When Jeffrey Chodorow brought former Ray's chef Charlie Ramsayer to NYC to head a "NW-style seafood restaurant" I had my doubts. When I found out it was in a space that housed two other failed restaurants in my three years in NYC, well, I had a feeling it might be doomed.
Now comes the news on Eater that the hammer has dropped. Wild Salmon will close on New Years Day, after less than a year in business. Ouch.
So what do you think: Will Ramsayer return to Seattle or stay in the Big Apple?
RELATED: Pacific NW Roadshow and Bruni Reviews Wild Salmon
[where: 10017]
Showing posts with label Ray's Boathouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray's Boathouse. Show all posts
Monday, December 3, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Bruni reviews Wild Salmon
So the NYTimes critic finally got around to reviewing Wild Salmon, the mega-NW-salmon-seafood extravaganza that took Charlie Ramseyer from local fish spot Ray's to the Big Apple. And the review? Bruni gives the place one star and the whole review just sounds like a big "it was...uh, fine" to me.
I remember having to review restaurants like this, and when you're not inspired by a place it definitely comes through in the tone of your review.
For example:
"Wild Salmon presents the fish in so many varieties and guises that the tone of a question from one of my companions wasn’t necessarily facetious.
“Where,” she asked, “is the salmon cereal?”
Jeffrey Chodorow, who put this production together, must not have thought of that. After all, few restaurateurs work a conceit as exhaustively as he does, a tendency evident in the nomenclature of the seafood platters. The smallest is called Mount St. Helens; the next biggest, Mount Shasta; the biggest of all, Mount Rainier. The amount of shellfish you get increases with the altitude of the Western peak you set out to scale."
Good lord.
When I first went to NYC as a 17-year-old visiting a friend, she told me I should say I'm from "Washington State" because everyone would think I was from DC if I said I was from "Washington." To them, Washington State was this far-off place that, until Microsoft and Amazon became what they are today, New Yorkers probably couldn't find on a map.
And it's just kind of funny to see the combination of passive xenophobia and double standards at play here. I mean, theme platters? Jeepers. Honestly, good thing nobody's opening a restaurant here in Seattle serving Chrysler Building strombolis. The lines would be out the door!
I remember having to review restaurants like this, and when you're not inspired by a place it definitely comes through in the tone of your review.
For example:
"Wild Salmon presents the fish in so many varieties and guises that the tone of a question from one of my companions wasn’t necessarily facetious.
“Where,” she asked, “is the salmon cereal?”
Jeffrey Chodorow, who put this production together, must not have thought of that. After all, few restaurateurs work a conceit as exhaustively as he does, a tendency evident in the nomenclature of the seafood platters. The smallest is called Mount St. Helens; the next biggest, Mount Shasta; the biggest of all, Mount Rainier. The amount of shellfish you get increases with the altitude of the Western peak you set out to scale."
Good lord.
When I first went to NYC as a 17-year-old visiting a friend, she told me I should say I'm from "Washington State" because everyone would think I was from DC if I said I was from "Washington." To them, Washington State was this far-off place that, until Microsoft and Amazon became what they are today, New Yorkers probably couldn't find on a map.
And it's just kind of funny to see the combination of passive xenophobia and double standards at play here. I mean, theme platters? Jeepers. Honestly, good thing nobody's opening a restaurant here in Seattle serving Chrysler Building strombolis. The lines would be out the door!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Cupcakes in Seattle make me angry
Can someone make the cutesy retro cupcake places stop opening please! Jesus.
It pains me. Maybe it's because I lived about four blocks away from Magnolia in NYC, and watched the lame-o tourists stand in line for a half hour at 10pm for a really-kind-of-dry-and-only-decent-at-best cupcake. Maybe it's because I suffered through the same "old fashion-ish cupcake bakery" explosion four or five years ago in NYC. Or maybe I'm just a bitter old lady. Whatever, this "trend" in Seattle is just killing me.
It reminds me of when I heard Jeffrey Chodorow (read his blog...please. it's so worth it) was opening a "Pacific Northwest Seafood Restaurant" called Wild Salmon in the doomed used-to-be 'Tuscan', used-to-be 'English is Italian' space on a strip in no-man's 3rd Ave. He even went so far as to hire Charlie Ramseyer, who cooked so-so seafood at Ray's Boathouse for a million years. Of course, Chodorow was just going for what (to New Yorkers) would look like the authentic deal: Hire a chef from the PNW, he'll knows his salmon, right? Sure. Then send out press releases on what a salmon expert he is. "Did you know they cook on alder planks out there! So Native!" Yep, folks, even New Yorkers fall for this marketing-driven crap from time-to-time.
Anyways, back to the cupcakes. Long before the first Cupcake Royale opened in Madrona, NY was neck-deep in the "old fashioned bakery" trend. And I guess the reason all of these places opening here in Seattle bothers me--besides the deja vu--is that I just didn't think we Seattlites would be such suckers for what, to me, is such an already-been-there/done-that trend.
Anyways, if you go to the new one in West Seattle, let me know if they have banana pudding. That's another Magnolia fave that I'm sure someone's lining up to "borrow" as the next "it" treat.
Blogroll Me!
It pains me. Maybe it's because I lived about four blocks away from Magnolia in NYC, and watched the lame-o tourists stand in line for a half hour at 10pm for a really-kind-of-dry-and-only-decent-at-best cupcake. Maybe it's because I suffered through the same "old fashion-ish cupcake bakery" explosion four or five years ago in NYC. Or maybe I'm just a bitter old lady. Whatever, this "trend" in Seattle is just killing me.
It reminds me of when I heard Jeffrey Chodorow (read his blog...please. it's so worth it) was opening a "Pacific Northwest Seafood Restaurant" called Wild Salmon in the doomed used-to-be 'Tuscan', used-to-be 'English is Italian' space on a strip in no-man's 3rd Ave. He even went so far as to hire Charlie Ramseyer, who cooked so-so seafood at Ray's Boathouse for a million years. Of course, Chodorow was just going for what (to New Yorkers) would look like the authentic deal: Hire a chef from the PNW, he'll knows his salmon, right? Sure. Then send out press releases on what a salmon expert he is. "Did you know they cook on alder planks out there! So Native!" Yep, folks, even New Yorkers fall for this marketing-driven crap from time-to-time.
Anyways, back to the cupcakes. Long before the first Cupcake Royale opened in Madrona, NY was neck-deep in the "old fashioned bakery" trend. And I guess the reason all of these places opening here in Seattle bothers me--besides the deja vu--is that I just didn't think we Seattlites would be such suckers for what, to me, is such an already-been-there/done-that trend.
Anyways, if you go to the new one in West Seattle, let me know if they have banana pudding. That's another Magnolia fave that I'm sure someone's lining up to "borrow" as the next "it" treat.
Blogroll Me!
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