Craft - By far the best restaurant in this category of dining. Not only in New York City but probably anywhere. I know Tom Colicchio fashioned this restaurant after the à la carte menus of the steakhouses of old, but I have found that the best way to enjoy the restaurant is to set the menu aside and allow the kitchen to choose your dinner. Just tell them how many courses you would like, and they will send out the best ingredients they have on hand that day. They might treat you to succulent black pork from Idaho, or a Wagyu skirt steak, or maybe a Duclair duck from Massachusets. Or how about a two-pound lobster tail from Australia, or Craft stalwarts like the fork-tender short ribs, along with a selection of the best vegetables available that day? A party of six stands the chance of having the best meal, and if you organize a bottle of wine per course, you will have a veritable feast. A
Roast Duclair Duck from Craft
Cafe Boulud - Three meals in 2004, two excellent and one ordinary. But that was on a Saturday night, and I never hold that against a restaurant. Andrew Carmellini can cook in a number of different styles. There are always four different types of cuisine available—traditional, seasonal, world cuisine, and vegetarian—each one organized into its own menu. Diners can mix and match courses from the different menus, which makes it easy to fashion an eclectic meal. The wine list usually has a few well-priced bottles and that helps make the experience even better. A downside is the rarefied Upper East Side atmosphere and the cramped quarters. The service is extremely professional. A-
Aquagrill - When I had an office downtown, I used to visit this restaurant on a regular basis. After not going there for at least four years, I recently visited the restaurant, and I am happy to report it was as good as ever. The day of my lunch they had 23 different types of oysters available. Oyster fanatics can have a feast by ordering the $53 sampler, which includes one of each oyster. And my old favorite entree, salmon with a falafel crust served on a bed of creamy hummus in a sauce of preserved lemons with thin slices of tomato and cucumber, was as fabulous as it was in the past. No BYO is a negative, especially since the wine list is paltry. B+
David Burke & Donattela - Where the upper middle meets the Upper East Side. I would normally hate this type of restaurant with its harsh welcome and their pack them into the rafters and then turn the tables as many times as they can attitude. But David Burke still manages to serve a whimsical version of a cuisine that revolves around luxury ingredients. It’s difficult to find a dish that doesn't have caviar, truffles, foie gras, or lobster in it. All you have to do is to wear your slinkiest dress and your best jewelry and you will fit right in. B
Osetra Caviar, Grapefruit, and Champagne-Butter Sauce from David Burke
Babbo - I keep trying to have a good meal at Babbo. Most of the reviews I read about it are raves. But this was my fifth visit and I have yet to eat a meal where every aspect was stellar. The culprit seems to be the popularity of the restaurant. I don't think it is possible to turn the tables three times in an evening and expect the kitchen to turn out the type of precise cooking that Mario Batali's very personal take on Italian cuisine needs. Speaking of which, the cuisine is getting a bit long in the tooth. Are we coasting on our fame? Say it ain't so, Mario. B-
Veal Chop Stuffed with Mushrooms and Liver and topped with Fontina Cheese and Shaved White Truffles
Lever House - I was expecting a building with such a serious résumé to house an equally serious restaurant. Maybe something that is a contemporary version of the Four Seasons Pool Room. But instead we end up with something more like the Grill Room, complete with a bar full of casually dressed singles. The modern American menu from Chef Dan Silverman is rather simple. You will do well sticking with raw shellfish and grills. I enjoyed a fabulous grilled Berkshire pork chop when I was there, but he didn’t do as well with the fish dishes. The restaurant certainly fills a void in the Midtown dining scene. C+
Grillled Berkshire Pork Chop from Lever House
City Hall – I like this place although I wish the food was better. They have an excellent raw bar and the fried seafood appetizers are terrific, battered in rice flour and about as grease free as you will find. But the mains are disappointing, especially the steaks. If they could just raise the quality of the beef, this would become a go-to restaurant for me. C+
Union Square Cafe - If you go to USC and except a serious meal, I'm afraid you are going to come away disappointed. But if you think of it as a high-class tavern with an updated version of American bar classics, along with a well-stocked and reasonably priced wine list, then you will be just fine. Go for lunch and have some tuna tartar or a steak sandwich. Or go for dinner and have something more substantial like the filet mignon of tuna or the lamb chops scottaditta. On the downside, its popularity with tourists makes it more difficult to get a table than one would like. Calling ten days in advance for a table doesn't seem to make any sense at a place that doesn't serve ten day in advance food, if you know what I mean. C+
