Limited Time Only

CLOSED, i went once and all i remember is the drinks were amazing and the food was mouth watering, i was a bit tired and under the weather so forgive me for not remembering much. Hopefully another pop up place like this comes around again. Apparently i went when a good chef was in rotation ! #winning

I love the concept and the face that it is off the beaten path being located where it is. However having just gone to the web site and considering the menus posted are for June 11, I would say they’re slacking. If you’re going to have an ever changing menu one would think that it would be a pre requisite to UPDATE it online with said changes so that you know what you’re getting into. I mean i love surprises as much as the next guy but I’d like to know if it’s something I’m interested in eating if for example they’re going to charge $ 50 for brunch.

CLOSED! I made a reservation through Open Table a few weeks ago. Received an initial confirmation, then another one just days ago for dinner last night. I had tried to call a few times, and while no one picked up and there was no way to leave a message, there was an out-​going voicemail that sure sounds like the place is in business.
I brought 7 women there last night for dinner and the place is clearly shut down. Needless to say, we had to come up with a Plan B fast, but I was really disappointed.
I’m not sure who manages it, but it is definitely closed.

If successful, a pop-​up is a tease leaving you wanting more. If the converse it true, then you are thankful that it will disappear. The latter was unfortunately the case with my experience at LTO (Limited Time Only) promoting NYC chef Eddie Huang of restaurants Xiao Ye and Baohaus (a Taiwanese bun shop in the Lower East Side of Manhattan) for a week. If this menu was a showcase of his best work, then perhaps he should stick to making buns.
That was the first item to be served, and if I had to choose from the selection of disappointing dishes, the fried oyster bun was probably the least so. Served in a soft bun schmeared with liver pâté and stuffed with pickled radishes, it was good. Though the oyster didn’t need to be breaded and fried, with a nice flavor and consistency on its own. The same was true for the fried gator tail. The soggy breading concealed the particular flavor of the gator instead of enhancing it. Perhaps this was intentional as this meat was rather chewy, akin to sweetbreads, and not everyone is a fan of that texture. With a kick of spice, the gator could have held promise if prepared differently. The pool of sour cream it sat in did not impart any flavor either.
Which was another motif in this spread. Many items did not deliver any flavor profile, and were rather bland, which surprised me for a chef that is supposed to specialize in a cuisine that is known for strong spices and bursting flavors. The cold «Lian Pi» noodle salad slipped and slided in a sesame dressing that actually tasted like nothing. Expecting «light and refreshing,» as the server assured as he dropped the dish, I was met with a sadly under-​salted noodle soup. Embarrassingly, Cup o’ Noodles has no competition. The chef managed to deliver another dish that also tasted like nothing: corn hush puppies. Topped with powdered sugar and fried to gold, I was astounded that this was even possible.
Corn in another form, as a salad with leeks and ham hock, was at least more enjoyable. Mainly because I didn’t have to work so hard to eat it. Yet another theme for this seemingly ill-​thought out menu: too much tedium for so little result. If it takes too long for the food to make its way from the plate to your mouth, it better be worth the effort! And none of these dishes were — frustratingly so. The aforementioned dressing-​drenched noodles continuously (and comically if you were an onlooker) slid off my fork and chopsticks, resisting consumption! I was tempted to scoop them with my bare hands, hands that I had to meticulously put to work in dissecting the two mountains of steamed blue crabs — one with a ginger and scallion sauce and the other overly rubbed with a spicy old bay seasoning. A messy job, which could have been masked as fun, if the crustacean had actually rendered any substantial amount of meat, which it disappointingly did not. I was left with crabby claws and note much to show for it.
A resounding echo of my experience with the duck wings. Served «Icebox» cold after marinating and braised in a soy sauce, the rubbery skin would not yield to my bite, and once I finally broke through, my teeth were met with not meat, but bone. So I took to the fork, spending way too much time laboriously scrapping the tough exterior to render something I could chew on. This effort was in vain and what I could muster into my mouth tasted like refrigerated lackluster leftovers. Maybe the wings were just meant to be sucked on, but I am not in need of a pacifier (though perhaps I was by the end of this drawn out dinner, three hours too long).
Up there with the bun, the rotisserie-​style half chicken with an anise-​ginger glaze was a welcomed dish — partially. Still not prepared with the sharing-​style in mind (as the menu proclaims), the meat was moist and filling. But yet another snag in the cloth: it was served atop a bed of ill-​prepared, overly salty, hard fried rice. How can a Taiwanese chef get rice wrong? Talk about epic fail in this cuisine; at least you should be able to count on fried rice, right? It was gummy and sticky and not in the sushi-​style good way. It was like Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice gone awry. Suffice it to say one scoop was one scoop too many.
Read the rest of the review here

