5 Ninth

Ah, that's the piece I saw. Thanks. And thanks to Lauren for the info.

Is it just me? Gael Greene liked Liebrandt's food, right?

Actually, that's correct. She skewers the crowd but praises what Liebrandt is doing while awaiting a backer to bail him out.

she loved his food, or at least the wasabi green apple sorbet

i had that 2 years ago served on a block of ice and if a food can look sexy this one does and tastes even better thesorbet that is........

Can we still talk about Liebrandt on this thread? We nearly ate at Papillion. We sat for around 20 minutes at a table, but there appeared to be no staff so we left.

A little later, I spoke to Liebrandt about the possibility if his cooking a British dinner to show some others at another board how good British food could be. I think he could see the aims could be achieved, but he said he'd come all this way to New York to get away from that.

I wonder, are reviews and other restaurant items in New York magazine supposed to be objective reports, or is there some form of compensation involved (clearly there's very little fact-checking going on - they've reported places being open or serving food when they weren't)?

I had another great meal at 5 Ninth last night. Everything was delicious, and two dishes were knockouts: loved the bacon and beets, as well as the garganelli with lamb hearts. The latter was a special.

Also had: lobster with mushrooms and a fabulous sauce with hints of Thai flavors. The lobster had been fried in an excellent, light batter that had a mild almond taste to it. Braised short ribs had a nice star anise flavor (not overpowering), among others. Duck breast was perfectly medium rare and served with foie gras and poached cherries. Underneath the breast were pieces of pulled duck mixed with some kind of green - quite tasty, too.

The menu was almost completely different from when I was there in early May - the lobster dish, for instance, was more of a lobster curry when I first had it, yet delicious both times. Other dishes that I had in May that have seemingly disappeared included the cutesy but scrumptious "jelly belly" (jellyfish and braised pork belly), and durian cream pie.

I really like the space, but I found myself thinking that it's a shame that 5 Ninth is stuck in the Meatpacking District. There's serious food there, and the building is lovely, but even on a Monday night the crowd at the restaurant was mostly what you'd expect for the neighborhood...oy. I'm just glad to be eating Zak's food again, even if it means being the only woman in the place not clad in an ultra-mini skirt and four inch heels.

Don't worry, they all looked like the original neighborhood clientèle and flat shoes are now more cutting edge than Man-how-low's anyway.