The Next Great Steak...For Just $33!
Review: The ox steak and mutton chops at Somssi! Plus: Thoughts on Marcel and Stars, and Asador Bastian's amazing Galiciana steak
Hey Friends! I hope you all read Ligaya Mishan’s smart take on Marcel, the fancy French spot in the former Met Breuer space — now the global headquarters of Sotheby’s. One of the year’s biggest openings, for sure.
Marcel occupies the old Flora Bar room, a fact that should not go overlooked. One of the most satisfying things about dining at Flora was knowing that chef Ignacio Mattos’s sharp creativity kept pace with the Brutalist digs.
Just as the building itself stands uniquely, with its reverse ziggurat facade (an upside down staircase that looks as if it’s about to crash down over Madison Avenue), Mattos had his own tricks. He would hide raw shrimp under geometric squares of nori, sheets of seaweed that quietly hovered above the plate like avant-garde spaceships from a Denis Villeneuve flick.
The culinary sensibilities matched the architectural edginess.
And now, in a dining room with a Joan Mitchell hanging over one booth and an Ellsworth Kelly by the stairs, things are different. We have ourselves an elevated brasserie. “Rest assured, there is nothing sly or subversive going on here. The paintings, in all their force, are just the backdrop to a placid, rote, unexceptional meal,” Mishan writes as part of her zero star review for the NYT.
It’s Sunday, 2 August 2026, and if you’re near Park Slope, you might consider swinging by Vato. Perhaps you already had plans to do so, because the Norteño spot serves some of the city’s finest burritos; my order is always the vegan chorizo with mushrooms, eggs, and lime cream.
But starting today, Sofia Ostos and chef Fidel Caballero will offer Texas-style barbecue from noon until sold out. This will happen every Sunday, so realistically plan on next Sunday, lol. As someone who’s queued up for a half hour in the rain in front of Vato, I can assure you that things might sell out quickly. Among the offerings: kielbasa sausage, smoked beef rib, mole bbq chicken, and sliced Texas-style beef chuck. Vato is at 226 Seventh Avenue, Park Slope.
In other line-related news: As a critic and a reporter, I do my best to keep my hand on the pulse of our larger food scene, but let’s be honest, it’s a big [expletive-omitted] food scene. And so it was only yesterday when I witnessed, IRL, a frozen yogurt line.
A modern right of passage for folks with time to spare.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware froyo has been trending (again!), and I’ve enjoyed reading Luke Fortney and Helen Rosner on this tangy subject. But I was en route to a review dinner the other night when I Citibiked past Australian-import Mimi’s and all I can say is….holy sh!t!!! It was like a Mama’s Too line and a L’Industrie line decided to have a dessert baby line. But the baby line was longer!
My two cents: I would not queue up! But if I did pine for a frozen treat, I might be inclined to try the following new dessert from Bar Contra: Guava sorbet and vanilla ripple ice cream with whipped passionfruit and fig leaf oil.
I love a good ripple!
Behind the paywall: An Amazing New $33 Steak!
Reviews of the ox steak and mutton chops at Somssi
A few words about the $73 Galiciana steak at Asador Bastien in Chicago
A few more words about my NYT review of Stars and the design….
A new dish I didn’t get a chance to write about at Stars!!!