It’s hard to review a pop-​up like LTO because now that I’ve gotten around to typing my review of Leah Cohen’s five day run, it is already over. But here goes…
We were seated in the front bar/​lounge room because according to the hostess it was more «intimate» (translation; «we only have five tables reserved tonight and we don’t want the place to look empty»). It didn’t bother me, except it was quite loud. Between the other diners and the, normal volume for a lounge but too loud for a dining room music, it was a bit difficult to have a conversation.
It was a good meal, I don’t know if it was $ 85/​person good but it was very good. There’s really no point in breaking down the meal course by course since you can’t get it anymore. However, I must say, the portions were quite large. In a good way. Each time a plate was brought to the table I was expecting it to be a meager tasting portion but each time I was pleasantly surprised at how much food I had in front of me.
I don’t mean to knock the food by saying that I think it was a bit overpriced. I did really, really enjoy every dish. OK, maybe not the cod. But the hanger steak was absolutely perfect! I hope it makes it to the menu when her new place opens later this year. The sauces, or broths perhaps, that the three proteins were served with, were terrific! I probably should have drank what was left when I was through with the food.
My only gripe is that while the individual dishes were very good, they were a bit repetitious in terms of flavor and texture. It would have been nice to have some more variety on the menu.
So maybe it wasn’t «that» overpriced. I am glad I tried it I’m just not sure I’ll ever be paying that much for SE Asian food again, even if it is a really good interpretation.
This is more of a 3.5 star review but I’m rounding up to four, rather than down to three, because the food rocked and I love the concept.

I can’t even say anything about the food because I just got a call (4 days before a birthday and engagement celebration dinner) canceling my reservation.
REALLY? You are canceling my reservation? Because you don’t have a chef?
«Yes, but next week we have blah blah blah from Top Chef!»
«That’s nice, but if I wanted to eat there next week, I’d have made a reservation for next week.»
Beware diners who like to plan ahead, you may find yourself in need of a PLAN B.
Fail!

