Savory NY

Sitting with Regular at the bar of Cru one warm afternoon on an early April Monday, learning all about the Jurancon region of southern France, I noticed a young woman leaving the dining room with a video camera. It was way too early for service and I asked Patrick (greatest bartender alive) as I am apt, "what the heck is that all about?" Patrick said something like, "hey, lady with the video camera, this is the town drunk, and he wants to know what you are doing" (really, greatest ever, and helpful too).

She explained that she and her husband were starting a website about NYC restaurants and that a significant part of it would be videos about the restaurants. Having seen many video logs (or vlogs) about food that look as if they have been shot on a cell-phone, with really exciting tidbits from vacuous would-be q-list Paris Hiltons talking about what a hot spot the bar at such and such is, I didn't expect much. But they were interviewing a chef who commands a lot of my respect, so I asked to be sent a link when the vlog was up, wished her luck, and thought little more of it.

Then, when I returned from Spain I found an email in my inbox with a link to Savory New York and found myself very impressed by the site. Rather than being a place that tries to play both sides of the line between info and opinion, it sticks very safely to the info side even better for the fact that someone who actually understands the workings of a restaurant has organized the info, focusing on what is interesting beyond those questions that can be answered by a handy current Yellow Pages.

Set up in the "wiki" format, it answers basic questions on cuisine price point, credit cards, size, date opened, and appropriate style of dress. It goes on to answer some of the other questions you may have regarding chef de cuisine, designer, and accolades a place has received. Honestly, as a resource I think it is very easy to use and hope that they can get many more of NYC's places listed in the near future although, to be fair, by the time I first got there they had about 300 listed and I would guess about 40% of those contained a video and I believe it was their first week so I would say up and jogging at a good pace.

The videos are why I am writing this, actually. Besides being well shot, edited and of a good, digestible length, they speak to a philosophy I appreciate and support, they star chefs. I find it hard to take a place seriously that is not chef-driven. When I love or hate a place it is the chef I credit. If it is your food and you feel the behavior of the front of the house is another person's worry I find it hard to believe you will last long. I seldom love restaurateur-created places. On Savory New York the videos for each restaurant involve the chef of that restaurant discussing his or her place as a simple matter of fact. What better person can a foodie go to for insights into whether or not we will like their place (ahem, of course other than a well-reasoned blog by a guy or gal who loves food, wine, restaurants, chefs and has spent the time developing a body of work you can reference to see how your opinion jibes with his/hers)?

Don't have the time or energy to read the ranting of some food-obsessed geek before having a meal? Or want a little objective insight into a place? I suggest a visit to Savorynewyork.com.

Comments

[matt]

Sounds worth a viewing. Just FYI, Jurancon is an appellation, not a grape. It is made from gros manseng and/or petit manseng.

[augieland]

You are correct Matt and I do remember that as part of the lesson. Ah the beauty of thinking while drinking. Thanks for the heads up I'll amend accordingly