Executive Pastry Chef at Jean Georges.  Like a straight-A student, Iuzzini's accolades undoubtedly match his talents and CIA education.  Here, he dazzles with a mango lassi with carrot froth as well as decadent dessert flights.  And to think, his dream was to race motorcycles...

Status: Single/Married/Divorced
Single

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to race motorcycles or be a stunt man.

How did you get into food?
When I got my working papers at 15, I got a job washing dishes at a local country club.  I never got an allowance- my dad told me that if you want money, go make it.  So I worked my way up to a prep cook and I was hooked.

The dressed-up Chinese at Wakiya gets lost in translation.
2 Lexington Ave., at 21st St. (Gramercy Park Hotel) (212) 995-1330
Dinner: Mon.-Sat., 5:45 p.m.-11 p.m, Sunday, 5:45 p.m.-10 p.m.
Cuisine: Contemporary regional Chinese
Vibe: Moody Asian den
Occasion: Swanky night out
Don’t Miss Dish: Shanghai soup dumplings
Drink Specialty: Cucumber martini
Price: Appetizers, $6-$34; Entrees, $13-$38; Desserts, $9-$14.
Reservations: Highly recommended

Designer-clad servers amble down a red carpet that streams through Wakiya's glossy dining room, flourished with floor-to-ceiling red tassels and dark wood tables. "It'slike a catwalk," Richie Notar, a managing partner of both Wakiya and Nobu restaurants, enthusiastically notes over the phone. "Women love it."

On one visit, I spied Anna Wintour dining front row center. I nearly expected she might pull out a pad and jot down her impressions of Wakiya's fall food collection. As fashionable as the scenery, every dish arrives well-groomed.

Hotelier Ian Schrager had his heart set on upscale Chinese from the inception of the newly posh Gramercy Park Hotel. After scouring the globe and sifting through three potential candidates, he imported chef Yuji Wakiya from Tokyo along with much of the menu - a fusion of Szechuan, Shanghai and Cantonese traditions. This is Chinese food seen through Japanese eyes, and, though the plating is artful, it comes at the pivotal expense of flavor.

There is something to be said for a feisty General Tso's chicken or a succulent Peking duck carved at the table. Sadly, the Peking duck here turns up disassembled, a skimpy stockpile of dried-out meat and rubbery skin. I couldn't resist the temptation of a side-by-side comparison with the "Vegetarian Peking duck."

Tightly wound layers of yuba - as bland as baby food - laced with shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and yoji berries, had me longing for a $1 Chinatown scallion pancake. A dainty spicy beef salad and cloying muck of Tong Tsu (sweet & sour) sea bass failed to live up to their signature, gutsy flavor profiles.

As I attempted to maneuver around the intricacies of the menu, I felt as if I had fallen down Schrager's rabbit hole into an Asian Wonderland. Like the potions that tempt Alice, Wakiya's plates come replete with an exhaustive set of warnings: "Don't touch the steaming kettle," our server urged. "Don't eat the chouten peppers."

2 1/2 stars
1621 Second Ave., at 84th St.
(212) 772-2242
Dinner: Mon.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-midnight
Cuisine: Authentic northern Italian
Vibe: Boisterous, cozy classic
Occassion: Family affair, festive occasion
Don't Miss Dish: Spaghetti frutti di mare
Price: Appetizers, $8-$17; entrees, $17-$38; desserts, $8-$12
RESERVATIONS Recommended

Some restaurants never change - it's precisely what people love about them. Unlike newcomers who bend to the latest culinary whims du jour, there remain a few steadfast institutions that succeed simply by resting on their laurels. There is the timeless glamour of lunch at the Four Seasons and the inimitable nostalgia of a hefty porterhouse at Peter Luger's.

Then there's the charming lure of old-world Italian at Elio's. Upper East Siders have been loyal members of this "clubhouse" for nearly 26 years.

With its dark wood paneling and handsome wainscoting, the decor reinforces the supper club aura. Schoolhouse style light fixtures emit a golden hue that is bewitching, even romantic. Couples, families and celebrities such as Martha Stewart and Matt Lauer happily pack into tight tables, simply to bathe in the glow.

