Compass

Note: Click here for a more recent review of Compass.

As part of my effort to catch up on restaurant reviews, here’s a duo on Compass. First, my visit in September of this year:

I last visited Compass during its brief steakhouse phase, enjoying a wonderful rack of lamb on that occasion. The restaurant will still serve you a dry aged porterhouse or a rib-eye, but the emphasis now is on “Creative American Cuisine.” A friend and I looked in on the continuing experiment on Saturday night. She was last there with me three chefs ago, and pronounced the current version a significant improvement.

There is a prix fixe menu at $32 (or $46 with paired wines). It looks like a good value, but the available entrées (chicken, salmon, or hangar steak) didn’t suit our mood, so we ordered ALC. She chose the Gazpacho ($9), I the White Corn and Summer Truffle risotto ($18), a wonderful if slightly watery concoction.

The restaurant calls its ALC main courses “Compositions.” There is also a section of the menu called “Simply Roasted,” which offers mostly steaks (anywhere from $24 for a fillet or $72 for the porterhouse for two); side dishes are extra, at $8. If you order one of the Compositions, I should think the side dishes were superfluous.

Anyhow, I chose the Confit of Halibut, with Baby Squash, Artichokes, Picholine Olives, and Basil Sabayon ($28). She chose the Poached Maine Lobster with Potatoes, Summer Truffles, Leeks and Onions ($33). Both were happy choices, aided and abetted by a terrific Chardonnay on the wine list for about $40.

We concluded with a selection of cheeses ($12), to which the restaurant added a selection of complimentary petits-fours (five apiece). As we were leaving, we were each handed coffee cakes to take home for Sunday’s breakfast—a nice touch usually associated with higher-end places.

Part of Compass’s problem, I suspect, is that it’s an unusually large space for the area. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it full. Here’s hoping that the latest formula will take root and flourish.

And now, my visit of November 5th:

I seem to keep returning to Compass, as it’s one of the better mid-priced fine dining options near Lincoln Center. Last night, I returned with a new friend, and again I was not disappointed.

We both had the $32 prix fixe, which for its quality is one of the better deals at this price point. I started with a salmon tartare, followed by braised shortribs that melted in your mouth. Dessert was a yogurt panna cotta.

My friend and I dined at Blue Hill the night before. Now, if you asked a dozen knowledgeable people, most would say that Blue Hill is the more reliable, but my friend and I had no trouble concluding—at least on this occasion—that we had enjoyed our dinner at Compass more.

With its checkered history of four chefs in four years, it would have been easy for Compass to wither and die. It has a large dining room to fill, but we found it busy last night. It’s a pity Amanda Hesser demoted it to one star, back when Katy Sparks was at the stoves (which seems like ages ago). Compass is back.

Shortly after I wrote this, Frank Bruni restored Compass’s two-star rating at the Times.

Compass (208 W. 70th Street, west of Amsterdam Avenue, Upper West Side)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

Brick Lane Curry House

When this restaurant opened in 2002, the verdict over at eGullet was: “Spicy food and slow service”. Three years later, Brick Lane Curry House has its act together. My friend and I arrived at 6:20 Saturday night and were out by 7:35, which was sufficient time for us to order drinks, appetizers, and entrées. The restaurant is now on OpenTable, which was what brought it to my attention.

I started with Aloo Chaat, which is described as: potatoes tossed in a yogurt and mint sauce with spices. At $6 this is a bargain, as the portion is almost big enough to be an entrée. My companion ordered the same thing with chickpeas, rather than potatoes. It has a lively flavor, and just enough heat to prepare the palate for the curry to come.

Most of the curries come in a variety of preparations, usually chicken, lamb, goat, fish, shrimp, paneer, tofu, and vegetable, priced from $12–19. We both had vindaloo: she the lamb ($17), I the goat ($18). I’m not a curry expert, but there was enough heat to bring sweat to the forehead, water to the eyes. I found the bones in the goat a bit annoying. We ordered two preparations of rice and another of spinach to round out the meal, and had more food than we could eat.

