flutephobia

This 'review' offended me on 3 levels: as a food enthusiast, as an Albuquerque resident, and as a poor person.

Masa opened 7 years ago, and recently was stripped of one of its stars by the NY Times. Prune opened in 1999- neither strike me as hot food news on either account. If you're intent on a 'foodie pilgrimage' to NYC, why not try out an excellent new (or at least new-ish) restaurant? Newsflash from 2008! Hot new restaurant... Momofuku Ko!

As an Albuquerque resident, I take offense to the need to review 2 New York restaurants and name one of the restaurants reviewed as your meal of the year. Take a look at Gil's Thrilling and Filling blog, for example- he wrote a massive post on NM food news and dishes. I am curious why, in a region that celebrates its food to the extent that NM does, you must source outside the state for meals to report on in the local alternative paper?

Thirdly, as a poor person living in Albuquerque, I am stunned that you reviewed Masa, a restaurant whose base price- excluding tax, tip, and beverage- begins at $450. Prune looks like a steal comparatively, but you and I know that it is one of the best restaurants in the city, and that isn't inexpensive. Albuquerque's average per capita income is about $35,000 (in 2008), and many of us live well below that- so it makes me wonder what your motivations for reviewing both restaurants were. How much did you get to write off of your grand culinary adventure, and how do you expect to really turn local readers on to these restaurants? This struck me as a vanity article, and one many years too late.