Waiters greet with a ritual "Buona sera," simultaneously tossing a bread basket and slab of butter onto your table. They're not big on formality or technology: Every bill is still tallied by calculator, every reservation written in pencil. Wine menus are distributed only upon request - most get their "usual" cocktail or a glass of house red.

And in 26 years, Elio's northern Italian menu has hardly changed. Why should co-owners Elio Guaitolini and Anne Isaak change a thing when customers can't seem to get enough?

In celebration of the James Beard Foundation's 20th Anniversary and the launch of the foundation's annual Taste America, there will be a dinner tribute this Tuesday September 18th at the illustrious, The Four Seasons.  Dinner will be prepared by chef Christian Albin (The Four Seasons) and chef Vitaly Paley (Paley's Place).  Portions of the proceeds will benefit both City Meals on Wheels and the James Beard Foundation.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (212)754-9494 or online at www.jbftasteamerica.com

Where: The Four Seasons Restaurant
When: Reception, 7pm. Dinner, 8pm.
Address: 99 East 52nd Street, nr. Park Ave.

Husband-and-wife team, Scott and Heather Fratangelo, have figured out the equation to both a happy marriage and a thriving career in food.  At Spigolo, their UES Italian team effort, the two manage to maintain a packed house with month-long waits for reservations.  While Scott serves as the executive chef, Heather skillfully leads the pastry and wine programs.  Their ambitious menu features veal scallopine paired with beet greens and spring onions, and grilled pork rib chop with plum mustardo and roasted artichokes.  You simply can't skip dessert at Spigolo: Heather bakes an inspired mascarpone tart with balsamic figs as well as an exotic, coconut panna cotta with papaya, mango and pineapple.

25 of the city’s finest women chefs will gather Monday, September 17th, for the 4th Annual SHARE event, to raise money in support of ovarian and breast cancer survivors. 

Executive Chef of the event Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar will have Ruth Reichl as her sous chef, creating her legendary lobster roll.  Acclaimed mixologist Julie Reiner of Flatiron Lounge will be mixing up her famous sidecar. Other chefs to include:
Gabrielle Hamilton (Prune), Nicole Kaplan (Del Posto), Anita Lo (Annisa), Amy Scherber (Amy’s Bread) Patricia Yeo (Monkey Bar), plus many more...

A Second Helping of Life
A benefit for SHARE featuring

New York City’s top women chefs

Tickets: $300.00 for the tasting; $500.00 for tasting and VIP reception

                    For more information and tickets: www.sharecancersupport.org

You haven't truly eaten at Sea Salt until you've shopped for your dinner in the fish market tucked into the back corner of this East Village nook. There lies the best of what chef Orhan Yegen has to offer - an icy display of seafaring wares. To Yegen, these aren't just fish: This is his religion.

"I'm the only one who truly understands them," he declares matter-of-factly over the phone. "I taste and tune the fish. That's my talent."

He designed much of the ­restaurant himself, painting the broad, creamy stripes that wrap themselves around the space, accented with butcher block tables and black and white photos - a bit Miami Beach meets Mediterranean seascape. Tables spill onto a span of Second Ave., brimming with students and artsy types.

*1/2 stars

A martyr of the sea, chef Orhan Yegen surfaces in the East Village with a love song to all things grilled and salt-encrusted.

An impossibly outspoken and restless nomad, Yegen has rambled through some 14 restaurants in the last 22 years. He has demonstrated his skills at Beyoglu, and currently at Sip Sak, two restaurants celebrated for their Turkish cuisine. His newest pursuit moves the spotlight from ethnic staples to seafood.

The back fish market reveals a shimmering medley of seafood lounging on cascades of ice.

Dive right into the fresh selection of "small school" fish listed among the appetizers. Portuguese sardines, barely fried, arrive plump and moist with a crisp casing. Grassy bursts of dill ably temper the brininess of salt-cooked anchovies...