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Mark Interviews restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo. · The Mark Simone Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: You're listening to you, Well, we're gonna get I want
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to talk to Steve Cusa, the great New York Post writer.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: He writes about real estate, he writes about restaurants, and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: you know, all these people tell everybody's leaving New York,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: everybody's fleeing. New York is dying, it's empty, everybody's getting killed,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: restaurants are Well, let's get to the let's get to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the expert and get the real story. Here you can
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: read Steve Cuso's columns in the New York Post. They're
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: all up on the New York Post website. Steve Cuzo,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: How you doing? Hey, good morning, Mark, How are you
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: doing very good? Now? Uh, you go around New York,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: You're stuck in traffic. Is the sidewalks the crowded. It's
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: not dying, is it?
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Not exactly? Yeah, I hope you guys can hear me.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I'm downtown and there's like all sorts of construction and
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: traffic and yeah like that.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: That's another thing. These real estate guys are building like crazy.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: So obviously we have a good future, don't we.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I live on the Upper East Side, or I
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: like to call it the Upper Cheap Side, which means
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: First Avenue, and you know First Avenue, second Avenue, third
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Avenue is like a building going up on every corner,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: it seems.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Also, you got massive skyscrapers, real tall, but going
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: up Park Avenue in the fifty third well yeah, yeah, yeah,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: fifty eighth. So everybody's investing in New York. And what
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: about some of these empty office buildings converting them to apartments?
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Is that going to actually happen?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's unbelievable. I mean, there are so
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: many buildings that are being converted to apartments now. When
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: this trend started some years ago, it was mostly you know,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: these old, antiquated, beat up, old buildings down in the
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: you know, Wall Street area that they were antique, nobody
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: wanted them anymore. But now this has spread way uptown
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: all over Midtown. There are buildings that aren't even that
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: old that are being turned into apartments. For example, one
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: thirty fifty seventh Street, corner of Lexington Avenue. That's a modern,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: modern building. It went up in the late eighties and
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: it's being converted to apartments. So there's plenty of that
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: going on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, And these guys wouldn't do that if they didn't
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: have people demand. So and it's rental apartments are going
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: crazy right now, isn't that true?
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they're crazy if everybody's complaining, Oh, you
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: can't get an apartment for less than four thousand a month. True?
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: True enough, to which I say, half tongue in cheek,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: take a second job, you know, quit whining.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So, hey, the dining outdoor dining began this week.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: They're allowed. Now are these sheds going to come back
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: all over the sidewalks?
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I've lost track of what's going on. They're back. No,
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: First of all, I haven't followed this that closely. Yeah,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: they're sort of back, but not that many restaurants applied
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: for the outdoor seating, nothing like you know a couple
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: of years ago during COVID, and people haven't applied for
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: a number of reasons. You know, you need all kinds
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: of city approvals. There's all sorts of reasons why. First
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: of all, the city will tie you up and not
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: you have to deal with nineteen different agencies. It's supposed
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: to be the Departiament of Transportation that's in charge, which
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: it is, but they have to interact with the you know,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: with the fire Department, with the Health Department, all these agencies.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of hesitation on the part of
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: restaurant owners. They don't want to have to go through
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: this again. But meanwhile, you've got the Hospitality Alliance, my
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: friend Andrew Ridgie pushing for even more, you know, and
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: city council people want to have year round outdoor seating.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I don't think we need that, but yeah, you'll be
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: seeing some of these. It's a moot point unless the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: weather it's any better. It still feels like winter today.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: I don't care what the forecast said. And we're going
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: to Florida on Tuesday and I can't wait to get
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: out of here.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Oh look, where are you going to Florida?
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Oh? The usual round, you know, the usual milk from
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  Speaker 2: Palm Beach, Delray Beach, and Miami Beach. Okay, three beaches.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Now, Palm Beach has got a million restaurants opening, but
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: they're all from New York. They're all from the Hamptons,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: they're all from the.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Well, not all of them. The big place down there
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: now it's called Polo something, Polo Lounge. Polo.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a guy that worked for It's a guy
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: that worked for Ralph Lauren. He gave him a permission
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to use the Polo name down there?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Is that right? Anyway? I'm looking forward to going because
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: everybody says it's the hottest place and food's great, YadA YadA,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: sol and the watch. We'll get down there and the
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: weather will stink. But when you travel, that's that's part
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: of black.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Hey, Steve Kusa, you wrote this cameo. A certain food
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: just comes to New York goes viral. It's a big deal. Uh.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: You wrote about sushi push pops. Explain that.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: So there's a new place called Suka Sushi. It's a
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: little storefront. It's on Lexington Avenue in twenty fifth I think.
