BLT Market

BLT Market postcard, based on art work displayed in the restaurant

Note: Click here for more recent visits to BLT Market.

You would have every reason to be a little cynical about the opening of yet another “Bistro Laurent Tourondel” restaurant. In a matter of three years, Tourondel has launched almost a dozen of them, the majority being clones of the very first one, BLT Steak. To date, the best of the brood has been BLT Fish, which earned three stars from Frank Bruni, as well as a Michelin star, which it promptly lost.

Main Menu

Now comes BLT Market, which occupies the former Atelier space in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Central Park South. To Tourondel’s credit, this is his first restaurant in quite a while that isn’t a mindless clone of a previous endeavour. The idea of a restaurant focused on seasonal ingredients is hardly original, but Tourondel’s version of it could become one of the better ones.

I walked in on impulse at around 6:30 p.m. on a weeknight. The dining room was booked, but I got an outdoor table immediately with a nice view of Central Park. Typical of a BLT restaurant, the server presented me with several loose sheets of paper: a menu, a specials menu, and a wine list supplement. (I didn’t ask to see the full wine list, but they have one.)

I ordered a cocktail called the Apricot–Mint Caiproska ($14). Like other cocktails I’ve had at BLT restaurants, it was too small, and almost all ice. I felt like I had paid about $1 per sip. I wasn’t shown the full wine list, but the paper supplement showed ten selections by the glass and bottles from a variety of regions. It included eight choices from New York state, something you do not normally see. With bottles priced mostly above $60, there were few bargains to be had.

Specials Menu

The menu is focused and not unduly long. There are seven appetizers ($12–25), one soup ($12), two pastas ($14–24 as appetizers; $23–38 as entrées), six entrées ($26–43), six desserts ($10–11), and a cheese course ($14). A sidebar lists all of the vegetables and fish that are in season. The specials menu added an additional appetizer, two entrées, and one dessert. While the prices are obviously expensive, they are all-inclusive, unlike the other BLT restaurants, where the side dishes cost extra, and drive up the bill considerably.

I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered two appetizers. Grilled Octopus ($18) came with a fresh cranberry  bean salad and bergamot dressing. The octopus was nicely charred, and thick enough to have the consistency of a steak, but it upstaged the accompanying salad, which was dull. Raw and Confit Big Eye Tuna ($18) came with a tonnato sauce, garnished with avocado and fresh heart of palm. This was a lovely dish, attractively plated. The raw tuna was especially good, but the confit version seemed not as flavorful.

The amuse-bouche was a riff on “pigs in a blanket”—a small slice of frankfurter wrapped in a pastry shell with a mustard and relish dressing. It was a cute idea, but a bit messy to eat, and the hot dog didn’t seem fresh. The bread service was spectacular: a long hot garlic bread, served in a paper bag. Say what you want about Tourondel, but the breads in his restaurants are great.

The space is a bit more elegant than the other BLT restaurants, but with many informal touches. Tables are bare wood, with cloth napkins but paper placemats. Servers wear striped aprons, but the captains wear suits. The artwork, which I understand Tourondel selected himself, consists of large pastel paintings showing fruits and vegetables, such as the tomato still life shown at the top of this post.

Service was friendly, but slow, with a rather long gap between my first and second appetizer. The amuse and bread courses left my placemat festooned with crumbs, but they didn’t replace it until after the meal was over. I wasn’t smitten with BLT Market, but the restaurant shows promise. With the menu still technically in previews, I assume there will be refinements, and some of the service glitches will be smoothed out.

BLT Market (1430 Sixth Avenue at Central Park South, West Midtown)

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

The Payoff: Franny's

Today, as expected, Frank Bruni awarded two stars to Franny’s, giving the kind of rave review we’ve come to expect when he runs into a quaint, family-owned Italian restaurant that doesn’t take reservations:

Other restaurants have honorable pies, admirable lettuces or noteworthy salumi. But take it from a cranky Franny’s doubter, now a besotted Franny’s believer: not many do all three with as much joy and distinction as Franny’s.

