04.18.08
Posted in French, Haute Cuisine, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10, Upper East Side at 17:45 by Dominique
20 E. 76th St. & Madison/5th Ave., 212-772-2600
Great for: exquisite food, speculating about strangers, impressing a date, lovely service, oenophiles
We heard about the Zagat Presents special prix-fixe menu to celebrate new top chef Gavin Kaysen and thought it’d be a great opportunity to finally eat here. I lived quite close by for years and never managed to go, and now that I live very far downtown I regret not doing so when I had the chance. At the entrance we divested ourselves of coats and bags in a tiny anteroom which probably gets crowded at the end of the night. Then we lifted a curtain into the magical wonderland – I mean, main dining room. It looks magical to me because of all the flowers and how beautifully it’s decorated.
We may have been the youngest patrons in the whole place – everyone else looked middle-aged, old or heavily Botoxed. It was surprisingly lively, considering. They brought us two amuse-bouches as soon as we said OK to the prix-fixe and no to the 27-page wine list. There was a bite of potato salad on a radish slice in a flat-bottomed soup spoon, and a fried ball of risotto and black truffle, both of which were great. I think there was some black truffle emphasis to the menu as well, as you will shortly see. (I may not have remembered every bit of the dinner correctly – unfortunately my BlackBerry lost my notes so I’m doing it from memory and the regular Café Boulud menu, which is slightly different.)
We were offered five kinds of bread when we had our first course, the kampachi sashimi with butternut squash purée, daikon radish and ponzu vinaigrette. Kampachi is a yummy Hawaiian yellowtail. I liked how the squash made it look as though the fish had dabs of spicy mayo and then it wasn’t spicy. It probably wasn’t that easy to make, but seemed very simple and wonderful when we ate it, which is the best way to be.
Next we were blessed with the “biscuit and gravy.” It was a quail egg atop a pork sausage-and-black truffle patty resting on a buttermilk biscuit on a bed of creamed spinach. It was even more wonderful than it sounds. The little egg was poached perfectly, so that the yolk was hot but still runny. The sausage was obviously the kind that you might actually want to watch being made – no filler parts here. Everything just went together scrumptiously. The hardest part was trying to get a bit of everything in each bite without eating it with my fingers.
Our main course was wine-braised short ribs accompanied by green beans, a baby carrot and celery root purée. The Boyfriend thought the ribs were a bit fatty but I reminded him that they are supposed to be very fatty and these were actually doing quite well on the heart attack scale. Mine just had one thin layer of fat, which was easily scraped away. The sauce was excellent, so much so that I ate all my beans – a rare occurrence for me. The entire dish went together so well.
Our dessert was almond and Darjeeling tea wafers with sorbet on the side, topped by what I can only describe as a slender sprig of chocolate. Between the deliciously crunchy wafers there was a layer each of almond and Darjeeling mousse. The plating was so beautiful I wanted to take a picture, but Boyfriend told me I’d look like a loser with the camera out. And soon I was too busy trying to wolf down the scrumptiousness in a ladylike manner to care.
I can’t say enough about the service here. It was quiet, friendly, unobtrusive, dexterous… definitely one of my top 5 experiences. Everyone, from the coat check girl to the busboy, was unfailingly kind and attentive. I love when restaurants create an atmosphere of privacy yet make sure we have everything we need. So despite it being very much not our scene, and way too far uptown, we loved it and I want to go back soon.
Rating: 9.5 / 10
Our cost: $260 ($75 half-bottle of Bollinger to celebrate our anniversary a little more)
Noise level: pretty noisy considering half the women couldn’t move their faces, but we easily had a quiet conversation
Chance of walking in: low.
Permalink
03.30.08
Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 01:15 by Dominique
162 Orchard St. #G & Stanton/Rivington, 212-353-3570
Great for: romantic dinner (especially with a foodie), quick service, large parties, amazing food
This is one of my new favorite places. It was excellent food with really good service and little fuss. Plus, it’s a beautiful restaurant. I shouldn’t have been surprised, though, as I love its nearby sister restaurant ápizz. They both have that combination of cool blond wood and inviting atmosphere plus wonderful cooking.
