325 replies to this topic

[Suzanne F]

I wish I hadn't seen this. We have both matinee and evening performances tomorrow at LC (Paul Taylor/NY Phil), but Paul is on a "we have to eat at cheaper restaurants" kick so we'll probably end up have something crappy on Ninth Avenue.

[Sneakeater]

Sorry.

Oops. Forgot.

COMP DISCLOSURE: Two glasses of wine.

[yvonne johnson]

I wish I hadn't seen this. We have both matinee and evening performances tomorrow at LC (Paul Taylor/NY Phil), but Paul is on a "we have to eat at cheaper restaurants" kick so we'll probably end up have something crappy on Ninth Avenue.

Marseille? Too far?

[Suzanne F]

I wish I hadn't seen this. We have both matinee and evening performances tomorrow at LC (Paul Taylor/NY Phil), but Paul is on a "we have to eat at cheaper restaurants" kick so we'll probably end up have something crappy on Ninth Avenue.

Marseille? Too far?

Too $$$$. He's on a cheap kick right now.

But he did perk up when I mentioned that Bar Boulud has a $45 pre-theater prix fixe.( He likes Bar Boulud for its $25 pf brunch.) I couldn't get a reservation, but maybe we'll try a walk-in.

[rozrapp]

I wish I hadn't seen this. We have both matinee and evening performances tomorrow at LC (Paul Taylor/NY Phil), but Paul is on a "we have to eat at cheaper restaurants" kick so we'll probably end up have something crappy on Ninth Avenue.

Marseille? Too far?

Too $$$$. He's on a cheap kick right now.

But he did perk up when I mentioned that Bar Boulud has a $45 pre-theater prix fixe.( He likes Bar Boulud for its $25 pf brunch.) I couldn't get a reservation, but maybe we'll try a walk-in.

It's probably too late to get a table pre-theater today, but for future reference, Marseille has a $35 dinner prix-fixe. Available at all times.

[Suzanne F]

We went there last night, pre-Paul Taylor. The dinner prix fixe is a good bargain, indeed. We had one, plus two dishes from the "Nose to Tail" specials menu, which added up to $1 less and meant I wasn't compelled to have dessert.

Prix fixe:
Fennel soup
Skate with orange, capers, roasted potatoes, and wilted escarole
Raspberry lemon layer cake with raspberry-coconut sorbet

Never missed having S&P on the table; everything was seasoned perfectly, and just plain delicious. Portion size was fine, enough soup to share, very thick and rich-tasting, with a dollop of ricotta and bits of fennel, cauliflower, and crouton; quite a large piece of skate, perfectly sautéed. Maybe a little heavy on the capers, but when eaten with the potatoes and escarole, the salt balanced out. Very classic version of a layered French dessert, with vibrant lemon mousse, thin layer of coconut cake, and raspberry gel on top; accompanying sorbet was quite intensely flavored.

Nose to Tail:
Stuffed pig foot with crispy skin, hearts of palm mimosa
Braised pork shoulder with spring veg and arugula coulis (no pork leg confit available; this was the only main on that menu)

Kind of redundant to order these two dishes: both are disks of porky goodness surrounded by gooey skin (foot) or fat (shoulder) and topped with a highly reduced meaty sauce. That said, they were completely different. The foot was chopped or ground very coarsely, while the shoulder was straight meat wrapped around a stuffing that I think had mint in it. Very different taste and textures to the two. The "crispy skin" with the foot was chips of what might have been either dehydrated or freeze-dried crackling, very thin but tasty. I'm not a fan of hearts of palm (hate canned), but these were fresh, crunchy, and delicious. A little frisée, lightly dressed, also helped to cut the richness. Between this and Benoit's crisp puck of pigfoot, this was the meatier (although I still like Benoit's). Lovely crisp baby fennel, soft baby carrot, grilled baby leeks, and a tangle of raw pea shoots, along with the arugula coulis, made it a very vernal dish.

Wines were a glass of a crisp gruner veltliner and a pinot noir from Carneros (Chad; not the one listed, but quite nice, very cherry). Paul accidentally knocked over the pinot noir when there was still an ounce or so, and they were quick to bring out a clean glass and give a new taste-size pour. This surprisingly ended up on the bill, but when mentioned to them, they apologized and removed it. In fact, service overall was excellent. The only glitch (besides the coffee not being hot enough, but it is never hot enough) was of my own doing: I chose to sit at one of the two-tops in the front window--not a good idea when the sun is going down.

I really like this place. It's turning into one of our regular LC places.

BTW: the favas with pork heart that Sneak had is now favas with duck hearts. And there was also something with duck gizzards.

[Wilfrid]

I am glad the pig foot worked out. I was so disappointed when I had a badly made version at DBGB recently, complete with near-nauseating salt bombs. It's a dish I'd expect any Boulud place to ace.

[oakapple]

I wanted to order that pig's foot the last time I was there, but they were sold out of it . . . at 6pm.

[Sneakeater]

Obviously not a "real" restaurant.

[Anthony Bonner]

Obviously not a "real" restaurant.

truth!!

[Wilfrid]

No, if they wasn't a "proper restaurant" they would have told Oakie, yes, we have the pig's foot, but we are keeping it for diners coming in later.