Immaculate Infatuation

Blue Ribbon Brasserie somehow feels overlooked lately. Maybe it’s because the flagship of the Blue Ribbon Restaurants is nearly seventeen years old. Maybe it’s because they open a new restaurant, sushi bar, bakery, or bowling alley every six months (all to critical acclaim) like they’re in an expansion race with Panera Bread Company. Either way, it’s time someone shined a light back on the patriarch of the family.

Blue Ribbon Brasserie is famous for a few things. The kitchen is open nightly until 4:00am, which makes it the most gangster of gangster late night eating options. The raw bar is one of the best in New York City, and whether you are getting down on some hard shell crab or half a dozen oysters, you’re going to be happy. Blue Ribbon also does an incredible fried chicken, often the sole motivating factor for an Immaculate Infatuation visit. That being said, the most impressive thing about Blue Ribbon Brasserie is its consistency. The service is without exception the best in the city. Everyone on the nightly payroll is invested in you having a great meal, and it shows, yet the attention is never overbearing. The menu doesn’t really change aside from the specials, and whatever your go-to item, it will be exactly as you remember it, even if years pass between visits. The bottom line is that Blue Ribbon Brasserie is a perfect example of why it’s great to live in New York City … bone marrow and fried chicken at 3:00am. Damn it feels good to be me.

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L’Artusi can officially go on our list of favorite restaurants in this town. A few things stand out as qualifications for such an honor – outstanding and consistent food, great service, good music, and some ancillary entertainment since we can’t sit still. Let’s address each individually. L’Artusi is the sister restaurant to Dell’anima, and it’s the larger, louder sister for sure. The cuisine is Italian, and it’s the kind of Italian cooking that’s not afraid to go heavy on big flavors like garlic, lemon, olives, chiles, and fat to win your favor. Not that it’s unrefined – these are some of the most well thought out and beautiful plates we’ve had the pleasure of eating at an indecent pace. The service is fantastic, from the hosts to the bartenders to the guy getting crazy at the cheese counter. Music get’s an A+ with Santogold and Kid Cudi in the mix on current and upbeat playlists. As for entertainment, that comes in the form of excellent people watching. There is always a good mix of dates in various stages of progression, generally hot people, and a celebrity here and there to pretend you don’t notice. Not to mention one night when some dude spent three minutes violently pounding on the bathroom door that he couldn’t push his way out of, despite the massive “pull please” directly in front of his face. Yes, L’Artusi gets a ridiculously high rating, but we stand by it. It hits all the Immaculate Infatuation erogenous zones, and the roasted mushroom dish alone is worth a boatload of points.

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I once saw a man at Shake Shack, dressed in a suit and setting a formal table. On the small metal table he placed a white tablecloth, fine silverware, a candle, and some flowers. For a moment, I was overcome with joy at the beautiful event that was about to unfold before me … this man was about to propose to a burger.

Unfortunately, a woman soon arrived and the man instead professed his undying love for her. Nonetheless, I was inspired, and had learned something important. I now realized that I could live a fulfilled and happy life devoted to a single hamburger – The Shack Burger.

There are two lessons to be learned from this story. First, Shake Shack is the burger by which all other New York City burgers are to be measured. This is hamburger perfection, and the epic lines are the only thing preventing weekly Infatuation visits. Second, there is a huge badass somewhere out there that proposed to his girlfriend over a burger and fries. Well done sir.

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A Voce just received a Michelin Star which, in case you were wondering, is a huge deal in the restaurant world. A friend recently said to me, “one day, you will need to explain to me the connection between tires and good food.” I can do no such thing. What I can do is tell you that A Voce turns out some incredible Italian. It’s definitely fine dining, it will definitely hit you hard in the wallet, and it’s definitely full of suits from the New York Life building next door, but no matter – the food coming out of that kitchen is amazing. The vibe is upscale modern, and while we were blown away by the service and the food, the music is atrocious. Smooth jazz permeates the room and makes you suddenly feel like you’re eating ravioli in John Tesh’s living room. Someone needs to sort that out ASAP. We would be happy to make suggestions. Otherwise, A Voce is firing on all cylinders. Our waiter made excellent recommendations and from appetizer to entree, most everything on the menu is phenomenal. We recommend any and all of the homemade pastas, and the roasted trumpet mushroom appetizer is straight-up unbelievable. This is another one of those spots best saved for special occasions, or any time you feel the need to drop some chang on a serious meal.

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Much has been said, on this site and every other media outlet in New York City, about David Chang and his “Momofuku Empire”. While its true that there is a bit of an Infatuation man crush going on here, I will also be the first to admit that the Momofuku Noodle Bar does not always live up to the hype (how could it?). It can be pricey depending on how you order, and it’s not the easiest place to get a table. There are definitely other celebrated ramen establishments in the neighborhood that serve a cheaper bowl of noodles, but to visit Momofuku Noodle bar in hopes of spending 10 bucks on some soup is to miss the point altogether. What makes the place special are all those other things on the menu that keep me coming back for a bar seat at the open kitchen like I’m actually going to learn something (I won’t). Come for the fried chicken special, come because there is pork in damn near everything, come because they have a soft serve machine, and come because they have a solid beer list. Make an evening out of trying new things and you won’t leave disappointed. Steinthal and I may argue over whether Momofuku or Ippudo claim title to the best steamed pork bun in the city, but we both certainly agree that Momofuku Noodle Bar is an indisputable Infatuation favorite.

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