Dressler's--Brooklyn--take two

I haven't been to Dressler in years, only because the last time I was there they confused their cuts of meat. But now they have a Michelin star, and I had to see what all of the hoopla was about. To be honest, up until five minutes ago I wasn't crystal clear on what a Michelin star is. I mean, I knew it was good sign if a restaurant has one, but I wasn't sure what the criteria was based upon. Here's a refresher from their website:

The MICHELIN Guide uses a system of symbols to identify the best hotels and restaurants within each comfort and price category. For restaurants, Michelin stars are based on five criteria:

* The quality of the products
* The mastery of flavor and cooking
* The "personality" of the cuisine
* The value for the money
* The consistency between visits

Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants offering the finest cooking, regardless of cuisine style. Stars represent only what is on the plate. They do not take into consideration interior decoration, service quality or table settings.

* A very good restaurant in it's category
** Excellent cooking and worth a detour
*** Exceptional cuisine and worth the journey

Here's the website if you need more: www.michelinguide.com. I won't get into the history of where it came from because to be honest I'm too lazy to do so. I mean, you have a computer so go figure it out if you're so curious.

I'd say that Dressler's is worthy of a star, the night I visited was after a long book reading on the upper west side and was famished. You could have served a plate of steaming dog shit and I would have been satisfied. I had the trout salad, followed up with a rib small plate and mash potato combination frankensteined together. Both were very good, Michelin star good I suppose, and since the restaurant was empty I suppose I would also qualify the service as good. My wife had something off the specials list, I think it was the fish. She was happy with it. Okay, not too much more to mention.

Gino's--Manhattan

(212) 758-4466‎

My first time in Gino's was a bit of an experience. I was there with a friend, his girl friend, and her friend. We were all just out of college, and I'd been in the city maybe a week passing through on a road trip across the states. My friend grew up in this place; all of his childhood birthdays, his graduations, and most of his holidays were spent dining at Gino's. I was so intimidated by the wealth that seemed to ooze from every geriatric patron, that I could barely hold my flatware, let alone enjoy the easy wasp driven attitude. I was wearing my nicest shirt from a mall in the fashionable Midwest, and the snot that my friend wasn't banging sized me up by asking where I had bought it. My friend the regular ordered for me and when the veal Milanese (still on the bone) arrived the simplicity and recognition relieved me, I didn't have to pretend to enjoy it. It also distracted me from trying to keep up with Hampton and Nantucket references, from deciphering just exactly what this girl did to enjoy a pent house apartment on 55th street, and from wondering why her inflection was so god-damned nasal. This experience was not so much about the meal I enjoyed, but rather about the first time I interacted with old, stodgy, money. I mean the class of people who look at your Ross shirt and Dockers, and know immediately that you are several pegs lower than them on the backwards, elitist code the entire Upper Eastside seems to live by.

Now I've eaten their a million times with my friend, and can be honest when I say that this place is worth checking out though the cuisine is nothing to get excited about. Upon entering you can feel that Gino's was really swinging in the late fifties, thick with smoke and loud with boisterous drunks, braces holding up their pants and hair slicked to their skulls. But the fluorescent lighting, the faded red wallpaper with Zebras, and the waitstaff that are roughly the same mean age as the patrons are a clear indication that its time has passed. The food is consistent red-sauce Italian. It's good, but not great. Words like infused, organic, and healthy should be left at the double swinging barn doors. The service is professionally brisk, honed from decades of repetition. The waiter walks up, takes your order, is annoyed for a bit, and from that point any two or three people working the dining room will deposit food and drink in front of you. Their assured way of serving leaves no doubt that they have the utmost confidence in what they are doing but also attests that they forgot long ago about hospitality. Interestingly enough, Gino's is one of the few restaurants in the city that still operates under the suffocating umbrella of the local restaurant union. And like many of the classic places of yesterday, Rainbow Room and Tavern on the Green to name a few, the Local 101 is driving Gino's right into the ground.

If you're dressed for it, and want to experience how the top 1% used to spend their days, then Gino's is for you. It won't be flashy, it won't be exciting, it probably won't be that impressive, but as a bedrock for old family money, it's an example that's tough to beat.

Self Aggrandizing Recap

Every once in a while I think it is appropriate to revisit some of the places I've already mentioned to see how they are doing. It makes it easier to keep tabs on things, and more importantly prevents me from pulling another Queen's hideaway gaff. I should also mention that I don't necessarily comment on the food in each and every single entry. If you are looking for that then I suggest a rather thorough food blog called Eat It Brooklyn, it is one of the links listed below. If you're looking for actual food comments, along with pictures of their Sunday brunch then this is the website for you. At Iconman I deal with nothing but the hechos, and by hechos I mean my interpretation of how things went down. Yup, a regular old Dick Tracy.

Aqua Santa (Originally posted 6/13/09): Just had dinner here with my other wife, and once again sat in the garden sipping on Peroni's. Sound as a pound this place, that is if you're into uninspired Italian cuisine consistent in its usualness. As an added bonus we witnessed a Godfather style drug deal occur, complete with stashing of the contraband in the toilet tank.

Hearth (Originally posted 2/24/09): Just had dinner last night and was much more impressed with the service than last time. It might help that the server is also a server at Terroir and knows me as a spaz. I also noticed that the menu clearly states the veal meatballs come with ricotta ravioli, which was the source of my complaint in the earlier entry. But, to my credit, they still wear ridiculous shirts. And the place is way more expensive than I want it to be.

Fada (Originally posted 6/4/09): Went here with my wife and other wife a few weeks ago out of desperation for some cold Sancerre. And let me tell you there was a waitress that was so hot I am still making withdrawals from the spank bank. Ouch. Too hot. She must not work there anymore because of the repeated solicitation by yours truly to have a foursome. Even my wives were into it. Oh, and the food absolutely sucked. It was a hot day, and the tuna tartar seemed like it was made of peach plado. I’m still going back in hopes that she's wearing a tank top.