For the record, vindaloo is the restaurant’s second-hottest curry. The hottest is Phaal, which is described thus:

An excruciatingly hot curry, more pain and sweat than flavor. For our customers who do this on a dare, we will require you to state a verbal disclaimer not holding us liable for any physical or emotional damage after eating this curry. If you do manage to finish your serving of curry, a bottle of beer is on us.

Brick Lane Curry House (306–308 E. 6th St. near Second Avenue, East Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: Satisfactory
Overall: *

Saul, the Restaurant

Note: This is a review of Saul in its Boerum Hill location, which closed in July 2013. The restaurant is expected to re-open in the Brooklyn Museum in the fall. At the time I wrote this blog post, Saul had never had a full review in The New York Times. Pete Wells rectified that omission in 2009, awarding two stars.

*

The recent Michelin Guide for New York awarded the coveted stars to just thirty-nine restaurants, including just two outside of Manhattan: Peter Luger and Saul, both in Brooklyn.

I never would have tried Saul, but for its recently-acquired Michelin star. It is actually a very close trip from my apartment in lower Manhattan — two stops into Brooklyn on the A; change to the F across the platform, and then one stop to the corner of Bergen and Smith Streets. Saul is just a couple of steps down from the subway exit, in the Boerum Hill section.

The space is pleasant, but forgettable. The food is remarkable. You can see why the Michelin inspectors were impressed. We started with an amuse of hot curry soup. My companion and I both started with the smoky seafood chowder, which resembled a New England clam chowder, but with hefty chunks of smoked fish in the broth, and a helping of dainty micro-croutons served on the side. The soup was served in a slightly oval dish with its own ceramic cover, which the server removed tableside.

For the main course, my friend ordered the sliced ribeye, while I ordered an off-menu special called the Lamb Tasting. This consisted of lamb cooked four ways with a bed of mixed vegetables and spices. The two most memorable components of the dish were a lamb sausage and a shreded lamb confit inside a fluffy pastry.

For dessert, we both had the Baked Alaska, for which Michelin had printed the recipe in their guide. This was pleasant enough, although nowhere as memorable as what had gone before.

I don’t believe Saul carries a rating from the New York Times, but I have no hesitation in saying that the restaurant is serving three-star food — at least on the strength of this one visit. Dinner for two came to about $200 including tax and tip, which included a $45 bottle of wine.

Update: After I wrote this, Pascale Le Draoulec of The New York Daily News awarded Saul the identical rating that I did: 2½ stars.

Saul (140 Smith Street between Bergen & Dean Streets, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn)

Food: ***
Service: **
Ambiance: *½
Overall: **½

Keens Steakhouse

Note: Click here for more visits to Keens Steakhouse.

Frank Bruni’s review in last week’s New York Times aroused my curiosity, so I dropped into Keens Steakhouse the next day to try that “legendary” mutton chop.

I arrived around 6:45. The matre d’ advised me that there would be no tables available in the dining room till 9:15, but I could put in my name for a pub table (where a full menu is served). I was advised there would be about a twenty-minute wait for that. I ordered a glass of cabernet at the bar, where the patrons were four-deep, and settled in.

Keens may have New York’s best collection of single-malt scotches (they say they’ve got 200 of them). The bottles cut an impressive figure across the back wall of the bar. Naturally they’re available individually, but Keens also offers “flights” of four contrasting scotches, which go for anywhere between $28 and $48. I wasn’t in the mood, but I’ll probably sample them on a future visit.

Before I knew it, the hostess advised me there was a table in the main dining room after all. It had only been ten minutes.

I don’t know if Bruni’s review has influenced business, but I could see there were lots of people ordering “mutton chops” (which, as Frank has now told us, are actually lamb chops). Keens must have its own network of lamb purveyors, as I’ve never seen a cut anything like this before. Who else but Keens could be serving it?

While I waited for the legendary chop, I enjoyed the complimentary warm bread service and chilled vegetables with creamy dipping sauce. I also enjoyed staring at the massive collection of churchwarden pipes that adorned the ceiling.