A bold attempt at 16 and 24 courses, RJ Cooper and his guys over from DC turned the defunct Broadway East space into a PopUp Restaurant for 2 weeks, APR27-​MAY8. We heard complaints about dragged out meals before we arrived, but the pace got better by the time we went on MAY1. Perhaps staggering the dining times did the trick. Sitting at the next table was Antoinette Bruno (StarChefs) w/​her family, running around frantically taking pictures with her camera w/​tripod in tow.
THE PRICE
This was tricky since if you price it too low, people like us ask ourselves ‘What’s the catch?’, giving restys like this a chance to over deliver. On the other hand, if you price it too high, no one will show. $ 125 was more than fair for the amount of effort and number of ingredients harvested to furnish our plates. We had no complaints in that department, especially since staff was generous enough to include 2 glasses of wine gratis to show their appreciation for us coming.
THE SERVICE
Just like any restaurant, the service varied from those who enunciated to those who were soft-​spoken and forgot what were in the dishes. Staff was dressed in black. In terms of professionalism, silverware was dropped on occasion and it was sloppy. We even got the wrong dish sent to us a few times. Taking 2 hrs to serve out the final 6 courses was painstaking. Luckily we brought a Magazine with us after what we hear prior. We went on to convey our thoughts to the Manager, who showed a genuine concern for feedback about the food and service that had transpired.
THE FOOD
The presentation was definitely not lacking. Plenty of thought went into plating, each one pristine and spotless. We loved the white contrast of the plates which made each dish pop out at us while taking our food porn. We noticed a weak start but a strong finish. To avoid palate fatigue, we wish they would switch it up on us and vary the heaviness of each course, a technique that Grant Achatz mastered at Alinea. In summary, we liked 9 out of 24 courses. Instead of reiterating already what’s on the menu, we’ll get into specific ingredients as well as comments.
*Noteworthy dishes denoted with an asterisk
7PM
*Course 5: Went well w/​gin roulade, no gin flavor though, brioche crumbs
At this point, we were served 5 courses in the first 30min.
7:30PM
*Course 6: The compressed watermelon reminded us of an episode of 7PM
*Course 10: Hands down the best dish of the evening, well-​balanced, ikura and brown butter was unique, perfect crisp on the trout, served w/​fried spinach
*Course 13: Liquid olive a la El Bulli, olive crumble, peppermint garnish,
*Course 15: Very good, vidalia onion ice cream was original and worked very well in this
*Course 17: coffee, hazelnut soil, pine nut powder, pea shoots, alfalfa, fiddlehead, ramps, ferns, arugula, watercress, dried morels, simple yet delicious
*Course 18: Lamb and peanut combo was brave but worked for us
8:50PM
*Course 21: That slice of black walnut — heavenly & made the dish SING!
*Course 22: Rosemary-​lemon custard, pine nuts were key here, basil seeds, wished the basil cake wasn’t served crumbled
*Course 23: Acer is another word for maple, the chocolate crumble here was amazing
10:40PM — meal is done
11:00PM — OUTTA HERE!
Extremely skeptical at first, we could not help but compare the food to that of Grant Achatz, Pellegrino Top 10 Restaurant in the World and frankly, the best meal of our life. At only ~40% of the cost of Alinea, we didn’t expect much. We were pleasantly surprised that dishes were nicely composed and you certainly tasted the effort. You knew what they Chef was trying to say to you, even if it fell short in terms of flavor. Although nowhere near the same level of Achatz’s food, it was a bold attempt at bringing something to NYC that hasn’t been done before in recent memory.
We ended up going to Lan Zhou Noodles on 144 East Broadway for a dozen boiled dumplings after this meal. Since the meal was spread out over a period of 4hrs, it gave us plenty of time to get hungry again. Pretty presentation, lukewarm food, mediocre service and questionable execution leaves us indifferent about going back. Still at $ 125, it is a bargain in our book. Maybe if the meal only took 2hrs instead of 4hrs, we’d reconsider. Til then, we can call it a journey for ADD palates like ours, but nothing more.
The next PopUp series is in full swing MAY11−17, with the Fatty Cue guys up next.
The Journey 24course menu here:
More pics on our i8NYC FB Page, full review up on our blog…

holy 24 courses, well for us it was only 23. My girlfriend had allergic reaction ¾ths the way through and we had to leave without a happy ending, literally (that’s what the last course is called) and figuratively.
After going to the doctor a week later it turns out what she got was Scombroid food poisoning which is a form of food poisoning caused from improper storage/​handling of fish. Which is kind of scary.
Shame too because we had such a great time before she got sick.

In every city there is a place where the «real» working stiffs hang. This holds true for bar-​tenders as well. I came here to attend an event hosted by Absolut Vodka and was blown away by the hidden underground bar visited by some of the top mixologists. Beautiful exposed brick walls, vintage hardwood floors, a cascading wall of indoor plants, and a video installation of a pulsating jellyfish make for the most über hip room to enjoy perfectly made libations. This is one of the best «in the know» bars, equal to Angels Share and Mulberry Project.

