"restaurants" news and stories

"Best restaurant" lists are tricky. How can any sensible eater compare an iconic pizza parlor or the joint that serves that simply transcendent cheeseburger with the lapidary perfection of a French Laundry or the genre-bending inventiveness of a WD-50? On what terms is it possible to stack the culinary monuments of Manhattan, Chicago, or Los Angeles up against the really-very-good but necessarily more modest establishments of, say, Buellton or Murphysboro? Talk about apples and oranges.

And yet here we are offering a best restaurant list of our own.

You may quarrel with our results, quibble over the panel's choices; ask how we could call that dump a "best" or why we left out that temple of gastronomy. It would be astonishing if you didn't, in fact. We're not presenting objective truth here. In case you haven't noticed, there is no objective truth when it comes to taste in restaurants (or anything else).

Rather, think of this list as the Senate of Culinary Greatness in our country -- every region, cuisine and price level is represented. It's the best of the best from each league, which is the reason why Katz's sandwiches can stand alongside Peter Luger's steaks and Arthur Bryant's barbecue alongside Bazaar's molecular gastronomy. We think our list turned out pretty well, and sincerely thank our panelists for helping us refine it. We stand behind these restaurants -- and would sit down happily at any of their tables.

Jay-Z's in a "Hot Wing State of Mind," according to our sister site TMZ. No, it has nothing to do with wife Beyoncé. The hip-hop mogul has partnered with his mom, Gloria, and sister Andrea to invest in a downtown Brooklyn chicken joint, Buffalo Boss, co-owned by his cousin Jamar White.

On the menu, wings are divided into sections for "Heaven" (mild flavors like Teriaki and Honey BBQ) and "Hell," which includes the OMG (Oh My God), F.I.T.H. (Fire in the Hole), and N'Sinerator, which actually could be the new title of a Jay-Z song. Just a thought. I mean, he did "Brooklyn's Finest" already.

According to an MTV story, investing in a chicken restaurant may be a strange choice for Jay-Z, who grew up poor and once told Oprah Winfrey when he was a guest on her show, "We ate a lot of chicken, you know, because chicken's cheap," he said. "We had so much chicken - chicken backs, chicken everything ... to this day, I can only eat small pieces or else I feel funny."

But when it's family, Jay, you do the right thing. Check out this TMZ video feature on Jay-Z's Buffalo Boss for more on the deal and menu.

How'd you like Robert Irvine to makeover your restaurant? The muscle man behind the Food Network's Worst Cooks in America and Dinner Impossible, where he recently succeeded in catering a Six Flags banquet with upcycled park food (think: turkey-leg osso bucco and sage cotton candy), will now be taking on floundering restaurants across America.

Restaurant Impossible premiers on the Food Network on Wednesday January 19 at 10pm and will execute complete turnarounds in two days, with $10,000. Like any proper makeover show, Day One on RI starts with a consultation. In this case, a close examination of the business during its heaviest hours of service in order to determine its weaknesses and flawed employees. Day Two entails a menu-and-staff revamp and ends with a packed grand opening, courtesy Irvine's recruiting of townspeople. Sounds like a PG-rated Kitchen Nightmares to us.

The show is currently in deep casting-call mode, so any interested restauranteurs in the U.S. can apply on the Food Network web site. NOLA.com reports that producers do plan on doing a few makeovers in New Orleans, which will be scheduled once restaurants are chosen and will air "perhaps in February or March."

We'd like to second Saturday Night Live 'Weekend Update' correspondent Seth Meyers from last Saturday -- "Because that's what the Chinese should be working on, ways to make their ten-trillion people unnecessary." -- and add that every rising actor, writer, artist and second-job-er in America would appreciate if those little electronic workers stayed right where they are.

According to the AP, "More than a dozen robots operate in the restaurant" -- Dalu Robot, billed as the first robot-staffed eatery in the country -- "as entertainers, servers, greeters and receptionists. Each robot has a motion sensor that tells it to stop when someone is in its path so customers can reach for dishes they want."

First-time patron Li Xiaomei told the AP: "They have a better service attitude than humans," who can be "temperamental or impatient, but they don't feel tired, they just keep working and moving round and round the restaurant all night." That may be true, but there's no chip for witty comebacks to the customers. Or flirting back. Not that we do that sort of thing.

You're not likely to find gruyère in most fast-food burger joints, but now you will, at the crossroads of America, New York's Times Square. Just in time for the city's New Year's Eve bash, there's a new burger joint in town: The Counter, a nearly 8-year-old California-born chain specializing in custom-built burgers with uncharacteristically top-notch ingredients. The new outpost just opened in Times Square yesterday -- the chain's 26th U.S. location -- at 1451 Broadway.

Oprah has already named their "Build Your Own" burger one of the "20 Burgers You Must Eat Before You Die," and GQ's Alan Richman put it on his list of best burgers in the country. At least with more than 300,000 possible combinations you'll never get bored. There are four types of patty (Angus beef, grilled chicken, turkey, veggie), 12 types of cheese (like Greek feta, provolone and soft-ripened brie), 33 toppings (house-made guacamole, sautéed mushrooms, and even a fried egg) and 21 sauces (like basil pesto, chipotle aioli and ginger-soy glaze). Then, top it off with one of six different buns, such as honey wheat or ciabatta.

Unexpected starters round out the meal, from sweet-potato fries to turkey chili and fried dill pickle chips. New York City's location is also the first to have shakes, malts, floats and a full bar with spiked shakes, beer and wine. Plus, they say all their meat is humanely raised and hormone- and antibiotic-free. Especially cool? The promise that each outpost includes some locally sourced market ingredients. Happy National Burger Day!