Bucking, a trend

Percy's is the best dollar slice in NYC.

There -- I said it.

I actually said it more than a week ago in the Post (but for some reason didn't blog about it until now.)

Of course, just because Percy's is the best, doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of pretty good single dollar options.

Two Bros., which has been popping up all around the city is pretty excellent, when you consider that it's only a dollar. (My main criticism of 2 Bros. is that it's a little doughy, for me.)

Likewise, 99 Cent Fresh Pizza isn't bad -- which also has multiple locations. (That slice is a touch greasy, but also not bad.)

The owner of Percy's (Jim McGown) said something interesting though:

He thinks that all pizza is either going to become $1 slices, or $4 slices, within the next couple of years.

The market can't really sustain the middle-range slice. If $1 slices are decent, that's what people will eat. If they want something truly spectacular, they'll shell out $3 or $4. (Particularly in NYC where people will pay for the cachet of getting a great slice.) But where is the market for the $2 or $2.50 slice?

It might be lights out for them.

In the meantime, check out Percy's.

Humm dinger!

Daniel Humm, the great chef at Eleven Madison Park, spoke to me about his favorite dining spots in New York -- you can read it here.

If you don't know Mr. Humm and his cooking, he's pretty hot right now. Adam Platt recently declared 11 Mad the best restaurant in the city. (Better than Per Se, better than Masa, better than Jean-Georges, better than Daniel... although, according to the Plattmeister not a 5 star restaurant. Huh?)

He also got his third Michelin star, and has the Eleven Madison Park cookbook out. (Which is a very gorgeous book -- even if the recipes are really a little too hard to try out at home. But that's the case with most celebrity chef cookbooks.)

I went to 11 Mad last year -- for my fiancee's birthday. It was pretty delish. (Not the single greatest meal I've ever had, but unquestionably excellent.) I have the feeling that he's entering the celeb chef realm -- so you might hear a lot more about him over the next couple of years.

And Humm's food picks around the city were good ones. Very little was haute or chichi -- a lot of them were hidden and secret. Enjoy!

2011 in Real Estate

My review of 2011 (and look ahead at 2012) in real estate can be read here.

Curbed was nice enough to link to it.

As an editor at the Post said upon reading my article:

"It's like nobody learned jackshit over the recession."

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

How much Lower can you goer?

I'm a little late posting this, but here's an article I wrote two weeks ago about the deals you can get on the Lower East Side....

...if you can find them!

Is NYC facing a bagel crisis?

The short answer:

Yes.

The longer answer:

It's been dying for decades.

In the wake of the crisis at H&H (their west side bagel plant is in danger of closing down), I put my thoughts on the death of the New York bagel here. (It generated more mail than any article I've written in years.)

Truthfully, it's nearly impossible to find a decent bagel in this city any more. At least, not like the bagels I ate when I was a kid. My favorites are probably Absolute Bagel on Broadway between 107th and 108th and Bagel Hole in Park Slope (7th Ave., between 12th and 13th Streets).

But in the old days, of course, the city had at least one great bagel spot in every neighborhood.

Sigh.

Frankly, I think this is in the same depressing vein as what's happening in Jewish cuisine in general. (There are only a handful of Delis worth visiting in the city, either. David Sax has long taken up that campaign.)

Harlem is doing better than you thought

A lot of real estate watchers out there assumed that Harlem was doomed in this recession.

We felt that Harlem was reliving some (unfunny) real estate history.

Just as the neighborhood was overbuilt more than 100 years ago with the coming of the IRT line (the city's first subway) and property values plummeted when recession hit, most observers in recent years felt that Harlem real estate was one of two areas in Manhattan where developers were completely overbuilding. (The other being the Financial District.)

Buildings that were unfinished when the recession hit were doomed; buildings that were only partially sold were likely to remain that way.

But it looks like this is not entirely the case.

Developers aggressively cut prices (the average went from $836 per square foot during the height of the market in 2007 to $582 now) and thus managed to work through the glut of inventory -- the sales figures are the best on record.

I wrote about this here. And the Real Deal was kind enough to pick up on my story here.

