About : standard furniture napa valley
Title : standard furniture napa valley
standard furniture napa valley
>> i'm tony guida.this is "my new york." if there was a nobel prized for distinguished writing about food my guest wouldhave retired the award long ago. she is mimi sheraton, wise and witty on all things dining. she made her bonesas the first female restaurantcritic of the "new york times." she just turned 90and the royalty of
the food world came to celebrate the birthday milestone. you are about tobe charmed, surprised, educated, enlightened andentertained by mimi sheraton. ♪[theme music]♪ >>> how delighted i am towelcome mimi sheraton to our program. happy birthday. >> oh thank you very much.i'm delighted to be here. i'm not sure thebirthday count is accurate.
it's a little bitincredible to me. i'm grateful. >> mazel tov. >> thank you very much. >> it was awonderful party for you. put us in that room. >> well, it was a marvelous party. my son and daughter-in-lawarranged it. it was not a surprise party. but they had an enormous surprise
for me when i got there. because themarvelous drew nieporent who owns tribeca grilland other restaurants contacted a numberof chefs we knew were among my favoritesand each one had a table at the reception withthe specialty of the restaurant. >> wonderful. >> shun lee did peking duck.
reyos did meatballs. there was a wonderful sturgeon with caviar. northend grill did one of my favorites by trodishes, squab with peas. barbuto sent a snail dish. gotham bar was there and the amazing thing is what all the chefs wanted were the meatballs. they felt that wasas close as they
were going to get. >> to being in therestaurant. >> the loveliest surprise isfrank pellegrini was there. that was a tribute. >> we have pictures including one of you talkingwith frankie. it's marvelous. made me hungry with the recitation of whatwas served there. i wish i had been there myself to
wish you a very happy birthday. >> 91. >> yes. >> you will come to the 91st. >> okay. that's adeal. we'll have you back here. then together we'll go. >> it's got to be the people like so many of the appetizers. drew had a wonderful meal
with dishes fromtribeca grill, nobu. it was just eating, eating all the way which i feel is theright kind of tribute. >> exactly. i sawin one frame of one of the pictures calvin trillin who had written about foodand is a gourmand of the people, i suppose. >> he's a friend and neighbor. we are both in thewest villagele not far apart.
>> what i would liketo ask and perhaps you know so much of what's tongue in cheek and beautifully humorous, he has for years this campaign about replacing america'straditional thanksgiving meal which he doesn'tlike turkey. he's had a campaign to replace it withspaghetti carbonera. i would like toask how it's going.
>> maybe somebodywill stuff a turkey with spaghetti carbonara the way things are these days. >> you write aboutit in your recent book "1000 foodsto eat before you die." we'll get to this later. i want to start here with some of the things on yourmind currently. mimi tweets. she's so modern.
we can see what she's doing and thinking about. so let's gothrough some of that. you wrote about burger king which has now introducedgrilled hot dogs. >> wonderful move. wonderful move fornew yorkers anyway who i think reallydo and should prefer hot dogs tohamburgers.
>> i have alwayswanted my hot dogs grilled. >> i do, too. >> i like that taste and texture. >> the crackle. >> the lines. soyou're in favor. >> absolutely. >> if i can't get them grilledi eat them boiled. >> there are plentyof places in the city, not very many good.
>> i keep them inthe freezer for a snowy day and emergencies. >> interesting you mention it. one of the things is the opening of the carnegie. doyou think they are back? >> i'm delightedthat they are back. it was a veryspecial place for me. because many yearsago at the time i did a search for the best pastrami
and corned beef innew york. there were many more delis then. this was manhattan. oneday my husband and i got in the car. he was driving me around to pickup the samples. we had 104sandwiches in the car. we were almost asphyxiated. >> 104. >> anybody who knows mimi, knows
her writing and career here knows how exhaustive herresearch is. so you were going to rate pastrami. and you got 104 sandwiches. >> i had two ofeach kind from each place. the idea at that point because i already knew thosei liked best, but i wanted to see how much meat they were puttinging ineach sandwich.