Eater took the one-star odds, while NYJ guessed correctly that Frank would give Franny’s a two-star smooch. We win $6 on our hypothetical $1 bet, while Eater loses a dollar.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$41.50		$38.67
Gain/Loss	–1.00		+6.00
Total	$40.50		$44.67
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	16–5		15–6

Rolling the Dice: Franny's

Every week, we take our turn with Lady Luck on the BruniBetting odds as posted by Eater. Just for kicks, we track Eater’s bet too, and see who is better at guessing what the unpredictable Bruni will do. We track our sins with an imaginary $1 bet every week.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Franny’s, the acclaimed Park Slope pizza joint that was infamously Banned on Chowhound. The Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 4-1
One Star: 2-1 √√
Two Stars: 6-1
Three Stars: 75-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1

The Skinny: Frank Bruni has been on a pizza kick lately. He even managed to get the Times to spring for a trip to L.A. so that he could review Pizzeria Mozza—a restaurant genre not normally on his beat.

We know that just about any type of restaurant can get two stars from Frank Bruni. So why not a pizzeria? Franny’s has all the trappings of a two-star special: it’s in Brooklyn, it’s Italian, and as Eater notes, Bruni does have “an undying love for small, earnest restaurants.”

My guess is that after dining at Mozza, Bruni wanted to find the best pizza in town, and if he could give it two stars, he would. New York’s Underground Gourmet says Franny’s has the best pizza in New York. And Eater says that Franny’s “has turned it up a notch in the kitchen of late,” an assertion I cannot verify, but which would certainly explain the timing of this review.

The Bet: Lately, we’ve been spanked anytime we disagreed with Eater. Nevertheless, we’re going to roll the dice on two stars for Franny’s.

Esca

 

It’s hard to know when you can trust Frank Bruni. He seems to give a one-star premium just because a restaurant is Italian. And he seems to give a one-star premium wherever Mario Batali is involved. In just three years on the job, he has awarded nine stars to Mario Batali’s restaurants, a remarkable total.

So when Frank Bruni promoted Esca to three stars (his predecessor had awarded two), I had to wonder: was it really that good? Or was Frank just up to his usual mischief? Luckily, there was a parade of almost exclusively favorable comments on the eGullet boards, which persuaded me that I really must try Esca.

Bruschetta to start

It wasn’t easy. Esca fills up in a hurry. Several times I tried to reserve, only to find that 10:00 p.m. was the only time slot available. And no, I wasn’t that desperate to eat there. Last night, finally, I had an 8:00 p.m. slot. But even in late August, Esca was packed.

I agree with Frank Bruni about one more thing. The key to Esca’s success is that its chef and co-owner, David Pasternack, hasn’t over-extended himself. According to Bruni, whenever he’s called the restaurant for an interview, Pasternack is nearly always there. These days, when a restaurant is as successful as Esca, the chef starts to become an industry. Pasternack has dallied a little, but Esca remains his home.

Esca—the name means bait—introduced crudo, the Italian version of raw fish appetizers, to New York. Bruni, at least, credits Pasternack with the innovation. It was sufficiently obscure that William Grimes, in his 2000 review, had to explain what it meant. Nowadays, it’s all over town.

The menu’s crudo selections are followed by standard appetizers, pastas, and fish entrées. A solitary veal dish is the lone concession to the meat-lover. There’s no obligatory strip steak or roast chicken for the patron who was dragged along, but really doesn’t like seafood. If you can’t or won’t eat sea creatures, there’s probably no point in visiting Esca.

According to the website, the menu changes every two weeks. The menu currently shown there is quite a bit different from the one we saw—and also noticeably less expensive. I don’t know if it’s a very old menu, or if the prices were jacked up after Bruni awarded the third star. Nowadays, I think a restaurant in Esca’s class ought to have a reasonably current menu on its website.

While we pondered our order, a sommelier came over to offer assistance. The wine list is of medium length, and nearly all Italian. There’s an ample number of good options below $60. I asked for a red wine under that figure that would go well with the entrées we were considering. He instantly offered a fine suggestion at $54.

After pouring the first taste, he took the bottle away and put it on a serving table out of sight. Only a few restaurants in New York do this, and I find it a bit annoying. I don’t need someone to pour my wine for me, and I don’t like having to look around to signal for another pour. My request to have the bottle put back under my control was granted without complaint.

 
Orange Marlin (left); Verdura Mista (right)

I started with one of the crudo selections, Orange Marlin ($16). It was perfectly seasoned—just delightful. By the way, the restaurant offers a two-flight crudo tasting for $30 per person, and I’ve made a mental note to try one of these days. My girlfriend started with a salad of Verdura Mista ($16), and the kitchen did a superb job with this deceptively simple dish.

 
Squid ink pasta with cuttlefish and garlic (left); Whole orata (right)

There are about a dozen pasta dishes, orderable as a main course or as a mid-course to split. We shared the Squid ink pasta with cuttlefish and garlic ($24). We were again impressed, as the contrasting flavors seemed to be so perfectly judged.

