Opinionated About Dining

Momofuku Saam Bar

   

                                                                                                                                                

David Chang is a lucky guy. After having unbelievable success with his Momofuku noodle bar, he decided to open what could only be called, an odd Asian burrito joint. Why he did it we'll never know. Maybe he had visions of turning it into a national chain like Chipotle. But even after he opened his new restaurant, which he called, Momofuku Saam Bar (the saam is the burrito if you haven't picked that up by now,) and everyone, and I mean to a person whether it was chef, critic or your average diner, shrugged their shoulders about the saam, Chang refused to change the concept at the restaurant to one that was more in keeping with the magic he created at Momofuku. And what was most amazing, and this is the part where Chang is lucky, the critics (including yours truly) who ate at the Saam bar didn't review it.

Though I haven't spoken to the other writers about it, I assume they felt the same way I did. You see Chang is one of the great culinary talents to have come along in a long time. Sort of a working man's Nobu who invented an affordable Asian fusion cuisine that has a perfect blend of Eastern and Western culinary concepts. And rather than give the restaurant a bad review, we gave him the benefit of the doubt and waited for him to turn things around before we wrote about it. It was sort of like art critics going to see works from Picasso's Blue Period before he quite worked them out, and staying mum on the subject until he got the concept on track. That's how we treated Chang's "Saam period."

                                                                                         

New York Creative & Bistro Dining

WD-50 - I don't think there is another restaurant in the city that can rile me up as much as this laboratory of modern cuisine; my meals here have ranged from stunning to maddening. Dishes like the bay scallops with a chorizo flan and the roast cod with smoked mashed potatoes and pepper oil are among the greatest dishes in contemporary American cuisine. But other dishes include flavors so challenging that they take the joy out of the dining experience. Of course, not everyone agrees with me—some people like dishes that are focused on intensely bitter flavors or which pair fishy flavors like anchovies with foie gras. But when the kitchen is on and the flavors are balanced, this is the most compelling dining experience in the city. It is a restaurant with the potential to move into a more serious category of dining, if Dufresne ever decides he wants to run a more serious restaurant. A

Wylie Dufresne's Cod with Smoked Mashed Potatoes, Red Pepper Oil, and Shiitake Mushrooms