Midtown – Page 2 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Montenapo Italian Restaurant

250 West 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
212/764.7663
if we paid, about $125 for two, with two glasses of wine, without tip
♥ ♥

I was invited by Montenapo to a tasting last week. I jumped at the chance because I think the restaurant scene in the midtown west area could use some help. Wait, what restaurant scene?

With Montenapo and Inakaya, both located in the New York Times building, no one has to subject themselves to the Times Square franchises anymore, nor do they have to eat mediocre food on Eighth Avenue before heading out to the theater. Unlike most of the city’s restaurants, you can enjoy your meal in a spacious atrium surrounded by glass windows. Ask to be seated next to the Renzo Piano-designed birch tree indoor garden for a view far away from outside traffic. Visit after 9pm and you can have a more intimate dinner without the suits.

We started with the buffalo strip loin carpaccio served with black peppercorn and Parmesan cheese. The celery sauce and mustard on the side helped cut the rawness of the meat. To sample their pasta selection, we opted for the tris and tried the pappardelle with lamb ragout, the ravioli with beef cheeks and the fettuccine with shiitake and oyster mushrooms plus some very fragrant morels. Unfortunately, the entire table must order the tris so we had more pasta than we could handle. We didn’t have enough room for the ossobuco served atop a saffron risotto, but it did serve well as leftover lunch the next day.

But of course, we managed to squeeze in desserts with our coffee and Mighty Leaf tea: tiramisu with a sliver of gold flake, blueberry cheesecake, mousse and strawberries served with a brush of chocolate sauce. At Montenapo, managing partner Jozef Juck and his staff were very generous and attentive. Throughout our time there, we felt like we were indulging ourselves in another city far away from home in the best sense possible.

Related post/s:
Inakaya is in the same building

Rouge Tomate

10 East 60th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
212/957.5550
$72 each for a group of five, with tip
♥ ♥

I’ve been hearing about Rouge Tomate here and there so I wasn’t surprised when my girlfriends and I ended up there for dinner. The space is massive and perfect for big groups. It’s the first restaurant I’ve been in a long time where the servers all had custom-made uniforms versus the all-black outfit. The interior design screams money (from the architectural firm Bentel & Bentel) and I was saddened to think that the business might not make it past these economic times. Four days prior, I easily scored a table for five on a Friday night at 8pm. This would have been a difficult feat in regular New York time. It wasn’t exactly empty when we walked in, but the crowd did dwindle after 9:30 and we ended up being the last group by 10:30.

Rouge Tomate has been talked about as the latest restaurant that features local ingredients and farm to table philosophy. Yada, yada, yada, right? For the past two years, I’ve always said that that philosophy in the kitchen should not be a feature anymore–it should just be a given. Every restaurant should just be in that bandwagon today or risk being different, and not in a good way. That said, Rouge Tomate has some well-flavored dishes that spoke louder than they could present them–our waiter could not edge himself between us talkative women. Oh, this is not so bad, was the common response at our table after every taste even though we dismissed every waiter who approached our table.

I opted for the $35 lamb a la plancha. Our waiter explained to all my Spanish-speaking friends what “a la plancha” meant, but could not tell us which part of the lamb was on the grill. I’ve learned my lesson from other restaurants and I’ve always made sure that I’m not paying $35 for shoulder. When the waiter returned and confirmed it was loin, two of us ordered it. Another chose the Berkshire pork and the rest shared the fish in Thai curry. We thought it was a nice touch when they split the fish in two separate dishes, but alas, our bill at the end of the night counted for two of them. We had it corrected, to their chagrin, because our waiter had left mid-service and could not confirm the mistake he had made.

MIstakes aside, the lamb loin was so delicious I found it hard to share it with my group. It was perfectly medium rare served with string beans and tomatoes. The pork loin was naturally sweet that I could have eaten it without the vegetables on top. The Thai curry was delicious even though I always find sea bass a pretty bland fish. The appetizers fared better at our table: the fluke ceviche was bright and fresh; the frisée and fennel salad with prosciutto was my kind of salad, while the asparagus with maitake mushrooms and warm farm egg just made me happy.

I loved the blueberry crepe dessert that tasted like fluffy pancakes. Not too sweet, it was light enough to finish without forcing it down my throat after a pretty hefty meal.

Seasonal Restaurant and Weinbar

132 West 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
212/957.5550
$120 for two, with drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

I finished dinner at Seasonal with a smile on my face. Really. I had heard about their wine list and I wanted to check it out to see wine labels I’ve never heard of. I accomplished that at Seasonal and took notes of the Austrian bottles that I ended up liking, but I also decided to stay after I had a quick look of their menu.