so i took the meatout, put it in a marked bag, took it to the butcher who had a city certified scale and had each one weighed. what they say maynot be what they do. the carnegie won. >> in terms of -- >> the best pastrami andcorned beef. that's the only thing made right
down stairs in therestaurant. they make their own. at that time they made their own on the premises. it was wonderful. it's still verygood. the city went mad. the city went crazy. you couldn't get near the place. including the editor of the "newyork times," abe rosenthal wentand announced who he was.
he came to my deskthe next day and said, i have won pulitzers,but to be given a cloth napkin at the carnegie deliwas the highest award. leo steiner was a colorful man. his partner know owns it. it's very special to me. the opening was 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning. theysent a car for me. i was there andmayor bill de blasio was there.
we were seated together with the wonderful italianactor dominic chianese. >> sure. big on "the sopranos" among other things. >> eating pickles and pastramiat 8:00 in the morning. referring to theparty for me last sunday, the mayor calls drew inthe morning ambassador said, i know you are having a party. would it be allright if i stopped in.
he was wonderful, generous, fwrashs and just made it so special. to have him comein and say a few words. i appreciated that very much. >> on the subject of pastrami in the carnegie, you mentioned katz. how do you rate themle? >> there werethree to talk about. katz's is thebiggest experience.
the place is crazyand wild. it's a treat in itself. they are not always careful with the cutting of the pastrami. you often get gristle and they don't use good bread. i have had the talk with jakedell who owns it. he won't pay for the bread. but on the upper east side the
pastrami queen hasthe best all around quality. itis a small place. they are careful. they use seededrye bread. beautiful meat. the carnegie is also very good. it has the advantage of being in a great new york neighborhood. right in the theater district. so you feel new york around you.
the food is delicious,the cheesecake is great. i would have to say those three. >> i'm glad youmentioned pastrami queen. that's in my neighborhood. >> yeah. >> i will get overthere more often. i had occasion in recent years to be in the 7th avenueneighborhood for a card game. it was in theafternoon. 3:00 to maybe 6:00.
i'd walk past carnegie, 3:00 inthe afternoon. the line was stillthere. it was a huge touristattraction. >> i imagine katz's is kind of a show going on inthere. >> it's a wonderful show. like the united nations. >> it is sort oflike the united nations, yeah. the recent takedown by the
"new york times."you wrote about it. >> it's an interestingand obvious question. >> why did it gettwo stars if it was terrible? >> yeah . >> i don't doubt pete wells. i have never had abad meal there but i was amazed it got two stars because the "new york times" legend says very good fortwo stars.
i thought what wasvery good about this restaurant? >> that was thesame question that i had. he was as severe as a critic can be about what was afour-star restaurant. then at the end you see two stars. what's going on here? >> i don't mind him being severe at 3:50 to a 4:50dinner you can be damn severe.
maybe he didn't have the courage to give it no stars. it takes a lot of gall to do it. i would have done it in a minute. i have a lot of gall. >> among thethings said about you. not always pleasant. >> right. i cherish that. >> i know you do.
i haven't beenthere in a long time. i'm not sure ihave the patience for it. i mean, the food is wonderfulor has been. it was. but the three, three and a half hours and to be told the butter comes from a cow named elsie up in new hampshire, idon't need to know it. >> it's a dated format. i think there are still people doing
it and enjoying it, so it is okay. i think it is a little old hat to do that kind of meal. it always served my purpose because i got to taste a lot of things. i was there to write about it. the more i saw, the better. but my husband andi were at the french laundry once.
>> thomas keller. >> maybe an 8:00 reservation. at midnight wewere getting dessert. we were so sleepy. but the french laundry has a marvelous advantage and that's thesetting. you're in napa. everything smellsof eucalyptus, wine. you're in arelaxed mood, vacationing.
even if you were working as i was. >> it's a very different feeling but i thought thefood was identical. but the aura was amuch more benificent at thefrench laundry than perse. >> in a veryantiseptical setting almost. >> harsher. >> let's talk about danny meyer and no tippingwhich he introduced and is
gradually movinginto his restaurants. there are many in the city. what do you think of that? >> what i think ofdanny couldn't be better or more admiring. he's the prince ofrestaurants. impeccable. i am not in favorof his no tipping policy. however, i live with it wherever i go if i'm abroad.
