Drink Gin Dammit plus Reviews and Vacations

// This Week on Savory Cities //

Please allow us the pleasure of introducing our newest contributor, Mr. Jiggers. This debonaire man about town is one of New York City's most passionate devotees of the classic cocktail. A man of impeccable good taste and well informed opinions, he'll be joining us regularly to share with you the finer points of how to get a good drink in this town. First up, Mr. Jiggers implores you to Drink Gin, Dammit.

Also on Savory Tidbits this week:

• Old School v. New Skool: How to Cook the Perfect Egg
• Find out which NYC restaurant was the first to pass the Lemonade Test.

Can't get enough of that fancy social media? Neither can we. Check us out on Flickr and Twitter?

// This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• NY Times: Frank Bruni reviews Scott Connant's Scarpetta giving the Meatpacking Italian 3 of 4 stars. "He brings back an appetizer of creamy, cheesy, buttery polenta with morels and preserved truffles that's one of the best, most decadent things ever to happen to cornmeal. He brings back an entree of baby goat, predictably meaty and reliably musky but much more tender than most chefs manage to make it." Dining Briefs visits Hundred Acres and Curry-Ya.
• The Wall Street Journal: Raymond Sokolov writes about counter dining at Momofuku Ko in the East Village and Jose Andres's Minibar in Washington DC. At Ko, he finds the experience to be uncomfortable and doesn't exalt the experience the way other local reviewers have done, "Ko is a place defined by the word "lacks." It lacks any sign or other indication of its existence outside. It lacks a menu. It lacks bread. It lacks comfort altogether, what with us perched on backless stools for two-plus hours. It is, however, an ingenious jumble of things, most of them served in bowls."
• The New York Post: Steve Cuozzo doesn't like Scarpetta as much as Frank Bruni does, "Fennel and tomatoes can't rescue black cod from overworked mediocrity. And dreamy pasta like meat- and fonduta-stuffed agnolotti arrives less than hot. It's reassuring to see Conant in the house, but his firm hand doesn't always show up on the plate."
• The New York Sun:Paul Adams is disappointed with the food at Talay. "It seemed a reasonable hope that Mr. Phojanakong (Kuma Inn) and Phet Schwader, who shares equal billing at the new restaurant and who has worked with Patricia Yeo and Laurent Tourondel, might bring some downtown-style freshness to the fast-developing strip."

// Blogs, Newsletters...etc. //

• GQ Forked Blog: Alan Richman reviews Forge and heralds Marc Forgione's (son of the famous chef Larry Forgione) cooking. "Forgione's polished cooking is admirable, and most of his combinations are intelligent and sumptuous, although the opulence can be excessive. A small appetizer of fettuccine carbonara comes with an oversized chicken yolk plopped in the center when a quail yolk would have been bountiful enough. An over-and-under pasta dish had lobster on top, lobster inside, chanterelles scattered about, and cream sauce all over, wonderful but exhaustingly rich."
• Grub Street has a tip about a "Modern Italian Prodigy" who is gaining attention at the East Village restaurant, Perbacco (N.B. the only comment on our site would have you believe otherwise).

// In Other News //

In this week's Off the Menu Florence Fabricant published a helpful list of restaurants who are taking summer break or renovating:

• Adour, 8/17-9/2
• Daniel, 8/4 - mid-Sept
• Gilt, 8/15-9/2
• Grayz, 8/8 - 9/3
• Kefi, 9/1 - mid-Sept
• La Grenouille, 8/4 - 9/9
• Masa, 8/24 - 9/7
• Momofuku Ssam Bar, 8/25 - first week Sept
• per se, 8/4 - 9/19

The Brooklyn Paper reports on the closing of Blue Pig Ice Cream, Oven and Busy Chef in the wake of Dan Kaufman being taken into custody for fraud.

Crain's has the story on Wild Edibles, seafood retailer and purveyor to some of the city's better known restaurants, filing for Chapter 11 on the heels of labor disputes.

// Upcoming Events //

Plan ahead for a farm to table shopping and dining experience with Chef Saul Bolton of Smith Street's Saul restaurant. Says the sponsoring Greenmarket, "enjoy an illuminating tour of the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, followed by a mouthwatering, Greenmarket-inspired lunch at Saul." Sept 13th starting at 10:30am. Tickets are $125.