The menu offers several whole fish, in addition to a larger number of composed dishes. I ordered the Orata ($33), a kind of sea bream, served whole. The preparation was straightforward, but the flesh was tender, sweet, and just slightly lemony. It came off the bone without difficulty. My girlfriend was less impressed with Merluzzo ($34), a kind of cod. She found it a bit dull, and even had to ask for salt to make it more lively—and that is not something she often does.

Biscotti

At Esca, both the space and the service occupy that middle ground between casual and formal that Mario Batali has mastered at his flagship restaurant, Babbo. There are white tablecloths, and an alert service brigade stays on top of things, but you could show up in jeans, and not feel out-of-place.

On the whole, we left Esca quite impressed. Three courses apiece, plus a $54 bottle of wine still came to under $200 before tip, and in this town it’s difficult to get such a good a meal at that price.

Esca (402 W. 43rd Street at Ninth Avenue, Hell’s Kitchen)

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

River Room

 
The River Room, practically deserted.

With its gorgeous unobstructed river views, Riverbank State Park would seem the ideal place for a romantic restaurant. That was the premise when Earl Monroe’s Restaurant, named for the former New York Knicks guard, opened a couple of years ago.

The park is located along the Hudson River. It’s built atop a waste treatment plant, though you wouldn’t be immediately aware of that. Designers did a terrific job turning an otherwise desolate stretch of waterfront into a gorgeous public space. Its location in West Harlem might at first seem inaccessible, but it’s only about a ten-minute walk from the 145th Street stop on the #1 train.

Earl Monroe’s drew a reasonably favorable Diner’s Journal piece from Frank Bruni in the Times. Later on, Earl Monroe severed his relationship with the owners, and they renamed the restaurant River Room. It’s on something like the third chef in two years, clearly not a sign of success.

The photo on the website (right) leads you to expect a bustling crowd. The reality (above) is quite a different thing. On a Friday night, the place was practically empty. It’s open only four nights a week. There is live jazz on Friday and Saturday nights (for which there is a $5 surcharge), but it’s not a draw.

The location isn’t the problem. A couple of weeks ago, we visited Hudson River Cafe, also located on the riverbank in Harlem, also offering have live music on Friday nights. It was packed. River Room is actually closer to the subway than Hudson River Cafe, but it’s a ghost town. The reason, I suspect, is that the food just isn’t that good. Frankly, the jazz was mediocre too.

The website describes the cuisine as as “a unique fusion of Southern, Caribbean, Latin and African influences.” It is rare that a chef trying to do so many things will produce a memorable result. Usually, it just seems like the chef can’t make up his mind.

 
Deep-fried oysters (left); Deep-fried calamari (right)

We hadn’t planned it, but both my girlfriend and I ordered deep-fried appetizers: calamari for her ($8), oysters for me ($9, as I recall). The kitchen is skilled with the deep fryer. Breading wasn’t overbearing, nor was either dish overly greasy. The oysters were great,  but the calamari came lukewarm.

Caribbean Crab Cakes (left); Mexican Spiced Duck (right)

My girlfriend’s Caribbean Crab Cakes ($21) seemed to have been deep-fried, and on their own would have been just about perfect. But they came swimming in a gloppy cole slaw that was drowned in mayonaise. Mexican Spiced Duck ($24) seemed neither Mexican nor spicy to me. It was over-cooked, though partly rehabilitated by a nice layer of crisp fat. It came on a bed of braised collard greens, which were almost inedible.

The restaurant has neither a wine list nor a beverage menu, a peculiar omission that almost certainly dampens alcohol sales. When we asked about wine, our server recited a list of two reds and five whites, and steered us to a very respectable Sauvignon Blanc at $34.

I’ve seen a lot of message board posts taking River Room to task for poor service, but we didn’t have that issue at all. Actually, we found our server quite helpful and professional. We felt rather sorry for the guy: with the place so empty, his tip income can’t be very good.

The space is attractive, and though not really apparent from the photos, the seating is quite comfortable. The view takes center stage, and while I know the old adage about restaurants with views, there’s no reason why the food couldn’t be better. With some more focus in the kitchen, this could be one of Manhattan’s truly romantic getaways. But until they bring in Chef #4, I won’t be going back.