East Harlem for $500 per foot

If you are looking for your first apartment, you might consider East Harlem.

Prices are $500 to $600 per square foot.

In fact, I found a guy who is paying less to buy an apartment than to rent in the neighborhood!

Moreover, a lot of these buildings require only a 5% (or in some cases less!) downpayment.

But you'll have to live without a Starbucks or a decent Chinese restaurant.

A decade later

It's difficult to believe that it's been 10 years since 9/11.

The Times has an excellent round-up of first-hand experiences from that day, as well as a round-up of all the implications of the attacks (in literature, on our economy, in the Arab world, etc.)

Of course, every publication did something this week to memorialize that horrible day.

The New Yorker's coverage was particularly heartbreaking. The great George Packer (The Assassins' Gate) and the great Adam Gopnik (Paris to the Moon) wrote twin pieces about American erosion in the past 10 years (how veterans came back from Iraq and Afghanistan with virtually zero prospects of getting a job, and a general decline-of-the-west article, respectively) that both left this schlub feeling depressed -- particularly Packer's. (Unfortunately, the articles are firewalled.)

New York magazine had an interesting idea to treat the issue as a 9/11 encyclopedia. Entries start at Abbottabad and end at Zazi, Najibullah (the failed, homegrown terrorist) with everything from "Survivor, Last Pulled Out" to "Freedom Fries" in between.

The Post has a huge tribute issue out today -- but earlier in the week, your humble correspondent got to do one of the more upbeat stories: How the Financial District rebounded after everyone thought it was as good as dead. And, indeed, (with some massive hiccups along the way which I didn't have space to get into) it did just that.

And, perhaps, I should leave it there.

Don't worry. Be happy.

Developers are starting to wade into NYC waters again.

Check out my story in yesterday's Post.

On the townhouse

For architecture, NYC history and Louis CK geeks, check out my article on the history of the New York City townhouse -- as well as a slideshow of five different townhouses. (The one in Park Slope actually looks like a real bargain.)

I never quite understood why the filthy rich opt for glass condos over those Federalist and Anglo Italiante houses. (I suppose if I was one of those "masters of the universe" I might consider a Candela building or the Dakota ... but even then, I think I'd prefer a Greenwich Village townhouse.)

They're the city's most beautiful architectural marvels.

Moreover, in doing the research for this article, I got a chance to speak to Charles Lockwood, author of the classic Bricks and Brownstone and Columbia's Andrew Dolkart. (Any time I get a chance to speak to someone with serious scholarly training, the nerd in me starts kvelling.)

Southward Ho!

Check out my video about Mondrian SoHo -- oh, yeah, and the story that goes with it about southern SoHo which is getting nice and fancy!

Also, I wrote a little sidebar about Mondrian's restaurant Imperial No. 9, and quoted its chef, Sam Talbot. Today is a good day for Sam (who, I should add, is incredibly nice): he's also got a pretty rad profile in the Times!

Advertisements for myself

My latest on how to trade up (or down) in real estate. (In an absolute dollar sense, this is a good time to buy.)

Tip number one: Sell your place before you start looking for a new one.

Everything you always wanted to know about new development* but were afraid to ask

My latest on the state of new development.

The takeaway:

Banks are still being extremely conservative... but developers are, indeed, starting to gear up for new development.

There are a significant number of new projects being unveiled in the coming weeks/months.

Movin' on up?

My update on the state of the rental market.

The take aways:

Incentives are starting to disappear. Not everywhere. And not all of them. If you're looking for something in a new building you can very easily get a month off (at least). But a lot of those big older buildings have pretty much stopped offering goodies to get the lease signed.

Rents are up. (Sigh.)

They're probably going to be higher. This has been a surprisingly active winter for the rental market... which should make renters a little nervous about waiting until the height of the rental season (June).

If you want something new, your best neighborhoods are probably Midtown West (which still has a lot of new stock) and FiDi.

Straight Flushing

Learn all about the condo wave hitting Flushing, Queens in my story in yesterday's NY Post Home section.

This was one of those stories where I couldn't justify doing a massive food roundup video along the way (maybe I could have, but the holidays interfered) but, of course, a fresser like me has much to talk about in the Flushing Chinese food scene.