True to their name, everything on the menu featured seasonal ingredients. It was beginning to feel like a New York City summer outside, but the produce in the markets are still catching up to spring because of the unusual weather we’ve been having. The amuse bouche of cauliflower soup was a good start to what we were about to eat. There was a small amount of foam to entice you to slurp a small cupful of broth. What could have been a boring vegetable soup was made exciting by the seasonings added to it. So as soon as we saw the pea soup, or the erbsensuppe, we jumped on it. It was so thin and light, yet the smoked bacon and pickled onions came through so strongly. I’ve never had a vegetable soup so clear as this one and still bold on flavors.

I couldn’t resist the Allgäuer Mountain cheese ravioli because they came with morels and fava beans. I don’t know if I can describe a more perfect combination of spring produce than this. We had a difficult time choosing an entree we could share without breaking the bank, but we ended up settling with the veal because it was poached in oxtail consommé. I love it when a restaurant gets consommé right. (And why shouldn’t they?) Seasonal’s version was that rich amber color with so much flavor but without a trace of fat in it. I think we kept commenting on how clear it was while we passed the bowl between us.

If I had an extra $30, I would have ordered the lamb with ramps, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and parsnip root purée. I would have also liked to try the veal cheeks with spatzle and the wild salmon and halibut combination with poached quail egg and mustard sauce. Clearly, I already have reasons to make a return visit and take a second look at that wine list.

Keens Steakhouse

72 West 36th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
212/947.3636
$130 for two, with drinks, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

To celebrate my getting a new job during these harsh economic times, the Dr. took me to Keens Steakhouse for their legendary mutton chops. I think I might have to keep him around for a while.

The meat from a sheep less than twelve months old is called lamb, and as we all know, is usually tender and mild in flavor. The meat from an older sheep is called mutton, and for reasons I can’t find on the Web, is not as popular on New York City menus as lamb. Someone please explain why I can’t enjoy mutton much more often! We ordered it medium-rare and it was perfectly bloody and hefty. Keens wouldn’t be the only Herald Square Theater District survivor today if they haven’t been this consistent since 1885.

For lack of better wording, mutton is more manly. I felt stronger and more carnivorous when I was eating it even though we were sharing one $45 chop. There is no lack of male reminders at Keens–the collection of churchwarden pipes from old customers cover the ceiling, from Teddy Roosevelt’s to General Douglas MacArthur’s. Walking in, you’d think you’ve entered a museum rather than a restaurant. If it wasn’t for Lillie Langtry, actress and paramour of King Edward of England, taking Keens to court in 1905 for having denied her access to its gentlemen-only premises, it will still be a rendezvous of the men’s club today. She won her case, swept into Keens in her feathered boa and ordered like a man.

Inakaya

231 West 40th Street between Seventh and Eighth
212/354.2195
$65 for two, with drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

Inakaya is a good place for two kinds of dates: one, an awkward first date when neither have to nervously talk but still have a good time; two, a long-term couple date when almost anything can slip by and forgiven by the end of the night. For the first couple, they can’t really have a quiet conversation while dining at Inakaya because it’s a robatayaki, also known as robata, or an open grill where every few minutes a chorus of waiters and chefs shout and repeat customers’ orders. For the long-timers, they may be amused with the very lively setting and shrug off another date night out.

The Dr. and I belong to the latter. We were to meet midtown for dinner to eat sushi, but we didn’t want to spend too much money. I was at the new Muji store inside the New York Times building and noticed Inakaya next door. It was only a week old when we visited, but it was already packed with Japanese salarymen who perhaps wanted to support the establishment’s efforts. There were a few families as well and the younger kids seemed to enjoy all the screaming. Some of them even participated in the mochi-making presentation by the window where a giant pestle is used to mush up the soy.

The robatayaki‘s origin leads back to the city of Sendai in the northeast region of Japan. The chefs sit on their shins wearing ninja-like socks surrounded by carefully-selected fresh ingredients. At Inakaya, it’s orchestrated how they kneel and reach out for the produce and they use the same fluid moves to serve the finished dishes. Long wooden paddles are used so that the chefs can reach you from across the grill while the rest of your order is served by kimono-wearing waiters.

The food can’t get any better for something across the Port Authority bus terminal. The oysters came from the west coast, and even though they lightly touched the grill, they still tasted like the ocean. The day’s sashimi special came from Tsukiji Market that morning but I don’t remember it being out of our budget. We unfortunately skipped the beautiful marbled meats that were displayed in front of us–we weren’t in the mood for red meat–but we couldn’t say no to the buttery uni.

It’s nice to know that there’s a place to go to to escape the mediocrity of Hell’s Kitchen and the awfulness of fast-food kingdom at Times Square. Now I know where to eat if I ever find myself at the bus station or the AMC movie theater next door even if it means putting up with a little bit more of noise.