The chop finally arrives. It looks massive, but this is a bit deceiving, as it’s actually a T-bone, and the bone itself takes up a lot of space. After you savor a bit of the fat, you’ll want to trim the rest away, leaving yourself with a substantial, but not unmanageable portion. Still, at two inches (or more) thick, with a peculiar wing shape, it’s a meal to remember. Keens cooked mine superbly to medium rare, just as I’d asked. At $37.50, it’s one of New York’s better steakhouse bargains. (The chop came with sauteed escarole, which I didn’t care for.)

As I was leaving, the hostess inquired about my meal, and remembered me by name. That was impressive, given the hundreds of people in the restaurant, and the fact we’d only spoken briefly. I look forward to returning, and trying more of the menu. Including those scotches.

Keens Steakhouse (72 W. 36th Street, east of Sixth Avenue, West Midtown)

Food: **

Service: *½

Ambiance: **

Overall: **

JoJo

Last January, a friend took me out to JoJo for a belated birthday dinner. This restaurant was Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s flagship, before he opened the four-star temple Jean Georges. (JoJo is Vongerichten’s childhood nickname.) Now that Vongerichten has a restaurant in every neighborhood, I suspect he seldom visits JoJo. I found it remarkably uninteresting on that first visit, but it was just interesting enough to merit a return engagement for the right occasion. Last night, I decided to give it another try.

JoJo is located in a remodeled Upper East Side townhouse. There is a tiny bar up front, with tables on both the first and second floors. We were seated upstairs, which is a considerably more romantic and intimate space than downstairs, where I was last time. When we arrived at 6:30, there was just one other couple in the back room. My friend whispered, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could ditch the other couple? We could imagine that this was the private dining salon of our elegant New York townhouse, and all of these servers were here to wait on us alone.” We wondered why the fireplace wasn’t lit on such a cold evening (perhaps it is not a usable fireplace).

To start, she ordered the Peekytoe Crab Salad ($13), and I the Pumpkin Ravioli ($12), which was superb, especially at such a low price point. For the mains, she had the salmon ($24) and I the duck ($26). I had a taste of the salmon and found it bland, although my companion was satisfied. The duck was excellent: four thick breast medallions with a crisp crust and tender flesh; and a pastry filled with shredded leg meat confit. Several fingerling potatoes added to the lovely geometry of the presentation, but nothing to the taste. For dessert, she concluded with the molten chocolate cake ($10), and I had the cheesecake (also $10), which was again wonderful.

Service throughout the evening was attentive and efficient, although I felt that both the appetizers and the entrées came a tad too quickly. However, the restaurant was not full, and at no point did I get the impression that we were being rushed out of the restaurant. We lingered for a long time over our desserts, and in total we were there for around 2½ hours.

On the strength of this second visit, I retract my “remarkably uninteresting” verdict. JoJo is highly competent, and the upstairs seating areas are most charming. With plenty of appetizers in the low-teens and entrées in the mid-twenties, JoJo is one of the better restaurants at its price point. Still, there is a certain lack of sustained inspiration that one expects to find in three-star dining.

Of course, we are in the Frank Bruni era. When The Red Cat attracts two stars, it’s difficult to argue that JoJo isn’t worth the three stars it currently carries at the Times. In a less grade-inflated era, I would award two.

JoJo (160 E 64th St, just east of Lexington Ave, Upper East Side)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: ***
Overall: **

EN Japanese Brasserie

Two friends and I had dinner at EN Japanese Brasserie on Wednesday evening. EN is part of the city’s new hip trend for big-box Japanese restaurants with Nobu-inspired menus. It is one of the pleasanter destinations in that genre. Our reservation was at 6:30, a time when the restaurant is still comparatively empty. However, we were impressed with the high ceilings and the wide spacing of the tables. Even at peak time, I suspect my companions and I wouldn’t have had to shout (as we did at the comparatively claustrophobic BLT Prime).

Service was about as efficient as one could hope for. Obviously it helped that the place was nearly empty at that hour, but a sparsely-populated dining room is never any guarantee of the server’s undivided attention.

As at other restaurants in the genre, you’re encouraged to order a variety of small plates, and share. One is never sure precisely how many of these plates are enough to make a meal. Our waiter naturally advised us to err on the high-side; his upselling wasn’t unctuous, but certainly we were aware of it. Anyhow, we chose four items, and once those were finished, ordered a fifth.

