Today the Pink Pig calls out the Times for crapping on fancy FiDi restaurant SHO Shaun Hergatt for the second time since the restaurant opened last summer. First came Pete Wells' Dining Brief dismissal, which was fair enough—critics get to be critical. But the Pig does have a point that writer Times writer Alan Feuer is stretching it a bit in his attempt to paint the restaurant as such a excessively pricey spot in his At The Table column this week. He writes that the restaurant "seems to have been created for purposes of wealth redistribution — that is to say, to separate its upscale clients from their disposable income by way of a $69 three-course dinner and a highly curated, high-altitude wine list." Yes, it's in FiDi, it is expensive looking, bankers purportedly eat there, and it's probably a special occasion place for most diners. However, the restaurant has actually been called a value by a number of food writers around town. And he probably wouldn't paint Gramercy Tavern (three courses for $86) or Aureole (three courses for $84) in the same light.
One thing that does help Alan's case: the couple he interviews is spending $1480 on wine during just one dinner. Those who have been to SHO, get in the comments.
· At the Table: Sho Shaun Hergatt [NYT]
· The SHO Goes On: Shaun Hergatt In The Times [Signs of the Pink Pig]
[Krieger]