Also this issue:

CP Choice Awards 2002

Food and Drink

Fishing Expedition
A Brit and a Yank seek the city’s best version of a U.K. staple.
-Juliet Fletcher and Frank Lewis

Critics Choice
Highs and lows in the restaurant biz, as chosen by CP food writers Maxine Keyser and Elisa Ludwig.

City Life

Cynic’s Choice
-Frank Lewis

ICE STORM 2002
-A.D. Amorosi

Arts & Entertainment

October 24-30, 2002

cover story

Past, Present, Future

Restauranting trends and troubles.

by Maxine Keyser

The cuisine of the moment: Home cooking, be it American or French, based on the notion that the travails of the quotidian world can be assuaged by meatloaf and mashed potatoes or a good cassoulet. For the moment, at least, restaurants like Jones, Rx, Palette, Bluezette, Chloe and Django are the vogue. Their chefs chant the mantra: "Fresh, local products, true to the soil." There will still be adventurous, dedicated chefs who cling to haute cuisine, but even they will bring a certain warmth to their cooking.

The already-outs and the soon-to-be-ins: Flavored oils and coulis, exotic ingredients and flavors will still be around, but I think that sea scallops have been seared to death. I think the next big flavoring will be bottarga, pressed tuna roe, now very popular in Italy. And with striped bass and Chilean sea bass fished out, chefs will experiment with less popular fish like skate. As much as I admire the cuisine of France, I think that Italian cooking will be more important than ever -- for what is more comforting than a big bowl of pasta?

The ongoing problem: The economy is certainly playing a part in openings and closings and revolving-door chefs. Usually, when armageddon threatens, people spend wildly, not concerned about the future. This time, people are pulling in the reins. I know it's expensive to run a restaurant, but the owners have to tighten their belts, too, and do something about escalating prices before it's too late.

The complaints I hear the most:

It’s too noisy. Everyone is bothered by the din in many of the hard-edged restaurants, and I reply that there's very little that can be done. In emporiums like Stephen Starr's, noise is an integral part of the experience, and most chefs feel that it shows the success of a restaurant when you can't hear yourself think. Perhaps getting rid of the soundtrack might help, but I doubt that things will improve anytime soon. Besides, didn't you ever go into a really quiet restaurant, with very few clients, and feel as if you had wandered into the wrong place?

The portions are too small. For me, this is never a problem, because I don't eat that much. But we Americans, unfortunately, are accustomed to overeating, and some of the more elegant restaurants do keep their portions small so the presentation will succeed. My only answer to this is have two appetizers, have a snack at home or go on a diet.

The portions are too large. I've mentioned this to many chefs and they tell me that I am in a definite minority, because most people clean their plates. I say that if you are put off by abbondonza, for heaven's sake take home a doggie bag, or split one portion for two. Too many people are starving to quibble about that.

We don’t like the way some people are dressed. Here I agree. You pay $150 for dinner, you don't want to sit next to some guy in a dirty T-shirt.

We don’t like to pay for parking. This is an interesting phenomenon, because I know people whose income is astronomical and they balk at valet parking. I've seen Mercedeses pull up to the curb and the driver blanch at the charge. It's a wonderful convenience, and I for one detest wandering around the creepy upper floors of high-rise lots. Still, many people won't take advantage of it. I have often mentioned to chefs that I feel that if they factored the price of parking into their checks and had free valet parking, people would never bat an eyelash, because they would never know that the slightly elevated price reflects the parking fee. It's a thought, because things are definitely out of hand price-wise. I don't really mind the standard $16 or $18 but last week, I pulled into the Bellevue Park Hyatt to park and the attendant told me that if I wanted to park myself (they have a high-rise lot) it would be $11. "Suppose you took it?" I asked. "Then it would be $26," he replied. I parked myself.