The Boyfriend and I were happy to start our meal with the crispy garlic (?)-flavored strips, which we had to ask the busboy to take away since we couldn’t stop eating them under our own power. The menu is divided into flatbreads, first course, second course and dessert, which I think might be a clever ruse to get diners to order an extra course of flatbread before the traditional app-entree-dessert. It worked on us – our waitress told us that if we got a flatbread to share and then our own dishes otherwise, it wouldn’t be too much food. It was certainly not a meal for the anorexic though. We went for the braised short ribs flatbread with marinated cherry tomatoes and sweet horseradish cream. I was very happy to find the bread wafer-thin. One of my pet peeves is sandwiches with thick bread – I try to avoid eating bread, & find myself tearing excess chunks out of sandwiches, pitas, etc. Here it was crispy, thin, and a perfect backdrop for the meat and vegetables. I even liked the tomatoes! (I generally hate their taste and texture.)
This yummy goodness was followed by crispy lobster empanadas stuffed with celery sticks with creamy cocktail sauce and yellowfin tartare with crispy tostones, guacamole and whipped red onion crème-fraîche. The empanadas were the only disappointment in the whole meal, because they were just good compared to the excellence of everything else. The tartare, on the other hand, was fantastic and Boyfriend almost smacked my hand because I kept sneaking little nibbles of it. We thought the combination of flavors and cuisines was creative, interesting and delicious.
For our main course I had the paella of Manila clams, mussels, black tiger shrimp, chicken, chorizo and carnaroli rice in a fresh white clear sauce that reminded me of the ocean. It was very simple and wonderful. All the seafood was fresh and the rice was that wonderful al dente texture that is just a joy to eat. Boyfriend’s sliced lamb tenderloin with mint crème-fraîche orzo and red onion-jalapeño relish was great, with lovely tender lamb. They were generous with the meat, too, which is always nice. The orzo sounded like it would taste strange but it turned out very well.
We had to skip dessert after all that food – in any case, our cocktails were enough sweetness for us. The purple passion mojito with passion fruit and blackberry, the Orchard martini of honey vodka and ginger with a splash of orange juice and the pomegranate bellini were all good. The last came in an absolutely gorgeous flute that, the hostess later told me, they buy a few blocks away. I’m sorry to say I’ve forgotten where – some place with Chef in the name, I think.
The dishes come out surprisingly fast for such a busy, good-sized restaurant. We had a 7pm reservation and the place was pretty much full when we got there, so the kitchen is definitely to be commended. The service is just as lovely as the food. We may have had an exceptionally good (and pretty) waitress, but everyone we interacted with went out of their way to be friendly or help us with things. Despite getting busy later, everyone we spoke to still had time to smile at us. I like the way it’s decorated too. It looks a bit Scandinavian, with the blond wood and dim lighting that are romantic without being sappy. I can’t wait to go back and try everything else on the menu.
Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost: $180 (2 cocktails each)
Noise level: noisy happy
Chance of walking in: low.
I think they change the menu a lot. I visited again in July 2009 with my friend DJ SWF and we managed to get completely different things from my last time. I couldn’t stop devouring the steak tartare flatbread with red onion, chives, Dijon potato cream and arugula – luckily she doesn’t eat meat. She thought her Mediterranean flatbread filled with hummus, edamame, baby lima beans, celery, frisée, lemon vinaigrette was terrific, and for a wonder I agreed with her. (I usually hate vegetarian food with a passion.) The celery was a nice contrast to the starchy veg.
Her drunken goat cheese salad with romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, herb croutons and creamy red wine vinaigrette was also a lovely composition. The cheese is slightly spicy and didn’t taste drunk to us, but then we were well on the way to that state ourselves. I loved my shrimp ceviche – take note, Rayuela and Lima’s Taste. The shrimp, perfectly plump and cooked, was just tangy enough. I know it’s ceviche but the citrus taste has to have a limit, and they nailed it.
AW loved her lemon sole filet in white wine, citrus butter over a vegetable hash with pan juices. We were amazed, first that it came in two filets, and second that it was grilled to perfection. The wild crab pasta with tomatoes, peas, scallions, farfalle and pink cream sauce was fantastic, a nice balance between creamy and light. We enjoyed our $42 bottle of Trebbiano, lugana, ca’lojera as well. Still 9 / 10.
