One cheer for the Upper West Side

If you live in New York, you're pretty much aware that the Upper West Side isn't a haven for foodies.  In fact, even the run-of-the-mill neighborhood places don't hold a candle to similar places on the East Side, let alone the East Village, the Lower East Side, Chelsea, etc.

So it was good to read Frank Bruni's column in the Times today, in which he assigns a star to two restaurants in the UWS.  All the more because, as he notes, "While their kitchens aren’t consistent enough or their menus quite original enough to brand them destination restaurants, they have real talent in their DNA and bring serious food to a patch of Manhattan that, for all its recent strides, could still use more of it."

Speaking of DNA, though, I am reminded of the words of a well-known caterer a few years ago.  (I won't name names because I wouldn't want to cost him business in any part of town, not even the Upper West Side).

"There are three kinds of clients in this town.  There's the Downtown group, who want something different, edgy, surprising.  Then there's the Upper East Sider who wants everything to be perfect. And there's the Upper West Side -- they don't care what it is as long as there's a lot of it."

I guess this is one reason why Joan Rivers (Fifth Avenue) won't visit her daughter on the West Side.  She sends the maid instead.