I have read the negative reviews, and frankly, I understand.
it IS a pop-​up, and 24 courses with a waitstaff that is not your own, coming here on the first week has chances of it being a letdown. So i booked our dinner somewhere in the middle of the pop-up’s run.
I got lucky because when we came, there were only a couple of diners. Our food was impeccably timed. Chef RJ Cooper came to our table and said hello. Chris Ford, the pastry chef, said hello too (we know him.)
for me the experience was STELLAR!
the photos of the WHOLE MEAL is here.
I look forward to the rest of the chefs that are coming into this neat little place.

I moved to NY this weekend and am excited to present my first review as a New Yorker… LTO!
My new digs are just around the corner. Score. I haven’t stopped in for dinner yet, but I did get introduced to the very cool bar that they’re hiding downstairs. Skip the obvious one up front, and head to the back of the restaurant. Down the stairs there’s a great bar space with some delightful cocktails. They mixed me up some kinda spiked sweet tea that was AMAZING. More please.
There was a shot that they were calling the Hollow Point (I think). It tasted pretty good, but that lung-​burning feeling was a bit much for me. But I’d recommend it if you like that sort of thing.
They also offer these nifty little forms so you can order up a custom made drink from the bartender. I didn’t get to try a custom drink this time, but I definitely plan to next time around.

Very happy I didn’t get scared off by the negative reviews. Pacing problem of the courses has been corrected. Food is plentiful as well as creative and delicious. Service was friendly and attentive. Nice décor. Only negative is that Chef Cooper is opening his restaurant in DC and not NYC.

I should have known very well that a 24 course dinner just does not make sense before I booked through that promotional email from one of the NYC pushers… which one was it? TastingTable, Urban Daddy, Village Vines or Unilocal?
With Voyager– 16 Courses and Odyssey– 24 courses, anyone would know off the bat that it does not make sense as there are just too many elements that come into play. Unless you’re serving Sashimi and classifying each raw ingredient as a dish, I would not even attempt this. Padma Lakshmi would be very pissed off and would shake her head in dismay while Tom Collichio would just say this is ridiculous and walk right out without paying the bill…
Tyisha’s a big woman aight and she has lots to fill. This made me so even more hungry than when I came in… I was walking home, passed by Popeyes and wanted to get some… Too bad it was already closed (midnight) by the time I left the 4 hour ordeal of a meal and only happened to finish 15 courses of my 24 course meal. This left lil old Tyisha so sad and depressed that night that I almost made my own fried chicken at home…
Shame on you LTO for letting me go hungry that night as I lay in bed wondering what a massive fail you left in my heart. How dare you.

this is a review for the «rogue 24″ preview.
i so wish this place was as good as i had hoped for it to be. i booked this dinner for a very special occasion.
i guess i really dont understand the restaurant business because i thought that since it was the „opening“ the restaurant would want to be on top of its game. HOWEVER… we ended up spending almost 4 hours in the restaurant. LONG story short, we left very, very hungry, without finishing our meal.
there are two menus you can choose from.“the progression» (16 courses, 4 beverage pairings– $ 160), and «the journey» (24 courses, 8 pairings– $ 180). we chose to go with the journey. i think the more appropriate name would be the ODYSSEY. at least odysseus had a constant supply of wine.
this meal felt like an eternity — we waited almost 20 minutes in between each «bite» i feel bad because if i could remember, the bites were fine, some were definitely interesting, (liquid chicken, caviar served in its tin). unfortunately, the waiting in between just made the experience intolerable. i felt bad for the hapless servers trying to explain «the smoked oysters with milax/​meyer lemon» i wanted to scream, «maybe you should spend less time SUSPENDING the oyster in mignonette and smoking the invisible lemon shivers. and actually serve people food.»
Pros: the staff was very nice and sympathetic, the space was fine… drinks were good. the desserts were amazing and cheered us up a little towards the end. the food was good and i really wish i could have stayed for the whole thing.