How cool is gentrification?

Douglas Friedman

From today's NY Times on a new restaurant in my neighborhood:

The chef David Nayfeld is a Bay Area native who, after four years at Eleven Madison Park in New York and a year in Europe, has returned home. His time away, he said, helped make clear the kind of restaurant he did, and did not, want to open.

“I want this to be a casual neighborhood restaurant, not somewhere posh and Michelin-starred,” he explained. “I want this be a place where you come in to eat good food; where my mom and her friends can come in.” (A Casual Place as Cool as the Name Suggests).

His mom’s friends may well come in to Che Fico, but likely will have to line up to do so — the chef’s high-profile resume and the four-year waiting period that preceded the restaurant’s March opening made for a proper hype machine, quickly fueled by visits from Gwyneth Paltrow and Anderson Cooper...

Rob's comment:

Like Paltrow and Cooper, mom and her friends better have plenty of money, though Nayfield may give his mom a break. 

Scroll down to the end of the story, and you learn that being and eating cool at Che Fico isn't cheap: "An average dinner for two, without drinks and tip, is about $150."

That's as much as I spend on groceries for a week! 

Better bet is El Rancho Grande right across the street where you can get a good meal for under $10.