December 15, 2008: This Morning's Headlines from the Insatiable Critic
Shang: like nothing else...
It says a lot about the souped-up
speed of gentrification in New York and even more about Susur Lee that
he was willing to close his rocking hit restaurant Susur in Toronto for
Shang, a hotel dining room above Orchard Street. It
must have seemed quite a lure at the moment of commitment: The Thompson
LES hotel with a world class restaurant in Manhattan's hottest new zip
code. Now, with escalating financial wipeouts and even crazed nocturnal
nomads pinching dollars, there's more riding on Lee's back than just
his ponytail... go to BITE
...and the new Kefi: croaking as the crowds descend
 Did you feel the city tipping? Not an
earthquake exactly but a slight off-balance as the entire population of
the upper west side heads for the brand new Kefi on
Columbus between 84th and 85th Streets. A leap from 65 seats to 200.
Friday night the joint is jumping, a noisy inferno, tiny tables
shoehorned together on all three levels - packed packed packed -
servers racing, kitchen understandably slowish. Amiable veterans of the
old Kefi,
in its teeny cubbyhole at 222 West 79th make nice while runners in blue
t-shirts stop at whatever table looks hungry searching for a spot to
drop a bundle of full plates... go to Short Order
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