Results tagged: Matsugen

The Joy of Sake returns to Webster Hall tomorrow night to showcase over 250 premium sakes and food from some of NYC's top Japanese restaurants. If you're eager to learn about sake you won't want to miss it. Sample the full spectrum of junmai, ginjo and daiginjo sake, including many award-winning and near impossible to find selections. A wide range of sake-friendly dishes will be available from standouts like 15 East, Bond St, Bozu, EN Japanese Brasserie, Geisha, Hibino, Kai, Matsugen, Oms/b, Riingo, Sakagura, SushiSamba, Woo Lae Oak and Zenkichi. Kampai!

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The Joy of Sake

When: Thursday, September 24th from 6pm to 9pm
Where: Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street in the East Village.
Tickets: $80 in advance, $90 at the door. Order online at Joy of Sake website or call 888-799-7242.

// This Week on Savory Cities //

Not since Momofuku Ko (with Gael Green's "I am forced to taste it again and again to be sure I hate it as much as I do" to Frank Bruni's, "You'll love it, provided you ever get access to it.") have two major critics diverged so dramatically on a new restaurant put forth by such a heavy hitter. Read Bruni and Platt's clashing reviews, watch our new video and then head down to TriBeCa to try out Matsugen's traditional Japanese cuisine and make your own judgment.

// Recently Opened // 

• Corton - Restaurateur Drew Nieporent (Nobu, Tribeca Grill, Mai House) and chef Paul Liebrandt (formerly of Gilt) have opened this modern French restaurant in the old Montrachet space in TriBeCa. A 3-course prix fixe ($76) or tasting menu ($110) showcase Liebrandt's "clean, precise and intense" flavors.
• Secession - In Danube's place comes David Bouley's new Mediterranean-focused restaurant. The menu is the result of his passionate collaboration with Cesare Casella. 
• Archipelago - French-Japanese nouvelle cuisine by a former Morimoto sous chef.
• Naya Mezze and Grill -A stylish new Middle Eastern debuts on 2nd Ave and 56th.

// This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• NY Times: Frank Bruni gives one star to Socarrat Paella Bar. "Paella is such a worthy undertaking that any place doing it as well as Socarrat deserves note for that reason alone. The paellas are sized for two people or more, and their prices - $21 to $23 a person, depending on the kind - strike me as reasonable."
• Bloomberg: Ryan Sutton visits Allegretti. Despite its high prices, he says, "Firm ravioli are stuffed with braised oxtail. Then just when things get too rich, orange zest zings the palate with a burst of citrus. Airy gnocchi sop up heady lamb ragu. Pecorino adds a hint of sour."
• NY Magazine: The Underground Gourmet visits Porchetta and bestows 3 stars on the casual and moderately priced sandwich shop.
• TONY: Randall Lane visits Brooklyn's Peaches giving the restaurant 3 of 6 stars. "Peaches offers progressive food in a spot where the mere existence of such a restaurant is noteworthy--guts like those play well in the South, and in Brooklyn, too."

// In Other News //

• Michelin announced their 2009 ratings. Of note: Masa gets 3 stars; Adour, Gilt and Momofuku Ko get 2; and Allen & Delancey, Alto, eighty one, Fiamma, Insieme, Kyo Ya and Public each join the 1 star club.
• One day later Zagat released their 2009 NYC guide. The category winners: Top Newcomer =  Momofuku Ko; Top Food & Service = Per Se; Top Decor = Asiate; Most Popular = Union Square Cafe; Top hamburger = DuMont; Top Pizza: Lucali; Top BBQ: Fette Sau.
• Ferran Adria, in town this week promoting a new book, answers reader questions on Diner's Journal.
• Her Insatiableness weighs in, blogger-style, on the city's most important restaurants of the past 40 years. The critics react.

// Events Around Town //

• Food Network hosts the first Wine and Food Festival this weekend in the Meatpacking District. Tickets are extremely limited but there are still a few events that aren't sold out and look interesting, like the Alice Waters/Rachel Ray talk.
• Get ready for Thanksgiving by taking a pie class at The Brooklyn Kitchen on October 16th ($50).

Not since Momofuku Ko (with Gael Green's "I am forced to taste it again and again to be sure I hate it as much as I do" to Bruni's, "You'll love it, provided you ever get access to it.") have two major critics diverged so dramatically on a new restaurant put forth by such a heavy hitter.

