Friday, December 5, 2008

David Chang, again

I haven't eaten at [thank you MyCroft] Ssam for a long time, and the last time I did, it was of a plate of American hams, cured in the manner of Serrano and prosciutto. Frank Bruni's review in the Times today made me very hungry. And then I saw something that my Frenchie would like, very much...

"No dish comes across as a compulsory sop to unadventurous eaters or an obligatory nod to some trend. It seems, instead, that Mr. Chang & Co. are simply feeding you what they themselves most enjoy eating.

...sometimes it just means a crunchy baguette with a cow’s milk butter from Vermont and a goat’s milk butter from Britain. Ssam charges $8 for this, rightly wagering that if you really value bread and butter, you’d rather pay for something superior than get something ordinary for free."

Read the rest of Frank Bruni's NYTimes review of Ssam, here. And if you want a roast pig for a party of six or more, this is your destination.

5 comments:

  1. Not sure I get the rationale, but I sure agree with the goods. :-)

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  2. Good butter + good bread are a meal in themselves? And are honoured as such with a price tag? Maybe we shdoul go to Al di La and just say no thanks to the menu and eat up all their bread and delicious butter? Hm, maybe a carafe of wine, to splurge...

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  3. No, what I meant is that good butter and bread should be on everybody's table, and for free! ;-)

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  4. oh pooh. You did mean "eaten aT Ssam" not aS sSam -- I was picturing you with in slouch hat and false mustache terrorizing kitchens across the Big Apple with your pithy reviews.

    Estorbo has been uncharacteristically taciturn.

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  5. Beence, oh, ah. Yes.

    MC - thank you. Rats. Not on the menu. Rats, I mean. I doubt my reviews would be pithy. I like "Oh pooh"..it sounds Katherine Hepburny.

    I'll speak to Estorbo. If I can get a word in edgeways.

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