There are at least two restaurants on Robert Sietsema's favorite-Chinese-restaurants-in-NYC in Flushing that I'm dying to try.

Unfortunately, I rarely try out new places, 'cause I'm wedded to the old ones.

My favorite will always be Spicy and Tasty. But there are many, many other places to get one's Szechuan or Hunan fix on. Definitely try Hunan House. For dumplings, I like White Bear (just make sure that they're open -- I've been shit out of luck plenty of times). And, of course, one shouldn't leave Flushing without getting at least one $1 Peking Duck sandwich at Corner 28. And one shouldn't miss Xi'an Famous Food for noodles -- although it's less essential than the others. (Not because you shouldn't try it, but Xi'an got so popular that they opened another branch in Manhattan. But a Flushing Xi'an expedition is worthwhile, because it is in a sort of seedy food mall with all sorts of delicious spots nearby.)

2010 food in review

Well, 2010's almost over. 2011 is nearly here. But this schlub always likes to give his takeaways, in movies, books, politics and food.

Let's start with food first (mostly because everyone -- from Adam Platt to Sam Sifton to Eater -- is starting to post their year-in-review roundups). Tomorrow will be politics. Friday will be books and movies.

Chef/restaurant-wise, I think the big story of the year was Michael White. Not that White hadn't been around for ages, but he opened two new restaurants: Osteria Morini (which is spectacular -- Sam Sifton needs to get his head examined) and Ai Fiori in the new Setai on Fifth Avenue (I haven't sat down for a proper meal, but went to an opening party there. The hors d'oeuvres were quite good. And the room was nice.)

In a way, White was poised to be another Mario Batali. The next gold standard for Italian food in the city, opening restaurants at an extraordinary clip.

But after an extremely successful run with Chris Cannon (which also included Convivio, Alto and Marea) they are parting ways. You always wonder how much these sorts of business partnerships relied on each other, (obviously there's no question White can cook... but can he manage a business?). So it will be interesting to see how the aftermath shakes out.

However (and maybe this has something to do with the gossip in me) I thought this was a more interesting year in food journalism than it was in restaurants or trends. I'm thinking of three stories from the hack biz that I thought were far more interesting than David Chang's Ma Peche or Mario Batali's fourth star at Del Posto:

1) The ambush and outing of the LA Times food critic, S. Irene Virbila.

2) Josh Ozersky's wedding story.

3) The fact that Frank Bruni has become a much more interesting writer now that he's not doing reviews.

Virbila's story happened only about a week or so ago: she was patiently waiting for a table at LA's Red Medicine (40 minutes after her reservation) when she was recognized and thrown out. (Apparently, managing partner Noah Ellis doesn't care for her reviews.) And not only was she thrown out, but Ellis snapped a photo of her and posted it on the internets.

In this day and age, the fact that Virbila took pains to keep her identity a secret is commendable. Ruth Reichl used to go to places in disguise -- but by the time Frank Bruni was writing reviews, all you had to do was type his name into google images to find out what he looked like. There are very few reviewers who still make the effort to conceal what they look like (Robert Sietsema and Adam Platt still do).

Ellis' extraordinarily bullying treatment makes him sound like more than just a thug: He sounds like someone who doesn't have much faith in his restaurant to stand up to critical scrutiny.

Ellis has made the weak defense that Vibrila's harsh reviews have cost good people business. Maybe. But that's sort of like blaming your teacher when you bring home a crappy report card. Yes, your teacher could have passed you. But you are supposed to, you know, learn the material. Eating out costs a lot of money. And Virbila provides an extremely important service: She saves her readers from wasting their time and money on a bad meal. Someone said that she is akin to a consumer advocate -- it's true.

And (aside from the drama and the ghastly behavior it involved) the Vibrila / Ellis dustup raised a real question: Can there be a truly anonymous food critic in this internet saturated day and age?