Cafe Gray - It's a shame that Gray Kunz decided to open a restaurant that is projected to do over $14 million in business the first year. I mean good for him, I hope he makes enough money to open a bank. But the day of that decision was a sad one for foodies. Kunz’s cuisine always depended on a subtle balancing of flavors, but a kitchen that is serving this many meals a day just can’t do it justice. Speaking of cuisines, Kunz has been out of circulation since he left Lespinasse, and his cuisine shows it. I had hoped he would have regained his old form while staying contemporary as a chef. But given the slightly old-fashioned cuisine at Café Gray, and the kitchen’s inconsistency due to the sheer volume of meals they are turning out, this was one of the biggest disappointments of the year. And one can’t overlook the restaurant's design and how the kitchen runs alongside the beautiful picture windows overlooking Columbus Circle. Could anything be more idiotic? The architecture and design police should sneak into the restaurant in the middle of the night and rip the kitchen out and reinstall it along the interior wall where it belongs. C
Short Ribs in a Grainy Mustard Sauce from Gray Kunz
Town - Restaurants in the upper-middle category typically start out with a bang and then fade after a few years. That's what I found at Town, a restaurant I enjoyed much more when they first opened than I did at a recent visit. My scallops served three ways showed neither culinary creativity nor sufficent proficiency in the kitchen, and my swordfish entrée with puréed cippoline onions was both a bad combination and sloppily prepared. Sort of a better version of Gotham Bar and Grill which isn't saying very much. C
Swordfish on a Cippoline Onion Purée with Snow Peas at Town
L'Impero - Upper middle Italian-American in Tudor City with a four-course, one from column A, one from column B, approach to dining that rings in at an amazingly low fixed price of $56 a person. You can start with what they call susci, a selection of raw fish in Italian marinades, or a more traditional appetizer like polenta with mushrooms. Then you order from a list of pasta dishes and then an entree. The raw fish is a waste; you just can't serve the right quality fish at this price point. And the rest of it varies, with the pastas probably being the best course they serve. The whole thing is too formulaic for me. It's a shame, too, because it appears that Scott Conant knows how to cook. C
Gotham Bar & Grill - I never understood what people liked about this restaurant. When they first opened, my office was in the neighborhood, and I ate my fair share of meals there. But I never had a great meal, and it wasn't long before I abandoned it altogether. Years and years went by and I didn't return. This year in anticipation of writing this summary I went back to try it. When I read the menu my hopes were high; it seemed that Chef Alfred Portale had substantially updated the cuisine. But in spite of appearances nothing has changed. The kitchen is plagued by poor execution, and the food lacks precision and tastes sloppy. Given the cost, this is one of the worst dining experiences in the city in my opinion. C-
Snake River Farms Pork with Soft Polenta, Roasted Plums, Shell Beans and Mint
Taste - As you can imagine, the restaurant associated with Eli's Marketplace serves a cuisine that is based on fresh market ingredients. On a good day you can have a well-aged ribeye or maybe a nice swordfish paillard; both are served with a giant platter of delicious allumettes potatoes on the side. There is also usually a good mushroom preparation, and they always offer Eli's microgreens, which are probably the best salad greens in the city. With a well-stocked cheese cart and a hedonistic lemon meringue cake, the entire package makes for a pretty good neighborhood restaurant although a bit pricy. C-
Picholine - My, how the mighty have fallen. Once upon a time this was a favorite of mine, but a meal I had in the fall of 2004 was completely unacceptable, especially from a restaurant that holds itself out as one of the better restaurants in the city. I'm not sure if my tastes have changed, the quality of the cuisine has changed, or Terrance Brennan has let Picholine go downhill. Aside from a delicious risotto (always a specialty of the restaurant), the rest of my meal was simply poor. D+
Picholine's Sea Urchin Flan with American Caviar
Montrachet - I can't think of a worse example of French cuisine in the city. Why can't they make at least halfway decent food here? I was there for three different wine dinners in 2004, and every single time the food lacked merit. Tied with Picholine for the worst French-inspired restaurant in the category. D+
Restaurants Reviewed in Prior Years
Veritas - Food is well prepared but old fashioned in style. You go for the wine list. The food is secondary. B
Oceana - Cornelius Gallagher is an ambitious chef. But he can't deliver a compelling version of this cuisine at this price point. B-
Gramercy Tavern - On autopilot. This used to be at the top of this category, but Tom Colicchio seems to have put his energy into Craft. B-
Eleven Madison Park - Great when they first opened and has been going steadily downhill ever since. B-
Ouest - Comfort cuisine from Tom Valenti. They do not execute at the right level and that makes this a less than satisfying experience. C+
Biltmore Room - More like a club than a restaurant. The people eating there couldn't care less about the food. C
Red Cat - Really a neighborhood place but their reputation attracts diners who travel to Chelsea to eat there. C-
The Harrison - Same as Red Cat but in Tribeca. Not bad if you need to be in the neighborhood. C-
Capitale - More of a party place than a restaurant. Dreadful. F
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