We had two types of sushi rolls with different tangy dipping sauces, shrimp fritters, a tempura sampler, and the obligatory miso black cod. The latter didn’t erase memories of the signature dish at Nobu, but all were wonderfully prepared. The tempura batter was crispy and light; the sushi rolls crisp and flavorful. This is definitely the way to order at EN, as I don’t think any of these dishes would have been nearly as successful as one’s only entrée.

If we had any complaint, it was the speed at which the dishes arrived. The trend at these “small plate” restaurants is to deliver the food at the chef’s convenience, instead of the customer’s. After we ordered, it seemed we barely had time to blink before the food came trooping gaily out of the kitchen. It’s not that they needed our table; I just think it’s the way the restaurant is put together.

EN has one of the most ridiculously over-engineered, yet simultaneously unhelpful, websites . The menu shown there is far from complete. Frank Bruni complained of “an extremely long, confusing menu” in his one-star review. It appears there has been some simplification since then. The menu is now a single page, which makes it shorter than the Nobu menu.

As at any Japanese restaurant, it’s easy to spend a ton of money in a hurry. But our experience at EN showed that it is by no means necessary. We were out of there for $35 a head, including tax and tip, but without any alcohol.

EN Japanese Brasserie (435 Hudson Street at Leroy Street, Hudson Square)

Food: **
Service: *½
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

BLT Prime

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to BLT Prime.

I dined at BLT Prime last week. Laurent Tourondel has now refined the BLT formula to a science, and the third restaurant in the chain is a triumph. (See also BLT Steak and BLT Fish.)

We started with two ‘bread’ amuses. The first was a sourdough bread with chicken liver paté. Second was a very fresh, soft garlic bread roll. For appetizers, two of us had the Grilled Double Cut Canadian Bacon ($9). These bacon strips are similar to those at Peter Luger. They aren’t quite as thick as at Luger, but you get four of them on the plate, and they are lightly seasoned. My other colleague ordered the Tuna Tartare ($14), which was also an enormous helping, and he pronounced himself satisfied.

BLT serves its porterhouse pre-sliced, as in the Luger/Wolfgang’s model. Unlike those restaurants, it is offered only for two. As there were three of us, we ordered the porterhouse ($79) and the 12 oz. kobe ribeye ($72). We divided on which was the more flavorful, although the porterhouse, which feeds two with some left to spare, is clearly the far better deal.

For side orders, we chose the onion rings ($8), the bleu cheese tater tots ($7), and the asparagus ($8). The menu at BLT Prime seems almost diabolically designed to encourage you to over-order. I don’t believe a person with a normal appetite can finish an appetizer, their share of a porterhouse, and one of these ample side dishes, especially if you’ve also ordered wine. We ended the meal happy, but with quite a lot of food remaining on the table.

Only one of us could even dream of entertaining dessert. My colleague ordered the banana cream pie, which he said was heavenly. I strenuously resisted his suggestion of after-dinner drinks, but he insisted, so we finished the evening with 18-year Highland Park whisky.

For future reference, I’d say that three people of normal appetites would have plenty to eat if they ordered an appetizer apiece, and shared the porterhouse and two sides between them. Occasional glances around other tables confirmed that portions are enormous, practically no matter what you order.

All three of the BLT restaurants have been instant hits. BLT prime was full to the gills, and it was hard to carry on a conversation over the din. That’s about the only negative at a restaurant that clicks on all cylinders. Incidentally, BLT Prime is now the #1 steakhouse in the city on Zagat. It is tied with Peter Luger with a 27 food rating, but has higher service and decor ratings (23/23 respectively for BLTP; 19/14 for PL).

BLT Prime (111 East 22nd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, Gramercy)

db bistro moderne

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to db bistro moderne.

db bistro moderne is the least formal of Daniel Boulud’s New York properties. The menu is organized by ingredients, instead of the usual appetizer/entrée split. The categories are in French (hommard, thon, artichaut, etc.), but the descriptions of the items in each category are in English. You have to notice an “AP” or “MC” next to the price to identify whether the item is an appetizer or a main course. You can also look at the price itself: db’s entrées are remarkably consistent, at about $28-34 apiece regardless of the item.

