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Does one meal a review make? Sadly, it does for too many restaurant writers, but ELV has always prided himself on visiting multiple times before writing a positive review, and at least three before getting medieval on someone’s ass
But there are exceptions.
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Here’s what ELV learned from his taping of Battle __________! at the Food Network studios in New York two days ago. (Of course, we can’t tell you what the secret ingredient was, nor who won, but we can say it was a battle royale, a fight to the finish, with a whole heap of great dishes that had us judges dropping our forks and howling with appreciation.):
Monta – The Raku of Noodle Soups
Less is more when it comes to restaurant menus. A restaurant specializing in a certain cuisine (or even a single dish or two) is always better than a place trying to be all things to all people. For years I’ve chanted this mantra, and advised, cajoled and screamed at chefs to cut their menus in half (it doesn’t really matter which half) if they want to improve their cooking and streamline their operations. In America though, nothing seduces like excess, so this truism usually falls on deaf ears.