Tagged: Le Bernardin

January 9, 2013

City Harvest Menu At Le Bernardin

One of New York’s lesser known fine dining deals is the City Harvest menu at Le Bernardin. This three course lunch menu is exclusively offered in the lounge. This $45 menu gets you an appetizer, an entree, dessert and a $5 donation to City Harvest. Price-wise, it seems like a great deal. If you order off the a la carte lounge menu, you will get the chance to order some of Eric Ripert’s more well known dishes, such as the “Le Bernardin” Salmon Rillette with Toast, but keep in mind these are all appetizer portions. In order to make a complete meal, you would to order about three to four items and at about $20 each that sky rockets your bill to over $60 without wine, tax or tip. You might as well order the $72 lunch prix-fixe in the dining room. It comes with more options and better real estate in terms of seating. [Photo via]

Of course when we first heard about this $45 City Harvest menu we were a bit skeptical. Our two major worries were if would we be leaving Le Bernardin Hungry and if this special menu would have the same quality of food that is served on the regular menus? Because let’s be honest, while a $45 three course meal at Le Bernardin may look like a steal, if the food is mediocre and on top of that you leave the restaurant hungry then the meal was really a waste of money. For example, while the special $25 two course menu at WD-50 was a great way for us to try the food since we have been wanting to check it out. But, when we finished our dinner we were not overly impressed with the food and we were still hungry afterwards (naturally, we headed over to Minca to finish our dinner properly).

The City Harvest menu changes weekly and is updated regularly on Le Bernardin’s website. When we visited the restaurant yesterday we received this menu:

Initially, we didn’t receive this menu first. We were given the lounge menu and thought that this menu would be hidden in the back somewhere. However, the City Harvest menu is on a completely separate sheet of paper that you have to ask for. This isn’t the first restaurant to hide special prix-fixe menus (Mr. Chow’s recession buster menu is on a tiny laminated index card) but just as a warning you should ask your server for it once you sit down. [Menu via]

Out of the options we were given, we had the Octopus Carpaccio and the Striped Bass. Since we are allergic to nuts, our server swapped the Hazelnut-Marshmallow Ganache for the Deconstructed Black Forrest Cake. After our initial experience at Le Bernardin, our main goal this time was to not leave hungry. The food prepared at the restaurant is mostly very simple, very light but very small. With that in mind we loaded up on the bread basket (their pretzel bread is a must). But when our appetizers came out, we realized all that bread may have not been necessary. The Octopus Carpaccio was easily one of the best octopus dishes we ever had. The tender octopus went perfectly with the lemon confit and to top it all off the portion was actually the size of a normal appetizer. We wish they would include this on their regular menus. The Stripped Bass on the City Harvest menu is similar to that served on the dinner prix-fixe menu. However this dish comes with a Basil-Mussel Broth mixed with Cannelloni beans rather than the normal Blue Crab Consomme. This second dish was a bit too simple for our liking but the portion of bass was generous and the fish was moist and cooked perfectly. The Deconstructed Black Forrest Cake for dessert was also very good. We enjoyed that the components of the dessert were separated so we had the option of eating each part individually or together (but we will admit this dessert is really made to be eaten with all the parts together). [Photo via]

The City Harvest menu at Le Bernardin is a genuinely good offer. You don’t need to load up on the bread basket before hand and you actually get top quality food. While the fish used in these dishes will be cheaper (think Tuna and Sea Bass rather than Dover Sole) the kitchen doesn’t serve you overly simplistic food to cut down on costs. We recommend the always changing City Harvest menu at Le Bernardin especially to those wanting to try out the restaurant before committing to one of the pricey prix-fixe menus. [Photo via]

Verdict: Oasis

October 15, 2012

WD-50

After hearing so much about WD-50 we had to go down and try out, what is considered, one of New York City’s best restaurants. Known for his molecular gastronomy cooking techniques, Wylie Dufresne decided to open up his own restaurant back in 2003 after leaving his position as the sous chef of Jean Georges. There are two menus at WD-50: the 12 course Tasting Menu for $155 and the 5 course “From The Vault” Menu for $90. The “From The Vault” menu consists of popular items that were formerly offered when WD-50 still had an a la carte menu while the other tasting menu offers new dishes that just started being served at the restaurant. Despite the high prices, the restaurant itself is actually quite laid back and casual. Normally at a restaurant that serves $100+ tasting menus, such as Daniel or Del Posto, the decor is elegant almost to the point of being pretentious. At WD-50 however, the room is well lit and nothing in the room seems to give off that “over the top” feeling that we would get at other top restaurants around the city. While we appreciated the restaurant’s casual atmosphere we felt that some design pieces, such as the almost clown like light fixtures and the awkward table for three placed literally in front of the entrance, could have been removed.

