Weekly Column

December 19, 2003

2003: BEST & WORST

Here’s Landwehr’s year-end round up of “Best & Worst Restaurants” - those that made a difference and those that laid an egg.

The annual "Heartburn Awards" go to: Barbluc (E. 65 St.) for depthless allure, upscale prices and unconscionably ordinary cuisine. Asahi (W. 48 St.) for the stingiest portions, and most conventional Japanese menus and kitchen in the city. Best thing about Moda (Flatotel W. 52 St.), is its theatre orb locale. The Italian menu is contrived from antipasto tossed into an undistinghable mound of meats and greens to superfluously sweet salad of bananas and apples. This munificence can be shared with tasteless stale rolls.

Confort Diner (W. 23 St.) for cooking that runs from humdrum to God-awful. Kishti (W. 56 St.,) for being a pretentious Indian seafood restaurant, serving molten spicy nourishment, throwing one’s palate into a meltdown. And bringing it to table cold or lukewarm into the bargain. Flaco’s (6th Av.) for guacamole either too fierce or to tame, totaled by excessive limejuice. Heavy-handed Mexican cooking in general runs the usual gamut of sub-standards. La Vineria (W. 55 St.) a small Italian venue with the nosiest patrons, serving some okay dishes, but they would not include seafood salad, bow-tie pasta, fusili carbo-nara, veal cutlet Minanese, or the too finely ground wild boar sausage, generally all dull and tasteless.

Award winning best are:

Le Cirque 2000 (Mad. Av.) for steadfast, unbeatable haute cuisine, and chosen as one of two 4-star restaurants. The other, Daniel (E. 65 St.) for artistry in masterminding exquisite French-style recipes. Shamelessly arrogant David Bouley for setting a good example of the direction dining is taking in his Tribeca restaurant simply labled Bouley’s. Aix (B’way) for serving exquisite modern-French fare while managing to keep a lid on prices. Compass (W. 70 St.) for well conceived flavors, drop-dead presentations and knowledgeable service. Calle Ocho (Col. Av.) for ranking among the best nuevo Latin kitchens in the country. Cafe Nosidam (Mad. Av.) for excellent Italian food at decent prices, amidst a splendid atmosphere and respectful service. Mark’s (E. 77 St.) for being enormously pragmatic and an amalgam of all that’s romantic.