it is standard in europe. i don't remember asia, china. >> japan it's almost unheardof in japan. tipping. >> so i do itwithout thinking about it. here, i reassess because it is a new idea here. i'm uncomfortable with it. >> what make use uncomfortable? >> because of the practice, having
been in effect forso long, i think the staff recognizes what the customer feelsand a tip is a reward for good service. if you don't give me good service, you are not going to get a good tip or not a very big tip in a sense it was our our weaponagainst the staff. i hate to give that up.
i don't think i have ever walked out without not tipping, but the amount of the tip or whatever. everyone has livedwith that for a long time. seems to have gotten along. eric ripert atbernardine isn't going to do it. he's keeping the tips. we'll see how it comes down. it causes some problems.
i understand that it's causing problems in the sale of wine. because it makes the bottles more expensive and theyare already more expensive. the fact that, well, you don't have to tip after,you think of how much money you have to spend at the moment you have to spend it. so suddenly it looks really like
a lot of money at the table. and you don't factor in that it will be less at the end. what worries me isthere will be a practice of leavingsomething a little extra. that happens in europe a lot with change on the table. but these dayseverybody uses credit cards. unless they are laundering money.
which is not unheared of infancy restaurants. so there may be someone slip it is waiter or captain another ten dollars and then we are right back to where we started only we'll be tipping twice. >> you were infusivein a recent tweet about a relatively newrestaurant in new york. i think you calledit the best new
restaurant of the decade. >> i think i said of the year.did i say decade? maybe. i don't remember. i wouldn't go withthat. >> i was surprised. >> i think they opened last year. >> right. when you speak ofspaghetti, fettucini, theirs is unforgettable.
i can't get pastit. botarga is a dried mullet fish roe. it's marvelous. >> american. >> it has a lot ofitalian emphasis, american. i would call it awould have in restaurants. lots of beautifully roasted things, lamb shoulder, porchetta, fancy vegetables. they do a great san francisco
italian fish soupstew. they do it well. it's a mess toeat. that's another issue. >> you were also rhapsodic about meals you had at no mad. >> yeah. i haven'tbeen there in a while. >> is it still fairly -- >> i was thinkingit was two weeks ago. >> it is stille fairly formal? >> not really. you sit on low,
sort of sofa chairs. it has a young crowd. you see everythingfrom blazers and neckties to shirtswith no jackets. it's very young and gets younger as the evening progresses. there is a huge barroom outside where you can alsoeat the best fried chicken and burgers.
it is a great place. another new one i love and i have tweeted about islupulos on sixth avenue. beautiful food by george mendes. the pork and clamsand i'm very high on that right now. >> portuguese food. >> you were alittle miffed, i could say, thatnew york times,
quote/unquote, discovered recently senegalese food in thecity. something you had done years ago. >> it's in my book. one is my prediction thatthe next big influence in fusion cooking will come from west africa and ethiopia. it occurred to me when i was at the restaurant inharlem that the food,
althoughexotic, it looked familiar. i realized it looks likelouisiana cooking. >> sort of gumbo,jambalaya, rice and spice. then i realized ofcourse the slaves from west africa went to louisiana and did the cooking and brought okrawhich they called gumbo. that influence hasbeen in that part of the country fora long time.
and the colorfulness of the food, the abundant use of vegetables which is very big now in fish and so on makes me think that in the right presentationthis could be very popular. in fact, about 7, 8, 10 years ago now marcus samuelson opened a cross over restaurant inthe meat packing district called mercato andi took so many people so
many times but thepeople he was working with would rather have turned itinto a nightclub. and that's what they did and iwish he would do it again. because it was fusionafrican it was delightful. >> i hope you are enjoyingthis tour of food in new york and the worldwith mimi sheraton. i was remiss at the beginning of the program. remissin telling you, the viewers that mimi agreedto come back next week.