However one of the lesser known restaurant deals in New York City is also at WD-50. If you sit at the bar, a two course $25 prix-fixe menu is offered with each additional course being $15. And what makes this an even better menu option is that the dishes are take as is from the other two menus. Frankly, since the space is so small, it does not really matter whether or not you sit at the bar. Some of the tables towards the front of the restaurant are so close to the door that it’s like you are sitting at the bar anyway. To start we had the Lobster Roe with Charred Lemon, Green Grapes and Coriander Butter and the Snapper with Squash, Cherry, Juniper and Cous Cous. What we also enjoyed about the $25 menu is that one could sample items from both tasting menus rather than being tied down to a specific menu. While the Lobster Roe was delicate and light, the dish failed to produce any new and innovative flavors despite it’s interesting presentation. The Snapper on the other hand was quite good. The fish was cooked perfectly and all the garnishes on the side only added to the rich yet light flavors of the snapper. Next we had the Venison Chop with Freeze Dried Polenta, Fennel and Asian Pear and Root Beer Ribs with Apricot. The Root Beer Ribs’ presentation was rather unflattering and again, the dish wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen or tasted before. However the kitchen was much more daring with the Venison Chop (or should we say: venison medallions). The Freeze Dried Polenta was something we haven’t tried before, and was actually quite good, but the venison chop was a bit cold when it was served to us. However, the sauce used on the venison was rich and we liked how it countered the almost sweet notes of the polenta.

Unfortunately for WD-50, the food is too hit or miss for us to return and spend upwards of $100 per person for another dinner. The restaurant itself isn’t anything to marvel at and we did expect a bit more creativity in the food. If you must sample the food at WD-50 we strongly suggest the two-course menu as nothing we sampled truly made us want to come back and try one of the full tasting menus.

WD-50

Ambiance: 6

Food: 6

Service: 7

Overall: 6

Verdict: Mirage

50 Clinton Street

New York, NY 10002

212-477-2900

[Photo via]

July 4, 2012

Best Date Night Spots In New York City For Drinks

When asking that certain someone out on a date for drinks, it can be difficult to choose just the perfect place in New York City. Would your date prefer something swanky like a hotel lounge or something more grungy and down-to-earth like a speakeasy? Once you have chosen the right décor for your special night, then comes the more important question: “Does the place I chose actually make good cocktails?” To make your search a bit easier, we have rounded up ten date friendly spots to grab a drink. The list goes in the order of most quiet atmosphere to the most boisterous. [Photo via]

1. Milk & Honey: Milk & Honey is simply one of the best speakeasy themed bars in New York City. It was originated by Sasha Petraske to counter the celebrity heavy lounges and nightclubs that are predominant in New York City. While we don’t want to spoil the experience for you, all we will let you know is that these cocktails are all prepared with a degree of skill and technique you will only find at Milk & Honey. The simple and rustic ambiance is perfect for conversing (and flirting) with that special someone. Reservations can be made via email to reservationsny@mlkhny.com and just make sure you abide by the 10 house rules posted inside of the bar. [Photo via]

2. Le Bernardin: Not only is Le Bernardin one of the few New York City restaurants to earn both 3 Michelin stars and 4 stars by the New York Times Dining & Wine section, but they also have an outstanding cocktail program that was newly launched. A new cocktail list came with the renovations of the restaurant and mixologist Greg Seider crafts all the drinks. Think of Le Bernardin as your one stop shop for a perfect date night in midtown. Not only do you get some of the best cocktails in the newly updated lounge area, but you also can sample some of the best food New York has to offer in the lounge without having to spend upwards of $125 per head in the main dining room. Of course if you choose to have dinner in the dining room after, needless to say your money will be well spent at Le Bernardin. [Photo via]

3. Experimental Cocktail Club: This Parisian import, Experimental Cocktail Club, is perfect for spending a quiet night with your date. Be sure to grab a cocktail from famed mixologist Nicolas de Soto created with rare liquors not found in most NYC bars. Grab a seat next to the imported fireplace and cozy up to your special someone for a night to remember. I would tell you which cocktail to try while you’re there, but the management isn’t to keen on posting a drink menu publicly so for now simply email your reservations to: madameandmonsieur@experimentalcocktailclubny.com. [Photo via]

4. Waverly Inn: Waverly Inn is a great place to come with your date after a romantic stroll through the West Village. The low ceilings and dark wood in the bar area make for a very cozy environment. It also helps that the bartenders know how to pour superb cocktails. Our suggestion: order a Macallan 18, listen to the soothing jazz music played through the bar area and get ready for a date night that both of you will enjoy! To make matters even better, Waverly Inn now has a published phone number so you can contact the restaurant directly (as opposed to having to go through Mr. Carter). [Photo via]

