Back in 2012 and like Ippudo, this was supposedly another must-try ramen place that was highly raved by the NYC food scene. I got to this spot right when they opened, and there was already a small line outside in this frigid cold weather. Inside, they have counter top seating for 1-2 people as well as a some picnic table setups for larger parties. There was no David Chang spotted here, but how was the food? Strangely, the food from 2012 to 2025 hasn’t changed much.

Formerly known as “Marc Forgione”, this restaurant has moved from its prior Tribeca location to a different Tribeca location. Since then, they have lost their Michelin Star, but it is still a staple restaurant for those familiar with the history of this restaurant. It was quite easy to make reservations a few days in advance.

When I first came here in 2012, I wrote:

Marc Forgione is one of the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America. This is his first restaurant, and at the time of this writing it has 1 Michelin Star. Like Michael Voltaggio, this restaurant is one of his babies, so he periodically is cooking in the kitchen to make sure everything comes out as he desires. Unfortunately he didn’t cook today, but I just want to preface this by saying this is definitely one of my favorite restaurants ever that I’ve tried so far.

Peter Luger’s steak house has been around for a very long time. At one point, it even had a Michelin Star. Many tourists always recommend eating here and rave about it. The locals though on the other hand are rather indifferent. People have told me that their steaks suck and that their best dishes are their appetizers. Others have told me it’s the best steak they ever had. Does it really live up to the hype? Time to find out.

As a followup to my last Chicago post, we also went to this place. Not only do they have Chicago style dogs, but they also have a lady at the front counter talk in a rather abrasive manner. The first thing she said when my group walked in was “Hey, it’s the Jabbawockeez!” I, hadn’t known about this place before, so I was a bit surprised. But someone informed me that her remarks were perfectly normal as she was making remarks to other patrons.

I’m out in Chicago over the weekend for a special occasion. The decision was made to go to Roka Akor for dinner because it received great reviews and would be an excellent place to celebrate this occasion. So how did it fare?

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. I remember this experience being the quintessential feeling of why I don’t like dining at fancy restaurants in large groups. It just seemed weird to have them give us everything as shareable. I remember after all the food, I was still very hungry and not satisfied. The food was also excessively drenched with sauce. Regardless, this restaurant is still opened today if you’re into Japanese trendy foods.

No, this isn’t the clothing store on the west side. This is the Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. I went here with my cousin based on reviews from a friend. People and Zagat say it’s good, so we checked this out.

The decor of the restaurant was interesting. There’s a sign on top of the building that says “Victory Motorcycles Co”, so I was curious as if I went to the right place. Inside the restaurant, it had a tavern feel to it similar to some speak easy bars.

I first found out about WD~50 from my friend who wanted to try it out for the longest time. On research, I found out one of the Bravo’s Top Chef previous contestant owns this restaurant. His name is Wylie Dufresne. He is well known for pushing a movement towards molecular gastronomy, which is basically a different way to cook things. This 1 Michelin Star restaurant’s menu is pretty sparse in choices in that you basically choose from 2 different types of tasting menus, the cheaper or the more expensive. Optionally, you could order 2 items off any of the tasting menus at the bar for $25. We of course opted for the expensive one considering we have no plans on coming back any time soon.

One of my goals was to knock out some popular Momofuku establishments. SSAM was one of them. The SSAM Bar is on the San Pellegrino world’s 50 best restaurants list at the time of this writing. The service style is basically family style, so there are a lot of sharing plates. Portions are small for large groups probably, but decent sized for small groups 2-4. The decor has a very modern feel to it.

On the same weekend that I went to Sage, I also visited Joel Robuchon’s L’Atelier in the MGM Grand. The pricing of the food is slightly cheaper than the main Joel Robuchon restaurant next door. He also has a dozen of L’Atelier locations spread across the world. I heard this one was suppose to be pretty good, and after dining here, this hands down is the best Las Vegas restaurant I have been to so far.

Sage is a popular American contemporary restaurant located in the Aria hotel on the Las Vegas strip. The head chef, Shawn McClain, won a few chef awards in the past decade. His executive chef, Richard Camarota, beat Iron Chef Marc Forgione on the the Food Network. There’s a lot of name dropping here and there, so since my party was staying here, we decided to try this restaurant out based on the rave reviews on Yelp.