America
Closed: I'm surprised it took this long for American to wither away.
(6/6/05)
Is this vast, oddly-muraled, noisy space for tourists? Parties? Groups?
Kids? Me? I'm not sure the target audience. America strikes me as one of
those places that may have been big before my time. No, not like the '60s,
I'm talking mid-90s.
The 50 states are represented by the obvious like crab cakes (Maryland)
or the invented warm duck salad with soba, watercress and toasted macadamia
nuts (uh, Hawaii). Sometimes they push it a bit. The portions are large, the
prices aren't completely unreasonable and the food is pleasingly mediocre
(not bad, just middling).
My main beef with places like this (Mars 2112 is another in this
category) is their use of the carrot, broccoli and zucchini vegetable
medley, which could only come out of a frozen bag. It's like my mom's in the
kitchen–and speaking of mom, America is exactly where I'd take an
unadventurous visiting parent.
America * 9 E.18th St., New York, NY
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