5. Monkey Bar: Graydon Carter’s latest venture, Monkey Bar, is a great date option when looking to spend the night uptown. Despite its lack luster reviews when it first opened, the owners have revamped the kitchen and bar and have even received two stars by the New York Times Dining & Wine section. The cocktail menu features several classic drinks and a few signature cocktails such as the “Savoy Graydon” which features vodka, sweet vermouth, Green Chartreuse, lemon juice, agave and soda water to top it all off. The menu also has a good selection of large format bottles (magnums) in case your date brings a 3rd wheel without telling you. [Photo via]

6. Rose Bar: The uber-chic Gramercy Park Hotel is home to two swanky lounges. Once arriving to the hotel’s main lobby, the bar to your right, designed by artist Julian Schnabel, is the Jade Bar– but that is not what you and your date are looking for. What you seek lies beyond the doorman and would impress any date looking for an elegant yet cozy cocktail lounge. While walking in may not be your best bet (the doorman arrives at 10 PM), you can submit reservation requests to Rosebar@gramercyparkhotel.com, giving the reservationist at least 24 hours prior notice. If Rose Bar’s Warhol and Schnabel prints that line the walls and stellar cocktails still do not impress your date, Rose Bar also offers a late night menu prepared by the chefs of Danny Meyer’s Maialino. [Photo via]

7. Apotheke: While head mixologist Albert Trummer may not be manning the bars anymore, Apotheke’s secluded and mysterious atmosphere is a good enough reason alone to venture out to Chinatown and try some excellent cocktails. Located on a tiny corner on Doyers St., this former opium den-turned-cocktail lounge features a quieter ambiance than most other cocktail bars in the city. The best part is that once you and your date are finished sipping on your hand crafted cocktails (perhaps the delicious Chinatown Julep) you both can get up and dance to the sounds of the late Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston spun by the nightly DJs. [Photo via]

8. Provocateur Cafe: Provocateur certainly does not come into most people’s minds when thinking of a place for a date night. This venue is known for bringing in the hottest house DJs (such as Avicii, Kaskade and Deadmau5) into their state of the art nightclub fitted with stripper poles, 20 foot long Egyptian Angle Wings and Co2 cryogenic smoke tanks. However, some forget to realize that right next door to this over the top club is a quiet, “Garden of Eden” inspired lounge. Without having to leave the venue, you can sit on the fur swings and enjoy the lounge’s signature cocktails, which are said to enhance one’s skin and revitalize the body, while over looking the rare imported European Silver Birch trees. In the summer there is also a retractable roof that may be open depending on the weather to further enhance the mood of the evening. However, Provocateur is easily one of the hardest doors to penetrate in New York City so getting in without a table reservation may be next to impossible. If money is not an issue, or if you are dating a Victoria Secret model, you can call Provocateur at 212-929-9036 to make a table reservation for the evening. [Photo via]

9. Boom Boom Room (Top of the Standard) We have all heard of the Boom Boom Room and know it is the best place to throw Fashion Week parties and of the impenetrable door blah, blah, blah. But now we’re telling you to go there for a completely different reason. If you and your date arrive before 10 PM (last call is around 10:30 PM or so), you both can get to experience the Boom Boom Room without the hassle at the door. If you are not moved by the stunning décor, excellent cocktails and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the rest of Manhattan and the Hudson River, the Boom Boom Room also has one of the most reasonably priced bottle menus in New York City. [Photo via]

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June 5, 2012

Le Bernardin

I visited head chef Eric Ripert’s world famous Le Bernardin over the weekend after reading the 4 star New York Times review and seeing the 3 stars it received from the Michelin guide. The restaurant sits between most major office buildings in Midtown making it a great spot for a business lunch. The restaurant itself has undergone several renovations and this one features a majestic ocean wave mural located at the back of the restaurant. The first area is the newly updated lounge which features newly created cocktails which then leads into the grand main dining room which is surprisingly large considering the caliber of the restaurant that Le Bernardin is. The dark woods and high ceilings add to the experience of the restaurant though Le Bernardin could take some notes from Nello and update their unimpressive flower arrangement.