River Room (145th Street west of Riverside Drive, at Riverbank State Park, West Harlem)

Food: Mediocre
Service: *
Ambiance: *½
Overall: Can’t Recommend

The Payoff: Rayuela

Today, as expected, Frank Bruni awarded one star to Rayuela. Quite predictably, he found its broad geographic reach a drawback:

It’s a beautiful, fascinating, frustrating place, its cosmetic showiness echoed by dishes that are also all over the map, in terms of their appeal as well as their geographic and ethnic tethers, and in the way they throw ingredient upon ingredient and seasoning after seasoning at you. 

Both Eater and NYJ win $2 on our hypothetical $1 bets.

	Eater		NYJ
Bankroll	$39.50		$36.67
Gain/Loss	+2.00		+2.00
Total	$41.50		$38.67
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost	16–4		14–6

Rolling the Dice: Rayuela

Every week, we take our turn with Lady Luck on the BruniBetting odds as posted by Eater. Just for kicks, we track Eater’s bet too, and see who is better at guessing what the unpredictable Bruni will do. We track our sins with an imaginary $1 bet every week.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews Rayuela, with its “Estilo Libre Latino” cuisine on the Lower East Side. The Eater oddsmakers have established the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 4-1
One Star: 2-1 √√
Two Stars: 6-1
Three Stars: 75-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1

The Skinny: I’ve given zero thought to this restaurant. With casual restaurants like Reyuela, the Bruni X-Factor can never be discounted—that is, his willingness to give two stars to practically anything. But I’ve heard nothing to suggest Rayuela is such a restaurant. The rather long menu and wide geographical range of its cuisine will probably work against it.

The Bet: We agree with Eater that Frank Bruni will award one star to Rayuela.

Gilt

Note: This is a review of Gilt under chef Christopher Lee, who left the restaurant at the end of 2008 to take over at Aureole. Gilt closed in late 2012. A new restaurant from French chef Michel Richard is expected to replace it, sometime in 2013.

*

Gilt was one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings of the 2005 season. The chef, enfant-terrible Paul Liebrandt, delivered a menu that lived on danger’s edge. It was at times dazzling, and probably exceeded the legal limit for ingredients per square inch. In the Times, Frank Bruni wasn’t wowed, awarding two stars.

I was a little more enthusiastic than Bruni, and awarded three stars. Yet, I can see why Gilt v1.0 ran into problems. Much as I appreciated what Liebrandt was doing, I wasn’t dying to try it again. I suspect others felt the same. And no restaurant can survive solely on first-time visitors. I also suspect that in that neighborhood, and in the same space that once hosted Le Cirque, a more conservative style was called for.

In late 2006, Chris Lee replaced Paul Liebrandt. Prices, though still expensive, were reduced somewhat. The three-course prix fixe that was $92 under Liebrandt now sells for $78. A seven-course tasting menu that was once $160 is now $135, and there is also a five-course tasting menu for $105. Bruni was more impressed with Gilt v2.0, though it received only a “Dining Brief,” not a full re-review.

Last week, I took a friend to Gilt for her birthday dinner. Truth be told, I was planning to order the standard three-course menu so that I could try Lee’s best known dish, the Tuna Wellington. But my friend rather liked the five-course tasting menu line-up ($105), and as it was her evening, that’s what we ordered, along with the sommelier’s wine pairing ($65).

This was the menu:

Wild Japanese Hamachi Sashimi
Watermelon “Margarita”, Cucumber, Jicama, Anise Hyssop Dressing

Soft Shell Blue Crab
Sweet Yellow Corn, Avocado, Lime Crème Fraîche, Spicy Tomato Broth

Crispy Black Bass
Piperade with Chorizo, Red Bliss Potatoes, Garlic Aioli, Saffron Mussel Broth

Smoked Prime Beef Tenderloin
Creamed Corn, Pickled Vegetables, Pancetta, Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Chocolate Ice Cream Cones
Peanut Butter Chocolate, Mint Chocolate, Banana Brownie

There was a consistent quality level that could almost be called dull. I liked everything we tried, without loving any of it. There wasn’t any “wow,” but there were no duds either. Most tasting menus I’ve tried have a wider variety of extremes, both good and bad. This was a menu that could have offended no one. The smoked tenderloin was particularly good, and that is somewhat unusual at this type of restaurant. The wines, too, seemed to be chosen for their ability to blend with just about any diner’s sensibilities.

The early courses came out a bit too quickly. My friend and I are both fast drinkers, but when the third glass (of six) arrived, we hadn’t yet finished the first or the second. To their credit, when we asked them to slow down, they did. That point aside, the service was as professional and seamless as you’d expect for a restaurant in Gilt’s price range.

