First half results, My NYC ranking January to June '04

I love lists. Here's my ranking for the first six months, some based on multiple visits, some based on only one, good restaurants omitted because there are only so many days in the week.

In order of my own personal enjoyment, with the emphasis on the cuisine:

Alain Ducasse
WD-50 (based on the tasting more than experiences with the carte)
Bouley
Craft (only for the Aussie lobster; would drop way down the list otherwise)
Café Boulud
Asiate
BLT
Le Bernardin
Atelier
Fleur de Sel
Picholine
Hearth
Pure F&W
Alias
Il Buco
Public
San Domenico
Sumile
Tocqueville
Patria (I can't actually remember this meal - did I rave about it?)
Prune
50 Carmine


And very much negative ratings for:

Gramercy Tavern (at that price, anyway)
Beacon

Honorable mentions among many casual experiences to:

Kasadela
Perbacco Café
Ihawan
Flea Market and the affiliated Epicerie/Cafe Charbon
Manna's
Gobo

Edit: Was Pylos this year? That was a nice casual place too.

What did I forget?

LCB?

By the way, I'm having a business lunch there on Tuesday....will report.

Sumile? Wasn't your review negative, in the main?

I think LCB was July. I admit, I didn't re-read my reviews, hard though it is to get too much of my deathless prose, but went by lasting impressions. Sumile was certainly not in the "Bad experience" category, like GT and burnt-duck-Beacon, just lurking among the lower reaches of "okay meals". I thought I said I might go back for a tasting?

One day, we'll have a search engine. (Oops, adding one's I forgot...)

Wilfrid, outed at last as a trainspotter

v

Wilfrid, outed at last as a trainspotter

v

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course...

Wilf, I've avoided Sumile because of what you wrote here
http://s4.invisionfree.com/Mouthfuls/index.php?showtopic=119

Edited to add: Oh, I think I read the list wrongly. The restaurants are in the order of your enjoyment, so with Sumile being way down, it wasn't that great? I think I get it now--the ones at the bottom of the first list, you don't really recommend?

Today's NYT piece on Sumile
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/28/dining/28CHEF.html

Maybe I made it sound worse than it was? "The food? Well, it was pleasant enough, but I am struggling to identify anything about it which would compel me to return. None of the dishes were bad, and most were almost good." (Emphasis in original). "One might return to try a tasting menu; probably not otherwise. But, like I said, Sumile has its customers, and will doubtless stick around." I didn't think it was a damning write up, but perhaps that's how it came across.

Correct about the order. In the lower reaches of the list, Prune and 50 Carmine and Tocqueville were all okay-ish, but no more than that. I separated GT and Beacon out because they were actually bad - based on a single meal in each case (and for that very reason).