Patrick "el yep" G.'s Profile

Amazing customer service... I had purchased a nice bottle of Caymus, kept it for a few months, opened it, and found it was corked.  That is NOT a good thing.  I called Bounty Hunter, and because it had their "sticker on the back" guarantee, they sent me a new bottle, free of charge.  That is amazing customer service.  Thanks Bounty Hunter! Show owner comment »

For people who have been fortunate and had "liquidity events" or have one coming their way, I would highly recommend Jean & Vanessa.  They do have a high account minimum ($10M+), but for those people in that situation, the professionalism and knowledge they bring are amazing.  Highly recommended.

Pork belly bun, baked.  The end.

Fantastic sushi in an unassuming location.  I cannot believe just how low-key the place looks compared with how amazing the food is.  Go now.

I have been eating sushi for 20 years and have had it all over the US, Asia, and even a bit in Europe.  I have had good sushi, bad sushi, and amazing sushi.  This place serves amazing sushi.

In NYC for a trip with the kids, we stopped at Kuruma after finding it on Yelp because it was halfway between our restaurant and the show we were seeing at 8pm.  It was a bit hard to find - construction in the area, a hard-to-find door, a nice, sleeping doorman, and then just an elevator.  Take the elevator up one floor, and you open up directly into the restaurant.  The place looked authentic, clean, and empty.  We were the only customers.  Gulp.

The host greeted us quickly and sat us at a large round table overlooking the main window, which was covered in construction equipment.  Oh well, we were not here for the view.  We ordered tamago for our kids as we looked at the rest of the menu.  The tamago came, and for the first time ever, it was worth mentioning:  rather than a slab of egg on a bed of rice, it came to us as a wedge of egg with a slit cut down the middle that was packed with rice.  It was so cool we took a picture (see picture here on yelp).  The kids loved it.  We ended up order 6 orders over the course of an hour or so.

Now, on to the big guns.  This is not your neighborhood sushi joint where you may get a tuna roll when you are feeling gutsy.  No, this was clearly a place where you had to go a bit deeper.  We went all in and took a tour of nearly everything on the menu.  Highlights included:

Giant Clam  
Octopus  
Very Fatty Tuna  
Abalone  
Fatty Tuna  
Squid  
Kampachi  
Yellowtail Tuna  

We loved it all.  It was fresh, perfectly cut, and beautifully displayed.  In particular, the kampachi really impressed us - it went well beyond the usual, and was like the best hamachi you ever had on some sort of magical bender.

Our server was extremely kind, and very attentive.  He gave the kids plastic gadgets for the end of their chopsticks to make eating with them easier than usual.  He did not mind at all when we ordered food and drinks 7 or 8 times over the hour - hour-and-a-half.  We were, after all, the only customers!!  How in the world is that possible?

In short, this place is a victory for sushi lovers as well as a victory for capitalism.  Rarely am I surprised by the bill.  Here I was.  WOW!  It may have been expensive (really expensive), but it was worth every penny.  I will go back.  And next time, it will be omakase.  Bring it.

Closer than ever to my house and work, this place scares me with its delicious, not-terribly-good-for-you fare.

If you are going to go, here is the plan:

1) get it protein style (no bun).  
2) While you are at it, get it animal style (just do it),
3) skip the fries and ask for the shake.  
4) Do NOT, repeat, do NOT look at the posted calories.
5) Pay, wait, receive, eat,
6) shower afterwards to remove the "yummy" smell from your hands, face, and hair
6) Revel in that tummyache/blissful feeling for a few hours.  
7) Re-resolve to work out more.

Repeat.

LS Blooms has made walking around my new house every day an amazing event.  On top of putting together beautiful events, Laura does a beautiful job of incorporating flowers into your interior design.

We met with Laura, told her that we love orchids (did I mention we love orchids?), and walked through the house looking at places where flowers would work.  She came up with some dramatic ideas that would work  with our decor.  

Within a few days, she came back with a huge, wonderful arrangement for our entryway, put flowers in 4 other rooms, and now our house is a floral wonderland.  Every visitor we have has gaped at the living arrangements and cannot believe that they are real.  I am confident that LS Blooms will be a big hit based on their work and on how easy they make the whole process.

Love it.

I work next door to the dealership, and was getting ready to think about beginning to buy a harley, but found them taking the sign down and a note on the door thanking customers for their business.  Closed.

Bought an RX350 here today and working with Dan Vlardi to get the deal done was a pleasure.  We reviewed the models that were in the running, and once we had picked the RX350 (again), he took us through our options, including new, used, and certified.  

We got a great deal on the car we wanted, and no one tried to get us to buy the rust undercoating...  

My compliments to Putnam for having a sales team and financing manager who know their stuff and don't screw around.

We came here this weekend when the irresistible call of the wing put us under its spell.  I haven't bought chicken wings in years, but I used to love the "suicide wings" from a place in Boston.  Accordingly, I asked for the atomic.  I loved the response:  
guy: "have you had the atomic before?"
me: "no"
guy: "try it"

The taste was very hot, for sure.  Then I asked for an order - I got the atomic boneless strips.  He warned me I could not get a refund.  I laughed.

I brought them home and tore into them.  It was hot.  Crying hot, but not body-wracked-in-pain hot.  I alternated with teriyaki strips to keep it under control.  I was impressed with the spices, and I made sure not to touch my face while eating.

In any case, the chicken strips are good.  A bit expensive, a little long on the wait, but good.  And the atomic is friggin' hot.  Not world-record hot, but I warn you that unless you have earned your to-the-pain spice badge, you may want to go with "regular"...

Cold Belgian beer.  Incredible pastrami.  Great service.  Just don't come late - getting a seat can be tough.