When reviews of Matsugen appeared shortly after its opening, it was again Bruni who sang praises (and awarded 3 of 4 stars) and New York Magazine's Platt who leveraged his wife's torrent of complaints to trash the food, prices and atmosphere, awarding the restaurant a paltry 1 of 5 stars.

In his review Bruni framed the restaurant in TriBeCa's, and also the city's, culinary landscape, "Matsugen hasn't chosen to be flashier, more conventionally approachable or more accommodating to American palates." Jean-Georges Vongerichten reiterated this on his blog two days after Platt's review, "It seems [Platt] may have misunderstood the concept behind Matsugen--it's commitment to pure, authentic Japanese cooking." Shortly after Alan Richman also weighed in, saying, "[Matsugen] is excellent and even more than that, it's an important restaurant, offering high-level, classic Japanese dining unavailable anywhere else in Manhattan."

Whether you agree with Bruni or Platt may depend most on your interest in and openness to eating traditional Japanese cuisine. If you were a fan of Honmura An or if you've ever enjoyed a meal at Sugiyama, Kai or Donguri, Matsugen should be right up your alley. And even if you're not a Japanophile you may find that you love it.

Watch our new Matsugen video below featuring co-owner Masashi Matsushita to learn about Matsugen's cuisine and why it's so difficult to make proper soba noodles in New York City.

Matsugen
TriBeCa
241 Church St
(at Leonard St)
Phone: 212-925-0202

Make a Reservation

View the Matsugen listing on Savory Cities

We're just back from two weeks in SF and Napa Valley where we visited over 30 new restaurants and will soon be posting videos for many of our recommended top choices for eating in the Bay Area.

// This Week on Savory New York //

Elliot Ryan files an update on great wines for the season with a look at the sparkling Italian wine Lambrusco. Ryan makes the case that this fun, refreshing wine makes a great alternative to the more common wines you're likely to see at the beach and in the park this summer. Read the article to find out where to try Lambrusco in NYC.

// Recently Opened //

• Forge - Marc Forgione, the son of celebrated American chef Larry Forgione, strikes out on his own in TriBeCa with his "laid-back     yet high-style approach to New American cuisine."
• Matsugen - Jean-Georges Vongerichten teams up with the Matsushita family of Japan to present authentic Tokyo cuisine in the old 66 space. 
• James - Dining in Prospect Heights just keeps getting better and better. Husband and wife team Bryan Calvert (formerly of Bouley and Union Pacific) and Deborah Williamson are serving European-influenced seasonal New American cuisine.
• Parlor Steakhouse - A new steakhouse and raw bar on the Upper East Side from the owners of the BB&R bar around the corner.
• Alloro - a new traditional Italian restaurant with "a modern flair" on East 77th Street from the chef/owner of Cacio e Pepe, Spiga and Bocca.

//This Week's Restaurant Reviews //

• The New York Times: Frank Bruni heads to the popular new wine bars, Gottino and Terroir, and finds "carefully sourced and thoughtfully prepared" food that warrants 1 star for each. 
• New York Magazine: Gael Greene calls Hundred Acres a "worthy work-in-progress."
• The New York Sun: Paul Adams has high expectations for Bar Milano and ends up being disappointed. "Either it will shape up in forthcoming months, or it can be taken as a sign that loud, clumsy, and crowded is just what its creators want Bar Milano to be."
• New York Daily News: RG can hardly contain herself so likes Scarpetta so much."So many chefs in New York are busy serving arguments. Conant serves conclusions."

// Blogs and Newsletters //

• Snack reports that season five of Top Chef will be shot in NYC.
• Kathy Chan over at Serious Eats files a report on NYC's top ice cream sandwiches.
• Sometimes meals at restaurants with big names don't go as swimmingly as one would hope. Augieland documents a Father's Day travesty at Fromagerie in New Jersey.

// Upcoming Events //

What do Alice Waters, Mario Batali and Dan Barber have in common? They're all supporting the creation of the New Amsterdam Market at South Street Seaport. The third meeting of the market convenes tomorrow and brings together dozens of supporting producers, distributors, chefs and other advocates. Find more information here.

Terroir Wine Bar is celebrating its first annual Summer of Riesling Festival. The summer long celebration will explore "all that is great about this grape and its wines." Paul Greico and company will explore the entire world of Riesling, from its German roots to its manifestations in Austria, Alsace, Australia and Canada.