Tamamura, Monzennakacho (多万村)

Like the nearby Uotei (and I mean “15 feet away”), the tiny back-alley kappo Tamamura shows both the blessing and the curse of this style of restaurant. It’s casually elegant, it’s quiet, it’s friendly in a restrained way, they always seem to have a table, the food is always excellent, and it’s never cheap. At least they’re nice […]

City Bakery, New York

Well-informed readers will no doubt understand the amusement value of this truly outrageous picture (for the rest of you the link will help a bit). Even funnier considering who I was talking to about it most recently, the windows above show a ballet studio. The only dancing at City Bakery is the ballet of butter […]

2 West, New York

If Print. was the hotel restaurant that breaks the rule by not being average (and of course by not being associated with the hotel in any way except co-location), 2 West at the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park was another data point on the trendline. Nothing wrong in particular, just that the food was bulky […]