so this is just part one of a two-part conversation.i'm delighted by that. so let's go onwith some of the tweets. you have often talked about a place that's a favorite of mine and has been foryears. sandro's. one of the reasonssandro is just a wonderful bear of a man. a roman chef and you can't get a
bad meal in a sandro restaurant. you often have areally wonderful evening. how recently have you been there, have you seen him? he wasn'twell. >> i was there aboutthree weeks ago. it was as wonderful as ever. he's right out of felini, not only being huge but wearing little printed cotton pants that are
like pajama bottoms. >> with cartoons. >> and so he's back. he had a doubleknee replacement. very rough. especially hissize. he's back now. all the romandishes, the grecia, even his invention the lemonpasta. though i rarely have it because i love the others somuch.
his porchetta and when they are in season the baby eels that are so fine they likelike capella de angeli. i ask his wife to call me when they are in season and i go up there. >> you have spokenin the past and i want to hear your thoughts again on what's been knownor been called local lore. that kind of dining and eating
which essentially boils down to eating the stuffthat's in your area. >> across the street, yes. >> is that trend diminishing? >> it's a talking trend. certain parts of it make sense. we want the cornfrom the closest place. if you're going tobe local does that mean living in newyork you have pineapple?
it's a practical thing. how local is local? thomas keller longhad a battle because he was criticized for serving mainelobster in the napa valley. he said that's local. the united states is as close as i can get to maine lobster. he believes hisjob is -- and i agree --
to present the verybest he can to his audience wherever it comes from. >> i share that. >> is this something we can trace back to alice walker in -- >> alice waters? >> yes, yes. i think that group. but that grouplives in california. where the farms goall year around practically.
>> i would say two-thirds of what i buy is local. in summer it mightbe more. i shop at the green markets. however, if i can get peaches from georgia and i do send for them once a year so i can retain the memory of the taste or white grapefruit from the indian river in florida,
i order those oncea year. to me those are benchmarks. there is no peachthat grows locally -- meaning it would qualifyfor a local green market that's nearlyas good as a georgia freestone. >> and tomatoes. ithink and maybe -- i certainly don'thave the world view that you do. in july, august, you can't get a better tomato thana beautiful fruit
from new jersey. >> right. that'slocal and you are eating the best. in summer, as i say, i buy almost all of the vegetables at the green market. if i want lemons or oranges obviously i have to go some place else for them.
our local corner is wonderful. we have some greatmelon. that doesn't mean you can't have caviar from russia. >> i have heard you refer to the local issue, ifyou will, in some ways mesionic. >> moralistic, thatif you don't tap into it you are somehow not a good person. that i resented.
it goes with organic. natural which i understand the fda wants to banish asa term on fruits and vegetables. that's been on thenews the last couple of days because there is no real definitionof what natural means. it can convince a customer to buy something because it's natural and it has no meaning.
they want to wipeit out as a designation. it is the moralistic tone that iresent. i think localvoresshould stay home. and not travel anyfurther than they can on their ownleenergy. they fly from california to talk to us and leave big carbon footprints in the sky. unless they can roller skate, bike
or ride a horse orsail here, they should stay home. >> finally, among your tweets you were talking aboutrising food costs. and how you thinkthey en danger neighborhoods. mid price restaurants. >> rising food costs and in newyork especially rising rent costs. wehave in my neighborhood in the west village agroup of very good,
what you would callneighborhood restaurants. nice foods. a littlebit interesting. but not wildly creative. a place you can goto two or three nights a week andget something to eat. however if their prices soar to a certain level you suddenly look and say, what, i'm paying there's 40 for a meal at thisplace around the
corner and it'snot a great famous meal. nobody is writing about it. i think thatbecomes a hard sell. there are several specific restaurants in theneighborhood i worry about just because of that. every once in a while i say, gee, i'm paying that here. what else can theydo?
milk has gone up,meat, the rent has gone up. they don't have the ability or the talent to do anything at the level of many moreexpensive so-called gourmet restaurants. they can't match that level . they can do good basic things. i think they will have -- and i know they are already having a pretty
hard time which would be an enormous loss. thenchange would move in. >> there is so much to talk about including this book by mimi "1,000 foods toeat before you die" and it isalmost a thousand pages. which is why i'm so glad you decided to comeback and be with us next week. i look forward to it.
>> my pleasure. thank you, tony. >> we'll see younext week with mimi sheraton. ♪[theme music]