Permalink
02.23.08
Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 17:44 by Dominique
115 Allen St. & Delancey St., 212-253-5400 (now closed, RIP)
Great for: high-end pub atmosphere, fantastic food, impressing a foodie date, beer lovers
I try to follow foodie news and chef gossip, so I was very excited to hear that Gordon Ramsay’s ex-number two, Neil Ferguson, had opened his own place. I’ve been to the London Hotel, which Mr. Ferguson helmed until his departure, and it was very good but not worth the stratospheric prices. I didn’t know what to expect – the Boyfriend and I pretty much came in with open minds.
We were impressed by the bread, to start with. The bacon and sage roll was salty goodness. We got really excited, expecting that our ordered food would also be exceptional, and we were not disappointed. My scallops with celery root cream, braised cipollini onions and verjus were fantastic. I was sorely tempted to pick up the plate and lick it clean. The Boyfriend felt similarly about his leeks vinaigrette with truffled fingerling potatoes and prosciutto shavings. It was cold, yummy and salty. We wondered if we’d done anything particularly praiseworthy recently to deserve such blissfully good food. However, we were a little nervous that the entrées wouldn’t live up to the appetizers’ promise.
We needn’t have worried. I think pretty much all we could say was “Omigod” for a while. The Boyfriend’s fluke in cauliflower cream with parsley root and trompettes was great. We couldn’t find the trompettes, but I hate mushrooms so that wasn’t a problem. My lamb chop persillade with braised middle neck and potato purée was even better; so good I forgot to drink my cocktail. I don’t think I’ve ever had such tender lamb. It was like an orgy in my mouth.
Of course, after such delights we had to try dessert as well; purely for review purposes, you understand. We got the chocolate peanut butter tart with malted milk sorbet and whiskey vanilla shake and Gianduja chocolate terrine with milk chocolate sorbet and blood oranges. Generally neither of us like peanut butter combined with chocolate but our excellent waiter said it was a specialty of the house so we said what the hell. And what a specialty it was! We couldn’t help exclaiming “Mmmm!” between every bite. The terrine was equally fantastic, consisting of flourless chocolate cake, hazelnut millefeuille and Gianduja panna cotta.
Happily, they seem to put as much care into their cocktails as their food. We had to try the signature “Allen” and “Delancey” cocktails, of course. The former is Charbay green tea vodka, sake and jasmine citrus – good, very subtle and tea-y; the latter is prosecco, pomegranate and St. Germain elderflower liqueur, which is yummy and not too sweet. The Boyfriend next went for the Dogfish Head 90 minutes IPA Rehoboth, which is a dark beer of higher-than-normal proof. He said it was good. They also have a ton more beers – I never drink beer so you will have to discover how good the other ones are yourself. The Gibson, a proper gin martini with Noilly Prat (the Rolls-Royce of vermouths, according to Wikipedia), was good but very strong and a little bit burning on the way down. On the rare occasions I’ve had gin martinis straight up, though, they burned too so I wouldn’t say that’s a defect of the martini here as much as of me.
I love the ambience of this place. You duck through a curtained doorway into what looks at first like a very upscale, small bar. There are handsome men shaking cocktails and lots of dark blond wood. Then, if you’re lucky enough to have a reservation, you look around for tables and realize there’s another room. You walk through a little hallway and then emerge into the dining room, where you finally find the hostess. It all feels so grown-up and sophisticated; the furniture looked a bit rustic to me, but in an English ducal estate we’ve-had-this-for-300-years kind of way. It’s cozy without being too casual.
We had lovely service from our waiter, who patiently put up with my dithering over the menu (I have to pretend to take a long time and need second looks, so as to type everything into my phone – it doesn’t help that the Boyfriend frequently doesn’t know what he wants until he’s ordering!) and the Boyfriend’s many questions about the beer. He also steered us well in our food choices. Our courses took a little longer than I would expect, but the restaurant is pretty new and I’m sure that will be ironed out soon. I am really happy that this place is right by my new apartment and will have to stop myself from eating here too much, or I’ll be fat.
Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost: $210
Noise level: pockets of hubbub, but the tables are spaced far enough apart to not feel noisy
Chance of walking in: Low. Now closed.
Neil Ferguson left around the end of 2008, but the place is still packed. They now do a Tuesday happy hour with half-off special cocktails. The new drinks menu has ten complicated, very strong drinks that are all terrific (yup, I’ve had all of them. In only two sittings.) There are a few different dishes offered now and a 7-course tasting menu for $78 that looks really tempting. On Tuesdays they also do a special bar menu that I can’t wait to try more of – the Cuban sandwich was the best I’ve ever had. And the fries… they just seem to toss them off but they’re perfect. If the place weren’t so expensive I’d definitely be here all the time.
They are now on chef #3, but the food is still fantastic. The special (very cheap) Tuesday bar food menu is gone. There is a new list of ten or so special cocktails, which are still half off on Tuesdays, and you can order most of the dining room menu. We tried the tagliolini with shrimp (lovely), “bologna” with cheese (fun and tasty), short ribs (heavenly) and skate (terrific). The cocktails were great too.
Permalink
01.31.08
Posted in Asian, fusion, Gramercy, Latin, Midtown East, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 17:03 by Dominique
237 Madison Ave. and 37th St., 212-726-7755
Great for: romantic trysts, delicious cocktails, sophisticated debauchery, incredible food
I’d wanted to try Asia de Cuba for ages, but somehow never got around to it. The Boyfriend and I decided to have a hedonistic night in Murray Hill and this seemed like the perfect place. When I pulled up in the cab, even though I’d been there before for drinks, I almost couldn’t find it, the door is so low-key. Inside I was greeted by three hot hostesses who fussed over me in a most welcoming manner. One of them led me upstairs to where Boyfriend was waiting. There’s something very naughty about the open-plan top floor, where you can look down on the larger tables in the middle of the first floor. It almost felt like I was meeting a lover for a secret rendezvous.
After a preliminary drink at the bar, we started with seared scallops on habanera corn crema with sweet and sour plantains and raisins. Despite my usual hatred of fruits and sweets in savory food (and specific dislike of plantains and raisins) I thought it was great. The Boyfriend and I looked at each other after our first bites – we could tell this was the start of something special. Restaurants seem to frequently mess up scallops by overcooking or not getting the freshest ones. A scallop that is even slightly not tip-top tastes very clearly fishy. These were perfect. Even the plantains were an interesting yummy texture. Our other appetizer was Asian pesto grilled shrimp atop wok-charred mango and pineapple and fried lotus root. The pesto is made of chives and garlic and is absolutely delicious, as are all the other parts of the dish. At this point we were so happy with the food, we couldn’t wait to see how amazing the entree would be.
We weren’t disappointed in the least. The waiter told us that the entrees were family style, and definitely large enough to share. So we just got the char sui short ribs with chili orange mojito-flavored rice and black beans on congre tostones (fried plantain discs), and couldn’t resist adding a side of lobster-boniato mash to that. Every bite we took was accompanied by an “Mmmmm!” It was amazing in every way. I was again pleasantly surprised at how well sweet things can add to a savory dish, even when I would normally hate them. Boniato is a tropical sweet potato that tastes much better than ordinary sweet potato, which I detest, or maybe it’s just that they have a magical way in the kitchen here. The mash was addictive; even when we were full and really couldn’t eat any more, we kept nibbling at it. Actually we kept nibbling at everything within reach until finally I told the waiter to please take away the temptation.
We couldn’t possibly fit any more food in, so we had to skip dessert. The cocktails more than satisfied my sweet tooth though (the Boyfriend stuck to vodka sodas). I had the mambo king, dragonfly, and coconut club martini – they’re all good, but the best is definitely the lovely, pink and delicious mambo king. It’s Champagne and Stoli Razberi in a very tall stemless flute with grenadine anchoring sugar to the rim.
