Comments on Tilth Gets Love from the New York Times

I miss Mandalay Cafe so much. *sob*

China First on University Ave.

Just saying.

45th is the new Broadway.

I miss Mandalay too, but Tilth is getting raves from friends, so maybe I need to check it out.

Mandalay was alright, but I've had much better examples of that kind of food.

Tilth is a revelation. One of my top 5 restaurants in Seattle.

Now, new places ... Qazi in Fremont - they have the best curry. Was there last night.

Christ - spending hundreds of dollars on dinner is such an obsessive act of selfish bull shit.

Get some take out at QFC and send a food bank the 150.00 left over.

Silly and stupid. And even at 20.00 per hour wages just out of reach.

And none of it tastes like my mom or granny when they were in full cooking mode .... most of these chefs are pretenders.

It's not a list of the 10 best new restaurants in the U.S., and it doesn't claim to be. Where'd you get that from??

From the piece:

All in all I visited 15 acclaimed, ambitious, promising or intriguing new restaurants from coast to coast, excluding New York City, in late January and early February.

I identified these restaurants through extensive reading and inquiries to food lovers around the country. The work of the chefs at many of the restaurants automatically draws interest. Other restaurants had simply generated considerable chatter.

For this survey I defined “new restaurant” as one that opened between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2007. I excluded New York because I keep readers abreast of what’s happening here.

I narrowed the field in a few additional ways, to give readers of The New York Times as much fresh information as possible.

I bypassed Portland — where, for example, Le Pigeon might have lured me — because readers were introduced to new restaurants there in an article by Eric Asimov last fall.

In the Los Angeles area, I edited out Cut, Wolfgang Puck’s steakhouse, because I’d already written about it, and Osteria Mozza because I’d devoted an article to its conjoined sibling, Pizzeria Mozza.

I evaluated the restaurants on relatively equal terms. Each was visited at dinnertime. Each was visited anonymously. Each had just one meal to make its case, and each was encouraged to show its best face, in that I pointed myself toward dishes that were reputed to be, or should be, the restaurant’s strong points.

The 5 of the 15 restaurants that didn’t make my final cut were Ad Hoc in Yountville, Calif., Thomas Keller’s casual counterpoint to the French Laundry; the two-month-old Takashi, which serves a sort of Japanese-French fusion in Chicago; Tinto, with an array of artful tapas in Philadelphia; Lüke, the chef John Besh’s brasserie in New Orleans; and Comme Ça, the chef David Myers’s brasserie in West Hollywood, Calif.

I had some memorable food at each, but not as memorable as the food at my top 10 restaurants.

Tilth is pretty terrific, all right. But the room is completely full of insufferable 25-year-old software yuppies, which hurts the ambiance for me. Make sure you get a chair facing out of the room.

The beet soup was pretty incredible, though.

I was there Sunday, and I agree with Fnarf. Great food, though.

Where does that say anything about the ten best new restaurants in the U.S.? He ate at 15 and wrote about the top 10 of the 15 he tried. He excluded all restaurants in NYC and places the Times already wrote about. It's not a list of the top 10 new restaurants in the US, Schmader.

Bruni says: "...a recent sweep across the country to size up some of the best new restaurants out there. I’ll rank my favorites in order beginning today with No. 10 and No. 9 and continuing for the next three Wednesdays." Some of the best! Favorites! Let's all try to love one another!

Tilth is really overrated. I guess my expectations were too high. The service is borderline and the servings are small and unimpressive. Plus, I'm sick of hearing a long story about everything I eat. Servers read a Michael Pollan book and think it's their job to give you a little lecture. Portage on Queen Anne is way better IMHO.

Sorry, but there is a huge difference between the "ten best new restaurants in the US" and "ten great new restaurants outside of NYC". If you're going to inaccurately characterize an article, expect to be called out on it.

Jesus, Twee. Do you really need to process this unto Velveeta?

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

about two weeks ago me and my wife went to tilth and had, arguably, the worst tasting meal of our entire lives. we'd dined there before and were ecstatic about a chance to return. everything, from the amuse bouche to the mains was just completely weighted down with the most inappropriately violent overabundance of salt and truffle oil. it was completely inedible. the only decent offering was the brussel sprouts, owing to the fact that they were steamed, and largely untouched by the most inexperienced palate that ever prepared food for me.

and from the looks of it that night, we werent the only ones in the dining room absolutely confused by sitting in tilth and wishing we were down the street at dicks. i felt like demanding my 200 dollars back.

the best part was when the chef did a little table side victory walk/customer chat up. wow.

a theory thrown around the house after we got home was that our chef had been inflicted with that insane flu bug that was going around a while ago, completely destroying his sense of taste.

either that or man does this place suck now.

sorry about the accidental repeats there....not meaning to rub it in,

How many of you knew what an amuse bouche was before Top Chef aired? Show of hands...

I'm sorry, I'm busy making sushi right now, Spoogie.

What is this Top Chef thing you speak of - is that like the British show with that Ramsey chap?

I've been to the in places in Santa Barbara, LA, Vancouver, Paris, and a lot of other cities - they're usually way too pretentious, and not that good a value for food.

As my sister, a former sous-chef and restaurant owner, would say.

Geez, Dave, if you didn't like it, why did you go back seven times in the past couple of minutes?

well, Fnarf, i at first thought that i hadnt successfully posted, so i copied my post, refreshed, and copied/posted it again. and apparently that one refresh unwittingly made 6 copies. i dont know why. i never really post on blogs, but thought i should share my story of shock at eating a bad 200 dollar meal at a very reputable restaurant. i hope i havent been "poned".

all right, i'm turning off my computer now.

I'm just joshin' ya, Dave.

Okay, I still don't know what an amuse bouche is and I don't think I want to know, so never mind about Tilth. But hey, I can recommend the India Curry House in Victoria! Great lamb saag.

I prefer chicken vindaloo myself - but thanks for the rec, Ramdu!