The menu is split up into three different menus. Two being tasting menus (one 8 course menu for $190 and one 7 course menu for $145) and the other is a 4 course a la carte menu for $125. We chose the 7 course tasting menu which consisted of two appetizer style dishes, three entrees and two desserts.The first dish was the Fluke Sashimi with avocado in a Jalapeño-Lime Broth. This dish was perhaps a bit too simple and the fish was cooked just as well as some decent sushi places in New York (Sushi Seki serves much better sashimi in my opinion) and the jalapeno flavor was a too strong and shadowed the delicacy of the fluke. The next dish was the Tuna that was lighly seared and cut into strips and laid upon a bed of salad. There also was a lime, soy and ginger vinaigrette that went along with the dish. The Asian inspired vinaigrette was easily the best part of the dish as it was flavorful if not a bit too strong after more than three bites of the tuna. As for the rest of the Tuna, the dish simply was not anything I could not get anywhere else in New York. Since Le Bernardin ran out of the Escolar we were served a Lobster Carpaccio. The chef took a lobster claw, cut it finely into rings, placed the rings around the plate then put chopped up lobster claw in the middle of the dish. Again, the dish was nothing I couldn’t get at the Lobster Inn in Southampton. I would hope that the Escolar was a far better dish than this sub par substitution. After the Lobster was the Salmon which was the highlight of the meal. The salmon was cooked so perfectly that you didn’t need the fish knife to cut it. The fish was buttery yet light and was really a special dish. Right after this wonderful Salmon I was presented what was probably one of the worst dishes I have had in a restaurant awarded at least 2 Michelin stars. The Black Bass was a piece of fish, grilled and seared on the skin side to make it crispy. There was no intricacy to the dish nor was the fish even cooked exceptionally well. Next up was the Coconut Lime dessert however, mine was substituted for a Raspberry dessert since the extra cautious staff thought I was allergic to coconut (I do have a nut/peanut allergy but coconut is not one of the “nuts” I am allergic to). I would hope the original dessert was a palate cleanser as it really was just a scoop of coconut sorbet with lime flavoring. However my dish was more of a dessert as it featured a small cake pastry which went well with my raspberry sorbet. The next dessert, the Black Forrest, was a variety of different desserts such as a dark chocolate mousse and a raspberry foam. To be honest those are the only two I remember because the other two small desserts were really forgettable.

Actually, the entire meal was forgettable. Aside from the Salmon and the vinaigrette from the Tuna, there was nothing I received from the world famous Le Bernardin that I could not get anywhere else in the city. The Black Bass was not good at all and the fluke was an awful way to start off the meal. Despite the mediocre food, the service is top notch. The servers were overly attentive about my food allergy and the servers always made sure your table was immaculate. If you are looking to dine at a true four star restaurant go to Daniel, otherwise you are setting yourself up for an overly disappointing meal at Le Bernardin.

Ambiance: 9

Food: 2

Service: 8

Overall: 3

Verdict: Mirage

Note: I know the math doesn’t add up, but the food was so mediocre at Le Bernardin that there is no possible way I could justify rating it higher than a 3 out of 10 (even if the decor and service we’re great).

Photo via

December 31, 2009

Marea

Marea has already earned itself a Michelin star and a 3 out of 4 stars from the NY Times. Mike White’s latest Italian outpost in Midtown is filled with business men and wealthy families paying top dollar for Italian fare. Marea is the seafood option of Michael White’s 3 New York Italian restaurants (the other two are Alto and Convivo, both have at least one Michelin star). The setting is gorgeous, the restaurant is filled with Rosewood paneling and the crudo bar is made of Egyptian Onyx. The service is regal to say the least and each staff member treats you as if you are royalty, but then again this is what’s expected at a restaurant of Marea’s calibur. Marea offers a $38 (I don’t know why their website says $34) pre-fixe lunch menu and that is the only way you can order. Each supplement dish is $19 and dessert is not included. That’s a shame, dessert was pretty good too. The menu combines refined Italian cooking with seafood (like a mix of Del Posto and Le Bernardin if you will). As an appetizer I ordered the Granchio (crab salad) which was very light and seemed small and feeble at first, but towards the end turned out to be a pretty good appetizer. The crab was seasoned perfectly and the grilled watermelon went well with the dish, it was a great way to start off the meal. As an entree I ordered the Gnochetti. The Gnochetti was prepared with seafood in a light tomato sauce. The Gnochetti was cooked perfectly and wasn’t mushy. The seafood was fresh and the tomato sauce was very light. For dessert I had the Torrone which was two small dark chocolate cakes between almond gelato, which in my case was switched to zabaglione (eggnog) gelato, with a raspberry sauce. This dessert was really great and I wished it came with the pre-fixe menu (but then again Marea has to make its money some how). The dark chocolate cakes were crunchy yet smooth and the zabaglione gelato complemented the cakes perfectly. I really enjoyed my lunch at Marea, more than my lunch at Le Cirque yesterday. Everything from the food to the decor to the service is really great, if not perfect. I’d most certainly return to Marea in the near future!

Ambiance: 9

Food: 8

Service: 8

Overall: 8

Verdict: Oasis

[Photo via]

Follow Oasis or Mirage