As if the amazing food and drink weren’t enough, we also had one of the best waiters ever. He was attentive without crowding us, made sure we had enough drinks and generally made us feel extremely welcome and looked-after. He did a great job explaining the menu and what we would want to order. I love the ambience of the place as well – it feels very sexy and sophisticated, but not pretentious. It’s the kind of place you could go in designer jeans & a slutty top before hitting the club, or wear an evening gown and not feel out of place (I went the dress route). The lighting is dim enough to make it romantic without requiring glasses and flashlights to read the menu, and the music is appropriate and unobtrusive. We had one of the best meals ever and we can’t wait to go back.
Rating: 9.5 / 10
Our cost: $180 + $50 tip because of awesome service
Noise Level: not loud
Chance of walking in: medium, seems pretty reasonable.
Permalink
11.15.07
Posted in Barbecue, Gramercy, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 20:50 by Dominique
116 E. 27th and Lexington/Park, 212-447-7733
Great for: self-medicating with comfort food, impressing Southern friends, inducing meat coma, seeing how down-to-earth your date is
Blue Smoke is the restaurateur Danny Meyer’s homage to American food and pit barbecue. The Boyfriend and I have stupidly tried to walk in several times – we’re a bit impulsive – and invariably got a courteous “the wait will be 45 minutes.” This time we put our names down at 5:30, went back at 6:30 and only had to wait 10 minutes. The Boyfriend’s company had Blue Smoke cater their Christmas party, and he’s been making me drool with loving descriptions of their macaroni and cheese ever since, so our expectations were pretty high.
We started with a nice Illinois Porch Swing (Tanqueray 10, prosecco and lemon juice) for me and a Heineken for him as we dove into the menu. We pretty much wanted to get everything, but limited ourselves to an appetizer of Peel ‘n’ Eat Shrimp, Rhapsody in ‘Cue for him, lean brisket for me, and sides of creamed spinach and of course mac and cheese. Oh my god. The shrimp were our first clue that this was no ordinary bbq joint. They’re seasoned and spiced to a high degree of deliciousness, not just boiled – we were sorely tempted to get another order before our entrees arrived.
When we saw his platter of St. Louis ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sausage and mine of piping hot beef with mashed potatoes and onion sticks, we just looked at each other in glee. and when our waitress set down the sides, we could restrain ourselves no longer. I can say, without a doubt, that that was the most amazing creamed spinach I have ever tasted. I tore myself away after several bites to try the mac and cheese, which was fully as good as the Boyfriend had said, plus it didn’t taste as heavy as I worried it would. I don’t have brisket that often and once I tasted mine, I really wasn’t sure why. It was as moist and juicy as I could hope. So was everything on the Boyfriend’s plate. We didn’t talk until we’d finished, except for “Mmmm” and “Wow.” I highly suggest using the sides as sauce on your meat. We pretty much cleaned our plates in about 15 minutes.
We meant to stop there, but were persuaded to have dessert. I’d gotten a decent Coltrane’s Resolution (sparkling wine, Lillet, and blood orange juice) after the shrimp and decided to continue drinking with the new sundae on the menu, I think it was called Granddad. It’s basically a yummy bourbon ice cream float. The Boyfriend had some but he’s not into brown liquors. I’m usually not either, but the strong cocktails made me think I was. Just kidding, it was quite yummy. Finally we waddled home.
All the staff were very good. The friendly hostess advised us on when to come back to minimize our wait time, and our waitress was cheerful and helpful without being too familiar. Someone accidentally put a nearby table’s desserts on our bill, but she took care of that right away. It looked like the people around us were happy with their service, too. It’s a fun, casual atmosphere there, definitely a place you’d want to go with a big group of friends if you can get a reservation. In fact, they have some large tables that look permanently set up, so a big party might actually have better luck. I can’t wait to go back.
Rating: 9 / 10
Noise level: happy-noisy but the kind where you can talk quietly to each other
Our cost: $140 (several drinks)
Chance of walking in: very low, unless you want to eat at 5:30. Definitely make reservations a few days in advance.