While I would have preferred a bit more sense of adventure in Lee’s choices, clearly he was hired as the conservative antidote to Paul Liebrandt, and he appears to have given Gilt’s owners what they wanted.

Gilt (455 Madison Avenue at 50th Street in the Palace Hotel, East Midtown)

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

Staghorn Steakhouse

I’m on a mission to try all of the steakhouses in town. The other day, it was Staghorn Steakhouse’s turn.

Before I even tasted a morsel, I was struck by the austere décor. Frank Bruni (on his blog) thought that it was built on-the-cheap. I took it as a considered decision to break out of steakhouse clichés, and I’m glad they did. The blonde wood floors, white walls, and generously spaced tables made the space feel more relaxing than most other restaurants of its kind.

Service, however, was right out of the steakhouse playbook. Bread rolls were cold and stale. When I asked about wines by the glass, the waiter blurted out a list of grapes (merlot, shiraz, cabernet, pinot noir, chianti), but there was no printed list so that you’d know which shiraz they were serving. No other restaurant in its price range would be so cavalier about wines, but nearly all steakhouses seem to do it.

The meat entrées were the usual items, at the usual prices. I ordered the prime bone-in ribeye ($36), which was nicely charred and a perfect medium rare, but not quite as tender as some other ribeyes I’ve enjoyed, and marred by gristle in a couple of spots. I don’t hold the restaurant entirely accountable for this, as these days there are too many buyers chasing not enough beef. The server informed me that the steak was aged on-site for 28 days, which seemed believable.

The seafood menu (though I didn’t sample it) looked a bit better than some other steakhouses, including a Dover Sole and a Grilled Whole Branzini.

The restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded, although on a Thursday night in mid-August I wouldn’t draw any conclusions. However, the location isn’t in its favor. I’ve walked by a number of times, and it never seemed full. As Eater noted, Staghorn probably does good business before Knick and Ranger games. I don’t know if that’s enough to stay in business, but as it’s on my way home, I’ll probably be back.

On the strength of one visit, Staghorn Steakhouse seems a notch below the city’s better steakhouses, but it’s certainly respectable, and its calmer ambiance might be just right for some occasions.

Staghorn Steakhouse (315 W. 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, West Midtown)

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

Posto Thin Crust Pizza

 

Yesterday wasn’t much fun, as my girlfriend was at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases having shoulder surgery. (She’s doing just fine, but it’s a painful operation.) The day’s lone bright spot was lunch at Posto Thin Crust Pizza.

I can’t compare Posto to other places, as I don’t eat pizza on a regular basis—my waistline just won’t tolerate all those carbs and calories. But if I were a pizza guy, I have to think that Posto would be near the top of my list. A number of other bloggers evidently think so (Mona’s Apple, Lulu Loves Manhattan), and it’s had good write-ups in New York and the Village Voice. The folks at 10best.com rate Posto the city’s 10th-best pizzeria.

The rustic décor festures a tile floor, wooden tables, exposed brick, and a low tin ceiling. There is also outdoor seating in the summertime. Service was just fine, but I was there at an odd hour, so it wasn’t very busy. They deliver anywhere between Fifth Avenue and the East River, from 14th–26th Streets. The same team also own Gruppo on Avenue B between 11th and 12th Streets, and Vezzo at 31st & Lex, both with substantially the same menu.

The main event here is thin-crust pizza, which means crust the thickness and crispness of a Ritz cracker. You can start with a 9-inch ($6) or 16-inch pie ($12) and choose your toppings ($1.00–2.50 each for the smaller size, $2–5 for the larger). Or, you can choose from one of the special house pies ($9–11 in the small size, $18–22 in the large). There are also salads and appetizers ($5–12). Iced tea and lemonade are home-made, and I counted around a dozen wines by the glass.

I chose a pizza called The Big Pineapple ($10 in the personal size), which comes with marinara sauce & cheese, fresh pineapples, fresh tomatoes, smoked bacon, and fresh basil. It had a fresh, lively taste, and thanks to the thin crust, I didn’t feel over-stuffed after I’d finished it. The thin-crust pizza cooks quickly too, so I wasn’t kept waiting for very long.

Posto is pretty far away from my usual stomping grounds, but I’d gladly go back if I’m ever in the neighborhood again.

Posto (310 Second Avenue at 18th Street, Gramercy/Stuyvesant Square)

Food: ★
Service: ★
Ambiance: ★
Overall: ★