Spice Market: Three Stars, Bad Stench
NYT's food critic Amanda Hesser's March 7th trip to Jean-Georges' Spice Market — presumably one of many — finally results in a review. A diner at the restaurant on that Sunday night reports that "The staff was all in a tizzy because Amanda Hesser was there reviewing the place. Guess she doesn't venture out in elaborate disguises a la Ruth Reichl. The maitre'd kept us waiting for fifteen fucking minutes while they tended to her!" Hesser says:
As you approach Spice Market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new restaurant on West 13th Street, the stench of blood and offal from the surrounding meatpacking district intensifies. It's hardly an olfactory amuse-bouche.