Thursday, August 21, 2008

I agree with Aramis, Craftsteak is terrible.
Besides the apps and sides, I ordered a 56 day dry-aged Sirloin.
That was some funky meat!
Great if you like funk and appreciate the flavors of a dry aged steak... but that wasn't the problem.
The problem was, it was just not cooked very well.
At Craftsteak, you have incredibly great meats, but terrible cooks in the back.
At Peter Luger's, you have low quality meats cooked by average cooks who have been doing it for years. In many ways, I'd rather give my hundred bucks to the guys in Brooklyn than dine at a high profile restaurant that utterly under performs.

Either Tom (Mr. Hollywood) needs to get back into his kitchens, or they gotta drastically drop the prices on his menus. Expectations fall very short at Craftsteak.
Many make the same argument with Bouley. When he was running his kitchen in the 90's, the place was a wrecking ball. Only A+/A dishes were sent out. The kitchen brigade was alert and always on their toes when Chef Bouley was around. Now, it's probably the most inconsistent fine dining restaurant in NYC because he's never in the back keeping an eye on things.
Reality sucks.
You want to see a talented chef succeed financially and give his or her family what other successful professional can offer theirs. But if it means opening multiple restaurants and serving mediocre food at the patron's expense, that's just not an answer.
If people are expected to drop 2 C-notes on dinner, they better get it all. Food, Drinks, Atmosphere and Service.
I got non of that at Craftsteak.
Needless to say, if it's out of my own pocket, I will never go to a Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant again.

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