Last Wednesday I ate at Charles, which is billed as a "semi-private" restaurant at West Fourth and West 10th and apparently wants to be the next Waverly Inn. The bar was cramped and stupidly laid out -- people crowded into the path of the kitchen -- the service was off-handed, the decor reminiscent of Plato's Retreat, and the prices laughable.
I was reminded of a passage from Susan Dominus' column in The New York Times from March 1: "Some real estate brokers at the Corcoran Group have lately picked up a phrase that Pam Liebman, their chief executive, has borrowed from a friend, a line she uses whenever people admit they’ve splurged on something a little luxurious: 'That’s so August of you.' "
I have come to think of "so August" as "overpaying for anything." I mean, $29 for THREE scallops as a main course? The Market Cafe on Ninth Avenue does an excellent appetizer of two seared scallops with potato puree. It's $9.
The wine list was interesting but also overpriced. I started with a glass of 2006 Riesling Trimbach Alsace ($13), then we had a bottle of 2005 Rosso di Montalcino Collemattoni ($58). I think it was something like the second cheapest bottle on the list. It's hard to remember the last time I ate at a place that didn't have at least a few bottles in the $35-45 range.
It's a good thing my fabulous dining companions made up for all of the above (thanks, Laura and Jonathan!).
I was reminded of a passage from Susan Dominus' column in The New York Times from March 1: "Some real estate brokers at the Corcoran Group have lately picked up a phrase that Pam Liebman, their chief executive, has borrowed from a friend, a line she uses whenever people admit they’ve splurged on something a little luxurious: 'That’s so August of you.' "
I have come to think of "so August" as "overpaying for anything." I mean, $29 for THREE scallops as a main course? The Market Cafe on Ninth Avenue does an excellent appetizer of two seared scallops with potato puree. It's $9.
The wine list was interesting but also overpriced. I started with a glass of 2006 Riesling Trimbach Alsace ($13), then we had a bottle of 2005 Rosso di Montalcino Collemattoni ($58). I think it was something like the second cheapest bottle on the list. It's hard to remember the last time I ate at a place that didn't have at least a few bottles in the $35-45 range.
It's a good thing my fabulous dining companions made up for all of the above (thanks, Laura and Jonathan!).
No comments:
Post a Comment