Our restaurant that matters

I was browsing the magazine stands at B&N when I spotted it. It couldn’t be, could it? There, on the cover of Saveur #119 appeared to be my beloved chocolate caramel tart. The one, the only. The one they serve at Marlow & Sons. The one with the sea salt on top. I practically squealed with glee as I grabbed for the issue. “The Ultimate Chocolate Caramel Tart, page 102.” I flipped to the page and–yes!–sure enough, I now had the recipe: “When making this dessert (from Marlow & Sons; see page 82)…” Page 82? Page 82.

Wait a minute. I’m not sure how to feel about this. Number 9 in a list of “restaurants that matter” is Marlow & Sons. Sure, I’m happy to sing its praises (we’ve blogged about M&S and its sibling restaurant, Diner on Hither and Thither; I’ve recommended it to countless friends; we’ve taken almost every out-of-town visitor to one of the two), but I’m afraid that Saveur might have a bit too much pull. Crossing my fingers, I’m hoping that the article has no affect on the neighborhoodiness of our favorite spots to eat.

This said, I do feel an misplaced sense of pride–our favorite spots to eat, recognized in Saveur! This is huge! A full six pages are dedicated to M&S (and Diner, too): there’s full page beauty shot of the tart (the cover image), and this wonderful spread consisting of a collage of photos–images of the kind I wish we could take every time we go (the arrangements of bottles, the tile floor, the brick chicken, and so on), but which I’d just be too embarrassed to be seen capturing.

The issue features Grammercy Tavern and Blue Hill Stone Barns, too–two places in the city we’ve also been wowed by, but which cost a whole lot more to patronize. The restauranteur behind Grammercy Tavern, Danny Meyer, like those behind M&S and Diner (Andrew Tarlow and Mark Firth) also seems to put together one spectacular meal after another–at multiple restaurants. And, interestingly, our two favorite burgers in the city are at Diner and at Shake Shack; the latter is a Danny Meyer spot.

Based on these NY picks, I’m excited to explore more of this list of “Restaurants that Matter” at any chance I get. For the tart, however, no travel will be required: I’ll take a stab at making that delicious tart this Sunday to bring to a dinner party on Monday!

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