Permalink
Posted in Flatiron, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10, Steak at 20:39 by Dominique
111 E.22nd and Park/Broadway, 212-995-8500
Great for: medium parties, bacon satiety, civilized carnivores, healthy appetites
We had some friends visiting and thought this would be a quintessential hip New York steakhouse experience for them. We adore BLT Fish and loved Prime last time we went. I called up a week in advance and was pleasantly surprised to snag a table for 6 at 8:15. As it turned out, our friends changed their trips so we asked some other friends, only one of whom could make it. I called Thursday to update our party number and found out why I’d gotten such a good time. The reservationist had booked us for Sunday! Good thing we didn’t need a 6-top anymore. We ended up being 4 at the last minute, and were lucky that the table they’d earmarked for us was not one of the 3-tops on either side of it. It probably also helped that I’d called them 30 minutes ahead when we found out the other friend was coming.
It was a miserably cold, rainy night but we were instantly warmed by the atmosphere and bustle when we walked in (their heat may have had something to do with it too). We had been looking forward to our meal all week – we went 1.5 months ago and were very happy. In fact, it became our favorite steak restaurant in NYC. Don’t skip the bread. It comes with some amazing chicken paté. I don’t like liver by itself, but this is incredibly good. Nibble the big fluffy popovers as well, although you should only try a bit of one to save room.
For appetizers we shared baby spinach salad with bacon and Stilton, the crab cake, bacon and potato skins (from the sides column). The tuna tartare was good last time, too. The salad’s ingredients worked surprisingly well together. I love when a dish is so good that it makes me like something I usually don’t, as this did for the Stilton. There was some kind of vinaigrette with it that unobtrusively unified the whole thing. The crab cake is a very thick patty, for lack of a better word, full of crab and some vegetables. It’s really good, as is the creamy sauce it sits on. The bacon comes in traditional steakhouse-style slabs, almost as good (according to Boyfriend) as at Luger’s. The potato skins are not what you’d expect; they’re very thin rectangles similar to large flat pita chips, covered in cheddar, chives and bacon. They taste even better than the greasy TGI Friday’s kind.
Our table was split between 22 oz rib-eyes and 12 oz filets. Every steak has a pat of seasoned butter on top and comes in its own skillet, a nice touch I don’t remember seeing anywhere else. You have the option of maybe 10 different sauces with your steak – I got Béarnaise. Usually restaurants charge extra for sauce, so I like that it’s part of your order here. Especially since each cut is about $40 or more. There was no conversation for a good 10 minutes, as we were too busy devouring everything in sight. They do steak extremely well. It’s juicy and tender and generally the outside is perfectly crisp. One corner of my filet was a little charred this time but I ate around it. Boyfriend was also very happy with his filet, and the other guys tried heroically to finish their giant rib-eyes. Those come with the “eye” full of cooked marrow and a little spoon. My friends said one was a little overcooked and the other a bit under, but seemed pretty happy generally.
The sides come in cute little skillets too – we had leek hash browns, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and the special artichoke hash browns with bacon. Didn’t really like the last (except the bacon, of course) and I think the leek version is maybe too big a portion for how heavy it is. The spinach was pretty good. The mashed potatoes were the star of the sides, though. They’re a little sweet, look kind of like polenta and are irresistible.
At this point we were completely stuffed with bacon, steak, potatoes and more steak, almost a pound of beef each. I had the Moscato d’Asti – sweet and lovely – and the guys had double espressos. They have some good cocktails as well. The pomegranate sidecar and caipirinha are very good. I found the grapefruit one slightly too citrusy.
The service is great. They’re warm and friendly, and happy to help even if you’re not in their section. They won’t push you to order more expensive things – I finished my Grey Goose soda when they cleared our steaks, and asked the waitress if I should get another one ($12) or the Moscato ($9). Without hesitation she said the Moscato, and she was right. The vodka wouldn’t have rounded out my meal the same way. We like the ambience a lot, too – it makes you feel happy and fun and of course well-fed. I like the giant meat room you can see through glass as you walk into the dining area. It’s good that it doesn’t feel too full of testosterone, the way some more traditional steakhouses do. You could have a lovely date, boys’ or girls’ night out, business dinner… Definitely one of my favorite places in all of Manhattan.
Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost (4 people, ~2 drinks each): $480
Noise level: Well controlled, especially with so many people. We had a pleasant four-way conversation without raising our voices much.
Chance of walking in: medium, but it seems pretty easy to get a reservation a day or two in advance.
Permalink
« Previous Page « Previous Page Next entries »
