Well, yesterday we went to Platforma in the theatre district. Very good. Nice Brazilian Churrascuria! Great food and a wonderful salad bar with sushi. I have been toying with the idea of doing a Brazilian style BBQ.

Then we went to a restaurant that was an Asian/Spanish confusion, I mean fusion, restaurant. The food, especially the bread, was good but the cocktails were terrible. It was called Toro and it’s close to the water. We were not allowed into the River Cafe because we weren’t formally dressed. What is formally dressed to this pimples? A jacket! Ha. White time is formal. Black time semi-formal and a suit and tie is informal. Everything else is casual. We were slummin’.

This morning we went to Tom’s in Brooklyn, always a fun experience. We saw the William Wegman show, all in Brooklyn, and then we went back to Manhattan to go to Bobby Flay’s Bolo. I was expecting great food and was disappointed. It was OK.

First I was served a Sidecar so bad that I had to send it back. And this after drinking a good sidecar at the Flatiron Lounge. Ouch. And then I got a mediocre glass of temprenillo. When the first thing you eat or drink at a restaurant is unpalatable, the rest of the meal goes down hill no matter how good. If the apps aren’t very good, then the main course isn’t going to even register. At least at Spago, the apps are always good. I think Bolo is probably at the level of Spago, maybe. Bolo should have made up for it on the desserts but it didn’t. And so, confusedly, Spago is much better. 3 Licked Fingers.

We had 8 tapas, and out of the eight, only the potatoes, and I feel the anchovies were good. Kim liked the duck liver. I thought it had a too smoky, too burnt taste and smell. I expected much better than we got.

Kim had the risotto and thought it smashing. The hit of the evening, though I thought a little heavy handed with truffle oil. I thought the spinach side was very good. The rest of the table, except Kim, thought it had too much orange juice in it. I didn’t taste orange as much. I had the lamb shank and thought it only fair though Kim liked it. I thought it was too heavy and sticky. Overcooked orzo? You betcha. When we finally ordered the dessert tapas, I only liked three of the twelve, the ganache, the lime sorbet and the passion fruit. We spent 5 times what you would spend having dinner at the Arms.

Kim, who has only eaten once at Jardiniere, thought it better than Jardiniere. I must admit that the first time I ate at Jardiniere, the one time with Kim, it was only OK. The subsequent times proved the charm. The tasting menu there was fantastic. Wait a minute. Hold the presses. Kim and I have eaten there quite a bit Apres and before opera. She just admitted that Jardiniere and Bolo are, to her, at the same level. OK. I don’t buy that but I’ll live with it.

Bolo is better than Boulevard, but not as good as Rubicon which is on par with Jardiniere. Bolo isn’t even in the same room as French Laundry or Fleur de Lys though French Laundry is better than Fleur de Lys. It’s probably on par with Spago. However, the desserts aren’t as good as Spago when they had their fantastic pastry chef, lo these 10+ years ago. She went to Jardiniere. I don’t know where she is now. Sigh.