I just had to try the “Original db Burger,” to find out what a $29 hamburger tastes like. The menu says it’s a “Sirloin Burger filled with Braised Short Ribs, Foie Gras and Black Tuffles.” I was not able to identify all of those ingredients from the taste. It’s thick (to accommodate all of the goodies stuffed inside), but not very large. Getting your mouth around it is a challenge, somewhat like a three-decker sandwhich at a Jewish deli.

Was it a very fine hamburger? Yes. Do I recommend spending $29 on it? No. Rounding out the meal was a smoked salmon appetizer ($14) that was perfectly competent, but not a patch on what I had at Ouest a couple of weeks ago.

The burger and the salmon are both found in a section of the menu labeled “Specialitiés De La Maison.” Gimmicks of the house seemed more like it. I saw a lot coming out of the db kitchen that appealed to me. Neither of these really did the trick. If I go again, I’ll try something else. At $72 per person (including drinks, tax, and tip), I think this town has better bargains for your money.

db bistro moderne (55 West 44th Street between Fifth & Sixth Avenues, West Midtown)

Spinning Debate #2

Last night’s Cheney-Edwards debate was a draw. Both men scored points. Both men missed opportunities. The “insta-polls” afterwards went either way, depending on which network you watched. There were no obvious gaffes on either side. Both sides can claim victory…of a sort.

From Bush’s point of view, Cheney had to stop the bleeding. With Bush having clearly lost last week’s encounter in Miami, the campaign could ill afford another drubbing. Whether Cheney won or not, he was at least solid. I doubt that Cheney persuaded any Kerry supporters to switch sides, but at least he reassured a nervous Republican base.

From Kerry’s point of view, Edwards matched blows for 90 minutes with the Vice President and managed to appear substantially his political equal. When you’re the challenger, your first goal is simply to demonstrate that you belong there. To the undecided voters who still matter, Edwards showed he belonged. No undecided voters will choose Kerry-Edwards as a result of this debate, but at least Edwards gave them no reason to choose Bush.

So, it was a draw. Vice Presidential debates historically are not relevant to the final outcome, and it appears this wasn’t the one to change that trend. The stakes remain high for the two remaining Bush-Kerry debates.

Spinning Debate #1

In the first of their three debates, John F. Kerry appears to have scored a victory over President Bush. I haven’t found any source outside of the Bush campaign that believes the President won. Every journalist, pundit or commentator — of whatever party — declares it a Kerry victory or a tie.

Assuming, charitably, that it was a tie, you have to assume that the debate helped Kerry. In any election involving an incumbent, the challenger’s first task is to persuade the voters that he’s a plausible commander-in-chief. No matter how vulnerable the incumbent may be (and Bush is as vulnerable as any), no challenger can be elected until he passes that threshold. Merely by standing toe-to-toe with Bush and not wilting, John Kerry, perhaps for the first time, seemed Presidential.

I’m obviously not much of a pundit, because I initially thought Bush had won. Although Kerry was articulate and poised, he seemed stiff and humorless. Bush imbued his answers with the folksy, unsubtle, no-nonsense Southern twang that voters four years ago found appealing. There wasn’t much levity in the debate, but such as it was, it came from the incumbent. On a gut level, I thought that Bush did a better job of making an emotional connection with his audience.

But Bush stammered through several of his answers, and he was clearly on the defensive. I was disappointed that moderator Jim Lehrer spent so much of the debate (at least 2/3rds of it) re-hashing the rationale for invading Iraq. While the candidates clearly disagree on whether the war was a mistake, after an hour they were just repeating themselves.

Kerry supporters shouldn’t get too giddy. Post-debate insta-polls initially showed Al Gore winning the first debate in 2000. By the time the punditocracy was finished dissecting Gore’s performance, he had lost. It will take a few days to see whether Kerry’s solid performance last night actually made a difference to persuadable voters. What’s more, there are two Presidental debates to go, plus a Cheney-Edwards tilt next Tuesday. Any one of them could produce one of those defining moments that changes an election.