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Man Finishes Job
"By point of context, though, an aisle orchestra seat at the Metropolitan Opera for Donizetti’s 'L’Elisir d’Amore' runs $330, also excluding wine."
—I am a huge sucker for departing Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton, but I do recognize that he is probably the most divisive person in that position since Ruth Reichl started flinging stars at Chinese joints. In any event, this sentence from his final review, in which he designates Per Se as New York's best restaurant, echoes on SO MANY LEVELS that even if I were disinclined to enjoy it I would still need to doff my cap.
Photo by Peter Bond, via Flickr
Then you will also enjoy this behind-the-scenes post, which includes "Repo Man," burrata, and Sifton swearing at Per Se's sommelier. http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/reviewing-per-se/
@Dan Kois What did he think of the Plate Of Shrimp?
@keisertroll I was thinking about that. Then you said it.
Oh hey, Reichl was dead on about New York Noodle Town. (Its successor Great New York Noodle Town is not *quite* as consistently just right, but still.)
So who's next? Someone from the magazine?
@dntsqzthchrmn I'm as serious as a heart attack when I say this: Choire Sicha would be MOTHERCLUCKING AMAZING in the role. The thing is, he'd need a partner to take care of reviewing the wine and cocktails lists, except for the life of me I can't think of a person who would excel in that capacity.
@jolie I am printing the Sicha 2012 t-shirts now.
@jolie I think the ice is gonna DQ you, but I like the moxie.
@Clarence Rosario lolllllllllll tooooootally not what I was getting at. Hint: Starts with a 'B' and ends with an 'alk'.
@dntsqzthchrmn I'd vote Sicha for everything but Miss America. That's all Balk.
@jolie Wait. Why aren't they already auditioning for this by tag-teaming restaurant reviews HERE.
@jolie I really want Balk to do the Grub Street New York Diet.
@dntsqzthchrmn You mean like this??? God yes, I fully support this idea! Just… do you think we could refrain from using the term "tag-teaming" w/r/t Alex and Choire? It makes me feel like I'm being touched in a very, very, very bad way.
@jolie Yes. And as always I defer to your better judgment. (This is the one place in the world where I DON'T tend to overcaution. I'll work on it.)
I loved that he spent last night retweeting all the haters.
Just to keep things in perspective, you can also see L'elisir at the Met for $25.00; in fact there are hundreds of seats available at that price for almost every opera they do there. For that matter, if you're willing to stand, you can get in for $17.00. Would this even win you an amuse-bouche at Per Se?
Awl Commentators to Restaurants: Please offer dress rehearsal meals.
@dntsqzthchrmn Can I be a seat filler, just to pick on Raquel Welch's salad?
@La Cieca Or Family Circle meals. You can barely make out the dishes, everything is pretty small, but the flavors come through like gangbusters and you get a really nice closeup view of the scalloped ceiling.
@liznieve Or Family Circus meals, where they give you a convoluted but hilarious line to go across and your dead grandfather is watching you from Heaven as you eat.
With the proper amount of discretion, however, both can be BYOB.
NEW RULE: you cannot eat at Per Se until you can properly employ the term in a sentence. I SAID PROPERLY!
@IBentMyWookie: Eating there otherwise is a per se violation of your rule.
@IBentMyWookie The 1960 Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Saint-John Per Se.
@IBentMyWookie "I love your pants." "Thanks. James Per Se."
He invented the word "broheim" and referenced Sammy Hagar and The Breeders in his reviews – I'm gonna miss him.
Hman I love you but Sifton did not invent that word.
@Matt Aww :( but you love me, so :)
u_U
Trying to reconcile loving Sam Sifton and the price of opera seats with supporting the Occupy Wall Street protests, and now find my head exploding, endlessly, so if anyone could help with a fire extinguisher or explanation, I would forever be in their debt.
High (expensive) culture does just fine in an economically diverse society, thanks.
I'm not entirely sure about "a poem on creaminess."
@Smitros That was the only line in the review that made me cringe, though. Which, for the Times — one bad line is not bad at all.
@Smitros I had a problem with the line "cock-gobbling silliness" until I reread it and realized the word was "clock."
@hockeymom Right? That had to be an attempt to win some sort of bet.
(It was as if an unseen hand had inserted the "l" in some last-ditch attempt to defuse offense.)
@dntsqzthchrmn I'm still chuckling a bit at "a meditation on brine." Something or other in that article, when read to Mrs. Smitros over breakfast, made her laugh out loud.
As I said in the comments today in the Dining section, I'd rather read about his trips to the clam bars in Queens and Jersey. But he will be missed.
Wait — Balk drinks wine?
@alorsenfants Worse, he drinks port.
@jolie Thought it was all about PBR and a shot or something — wouldn't be any kind of sommelier!