Overlong Tasting Menus
I say cap the course number at ten and the price at $120. And if dinner exceeds four hours, you get half your money back.
Effete Tasting Restaurants
The ancient omakase conceit popularized by Mr. Chang has officially spun out of control.
Insane Lines
It’s my job to stand in two-hour lines waiting for dinners of dubious quality in noisy little rooms. There’s no reason you should have to.
Denmark Chic
“I can’t believe we went from France to Spain to Denmark,” one New York chef told me recently. “What’s next, Bulgaria?”
Fetishized Vegetables
The locavore craze has many edifying qualities. Paying $25 for a really well-cooked carrot is not one of them.
Gourmet Versions of New York Classics
No high-minded take on smoked sable or an everything bagel will ever taste as good as the real thing.
Rocks (and Moss and Lichen) As Dining Props
Oregonians may like to eat their dinner off bark, but this is New York, for God’s sake.
Excessively Arty Desserts
If it looks like a splatter painting, don’t eat it.
Hobbit-Size Dining Rooms
Platty used to make fun of the “big box” spaces of the boom years. Now I pray for their return.
Steaks for Two
The trend, which Luger’s started and Minetta Tavern perfected, is now mainly a price-gouging trick.