Rounding into the homestretch of The Year in Eater...
[Del Posto, Kalina, 1/06]
4) BIGGEST NYC DINING SURPRISE IN 2006?
Ed Levine, Serious Eats: The extraordinarily reasonable and fantastic $41 4 course prix fixe at Enotecca at Del Posto.
Joshua David Stein, Gridskipper: The ignorant waitstaff, the cold pasta and the two Michelin stars Del Posto got.
William Tigertt, proprietor, Freemans: Sascha getting canned from his own restaurant.
Danyelle Freeman, Restaurant Girl: The Little Owl -- how the hell does a 28-seat restaurant take a city the size of New York by storm?
Leslie Price, Time Out New York: David Burke for Hawaiian Tropic Zone.
Jennifer Leuzzi, Snack: Gary Robbins (famed for his unique international fusion cuisine) at the Russian Tea Room (famed for movie-set décor, borscht and, well, Russian food).
Josh Ozersky, aka Mr. Cutlets: The banality and bad judgement of the Michelin Guide; the non-impact of Gordon Ramsay and Allen Yao, who together made fewer headlines than Brooke Astor's urine-soaked couch; the lack of buzz around Dona and Ssam Bar.
Andrea Strong, The StrongBuzz: burgers, burgers everywhere. do we need another burger joint? i think not.
Augie, Augieland: JGV is actually as fantastic as it is supposed to be.
Nosher & HungryMan, NYCNosh: Our biggest shock? That Bamn! could garner so much positive buzz while managing to serve some insufferably awful food.
Adam Kuban, SliceNY: The rarefied In-N-Out imitation at Lure Fishbar. Tip o' the hat to Eater for spilling the beans on this one. A helluva burger at a seafood joint: We're hooked!
Deborah Schoeneman, New York: Women think it's chic to wear headbands in restaurants.
LS: The Drying of NYC, namely the no-liquor-licenses, BYO (or in the case of E.U., non-BYO) insanity that plagued the East Village and Lower East Side for the better part of the year. Community Board 3, this Bud's for you!
BL: That in one year we could lose the Second Avenue Deli, Shopsins, and 71 Clinton. Oh, the humanity. Honorable Mention: the epic collapse of Sascha.