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  Speaker 2: And they have a gimmick. Everybody's got a gimmick. Now.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: There's all sorts of weird things going on, and this
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  Speaker 2: one is pop up sushi rolls. So you get a container,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: you get a cylindrical container containing the sushi rolls, and
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: there's a thin tube attached to it, like the tubes
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: that you take board with that's filled with soy sauce.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: And you start by you're supposed to break the skinny
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: tube off from the big tube, and then you pry
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: the lid off the thick tube, and then you pour
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: the soy sauce from the skinny tube into the thick
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  Speaker 2: tube with the sushi rolls. And then you're supposed to
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: take the excuse me, the thin tube and stick it
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: into the bottom of the thick tube and put sh
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: it up. And what happens is and I did a
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: video about this. You can see it online on the
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: New York Post website. You push up the sushi rolls,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: which actually taste pretty good, and out they come on top.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It looks ridiculous, and it is ridiculous. And the big
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: problem with it is that I made a mess, and
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: most people are going to make a mess with it too. Yeah,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: you've got to be very nimble fingered not to not
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: to spill everything all over yourself, and to make it work.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: There are no chopsticks, there are no utensils, so you
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: basically have to eat the damn thing with your mouth
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: as you walk. It's not like eating a hotluck or
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: a slice of pizza. That's easy. We all do that.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: This is a this is a new level of you know,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: skilled that you need so good luck.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Well, it's but there's all of these things that come
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: along they go viral, they're great for Instagram and TikTok,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and then they're gone in a year.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: This will be yeah, it's all about TikTok.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, uh hey what is this? Every restaurant now,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: you know, used to have like a guy like Danielle
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: would open Danielle Great restaurant, John George would open John
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: George and that was But nowadays every restaurant guy, no
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: matter who it is, has to have fifty places, seventy
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: five places. What caused that trend.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Well, it's been ongoing for years. A lot of people
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: love restaurants all over the world. You have celebrity chefs
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and who may be great chefs like excuse me, like
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Danielle Blue, and you have others who are just big
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: names even though they're not that good. And you have
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: these companies. Very often it's Wall Street money, hedge funds,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: guys like that want to invest in restaurants. It's fun.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: They see an opportunity to expand to a whole bunch
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  Speaker 2: of cities, and if they can pull that off, they
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: can get very rich. The catch, of course, is that
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: just because a restaurant has the name of a certain
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: famous chef or a restaurant you like a carbone or whatever,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean that the places that have that name in
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: you know, in Hong Kong, ch Cargo, wherever it may be,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: will be as good as the ones that you know
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: that started out in New York.
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  Speaker 1: Also, if you got if you're a great restaurant guy,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: a great chef, let's not mention any New York nas
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: Let's pick a foreign name. If you're Gordon Ramsay and
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: you got one restaurant in London, it's the greatest restaurant.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: You make sure it's a great, But once you have
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty five restaurants, they all become kind
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: of mediocre because you can't keep an eye on everything.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I mean they make the pretense of, oh,
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I'm always there, I come around every week, but that's
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: physically impossible. And again, some of them give a better
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: account of it than others. I've never been to a
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Danielle Balloon restaurant anywhere that wasn't at least good. I've
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: never been to a restaurant that carries Jean George von
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Garrichton's name that isn't really good. So yeah, again it's
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: up to how what commitment the chef is willing and
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: able to make.
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  Speaker 1: But now, if you're John George, you spent all day
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: in a car driving from restaurant to restaurant to restaurant.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: You gotta go to thirty places.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: A day, and they do in Manhattan, absolutely, they do.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Well. Have a good trip in Florida. And are you
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: going to Miami too? Right?
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna make the whole East Coast.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Right. So I look at Miami restaurants Instagram. They look
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: spectacular is food wise, They're not any better than New York,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: are they?
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry which ones mark?
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Any all the top Miami restaurants they look spectacular, but
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: food wise.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Some of them are. Some of them are really good.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: I mean I've been to not Carbone, but the other
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: restaurant owned by the same people, major food group in
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Miami last year. It was just wonderful. It's an Italian restaurant.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: I just can't remember the name. So, you know, with
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: vtteries and the restaurants in Las Vegas are mostly all terrific.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, great stuff. Everybody reads Steve Cuzo
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: in The New York Post. His columns are all up
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: in The New York Post website and Steve Cuzo, thanks
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: for being with us.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks Locke, always fun. Thank you.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Take care. Now, right over there, as you go over
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: to Seventh Avenue, there was Rosio Grady's. Remember that it
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: was a big, big, enormous saloon. It's like the whole
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: block long it was in. It closed. Everybody was upset
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: about that. It was a big place. So apparently that's
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: going to become a Serafina at the Italian restaurant, but
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: not the regular Serafina, a concept kind of restaurant. And
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Michael Lomonico, the great Chef, he had one of the
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: best steakhouses in Columbus Circle Time Warners Center. He's going
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: to run it. So that's great news. But you see,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: that's what I mean. When Rosio Grady's closed, and that
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: was a big tourist place. Everything you see New York
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: is dying. It just well now it's about the reopen
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: is an even more incredible restaurant. So every time something closes,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: something else opens. You got massive skyscrapers going up everywhere,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: You got all the top restaurant guys opening everywhere. New
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: York is booming. All these real estate companies wouldn't be
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: buying up properties, building skyscrapers. If they didn't believe in
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the future of New York. Hey, don't forget Curtis Lee.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: What is back? He's here now every morning with Larry Minty.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: It's Curtis and Larry every morning six to ten here
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: on seven ten WR