A good case for why anonymity is important was made in Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires. Reichl's first big review was of Le Cirque. She visited the place once in disguise and was treated like shit -- kept waiting at the bar; put at a meager table near the kitchen; barely acknowledged or attended to. But when she went as herself, she got the deluxe treatment: Not only was every waiter at her beck and call, but the food improved. The raspberry tarts she ordered had noticeably bigger raspberries.

Readers should know this sort of thing. It's a shame that a shmuck like Ellis not only couldn't recognize this but went out of his way to throw a wrench in it.

Josh Ozersky's story, on the other hand, put the journalist on the defensive.

If you don't know the story, Ozersky (whom I've met a number of times -- although I doubt very much that he remembers me) wrote an "advice" column for Time magazine in which he explained how to have great food at your wedding:

Get it catered by Michael White and Jeffrey Chodorow (amongst others) -- like he did in his own wedding. (Now, why didn't I think of that!)

But it would seem that Ozersky left out a critical piece of information: He didn't pay a dime for this food. (It was supposedly a "wedding gift" from these titans of the industry.) Which made the claim that this was practical advice for an average reader planning their wedding utterly ludicrous. And made one slightly suspicious of the fact that Ozersky praised the food at his wedding to the skies.

Robert Sietsema (whom I also know) called Ozersky on this in an open letter in the Voice and explained, point by point, why this was such a terrible breach of ethics. And, in a way, I don't think I can duplicate what Robert said any better than he did, so read it.

I was a little stunned to hear that in the fallout, Ozersky managed to keep his gig with Time. But the incident does raise a critical question for my fellow journalists: Just how cozy should food writers get to chefs and industry people? Ozersky has managed to get various scoops (sometimes great scoops) over the years because he's buddy-buddy with all these people. But can we ever trust his taste on food when we know that he gets these goodies for free? I think the answer is no.

And, finally, one of the most surprisingly good thing to come out of food journalism: Frank Bruni quitting his gig as chief restaurant reviewer.

Not because he was bad at it. (I've written about his pluses and minuses before.) But leaving criticism has turned him into a much more interesting writer. This story he did about a kosher pizza restaurant and wine bar in Crown Heights is one of the better things the Times printed all year.

And, after discussing this with others, it made me realize just how stale the reviewing form is. It's so rare to find a reviewer who breathes life into a restaurant. (Most critics only shine when they're taking a place to pieces.)

It's good to have you away from the restaurants, Frank!

Let's have a toast...

My real estate overview of 2010.

Elaine Kaufman: No love for the schlubs

Elaine Kaufman, owner of the eponymous eatery and literary Uptown hangout, Elaine's, died today.

I interviewed her a number of years ago for the Forward ... she did not take a shine to me.

During a lull in our conversation she said to me, "You're not very good at interviewing people, are you?"

Ah well... no hard feelings, Elaine.

PS - These condos ain't bad

It's been more than three months, that means it's time for your seasonal Harlem condo update!

Things are bad -- but not quite as bad as I was expecting.

I was impressed by two condos in particular:

PS90 (pictured) which is in an old abandoned elementary school and 1280 Fifth Avenue, which (in addition to being a new condo) is also home to the Museum For African Art. (Although, as much as I liked the units, I have yet to meet the buyer who will pay more than $1,200 per square foot to live across the street from a housing project -- even if it's on Central Park and 5th Avenue.)

If I sound skeptical, that's because I am. (At least slightly.)

However, Jonathan Miller's stats on Harlem did show an uptick. (And not an insignifiant one, either.) Price per square foot rose from $570 to $742 between the first and second quarter of the year. And the number of sales increased from 61 to 72.

I'm betting those numbers go down in the third quarter, but until I see them, here's hoping Harlem keeps it's head above water!

Brooklyn: The new Beverly Hills?

Well, I wouldn't go that far...

But I do have a story in today's NY Post about the celebs who have made beloved brownstone Brooklyn their home. There are bunches.

And there was some personal relevance to at least two of the jokes in this piece:

I once saw Turturro waiting for a table outside Al Di La.

And I have a reliable witness report that says that Paul Giamatti was once having lunch in the Heights Cafe when someone asked him for wine advice.

"I don't know anything about wine!" he practically growled. "It's just a character I played!"

...he must get that question a lot.