New York City is home to a lot of restaurants, more than any rational human being can ever hope to visit. Among that number are hidden gems the majority of New Yorkers just aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's many food luminaries to share with us their under the radar recommendations for Dining Confidential.
[Krieger]
Our latest subject is the co-founder, executive producer, and host of Ozersky.TV, Josh Ozersky. An unabashed lover of all things meat, his pick reads like an unsurprisingly heavenly place to him.
"Restaurant Row is the black hole of gastronomy, for the most part; well-informed foodies find themselves in a stifling mire of obscure and unhip restaurants, each one less appealing than the next. But here, indiscernable from its neighbors, you can find Le Rivage, one of my favorite places to eat for my own pleasure. The restaurant serves French food circa 1963, and it serves it well: a thick slice of house pate, a piece of the best, bacony quiche in town, followed by homard l'americaine, and/or lamb chops in a winy rich sauce, some ethereal calves liver maybe... or a nice big steak, accompanied by pommes anna which are never quite crunchy or greasy enough for me. (Nothing can.) I love everything about Le Rivage; the good, cheap red wine, the geriatric and loyal theater crowd, the eccentric father-and-son team of Marcel and Paul Denamiel, the Estonian waitresses. I love the big Napoleons that come at the end, and the garlicky duck pate that comes at the beginning. It's the only place I go where frogs legs and escargot are still on the menu, and nobody ever heard of dashi. Eating there is a trip to an obese, satiated infancy, and I always leave with a pang of deep regret.
Full disclosure: I am friends with the Denamiels and don't eat there in anything approaching anonymity. Your own experience may be different."
—Gary Wong
· Le Rivage [Official Site]
· Coverage of Josh Ozersky [~ENY~]
