Landmarc at the Time-Warner Center
On a recent Sunday evening, a friend and I dropped in on Landmarc at the Time-Warner Center.
In a neighborhood where most of the food is extremely expensive, Landmarc remains one of the few places where two people can dine under three figures. Not that it’s easy, even here: most of the entrées, other than salads, are north of $25. Steaks can take you close to $40. Appetizers hover around $15. Still, if there’s such a thing as inexpensive dining at Columbus Circle, this is it.
Now in middle age, by restaurant standards, Landmarc has grown lazy. Chef/owner Marc Murphy, once a pioneer of casual upscale dining, is content to trot out an unchallenging and unchanging menu. You find it (the menu) when you sit down, folded neatly on top of your napkin. But unlike years past, they can’t even be bothered to print fresh ones. Those at our table were dog-eared and torn.
The food was routine and forgettable: a Mediterranean Salad (above left); frisée aux lardons (above right), both $19 in entree-size portions. Competent, nothing more.
If anything saves Landmarc from a demotion to no stars, it’s the wine list, with seven pages of half-bottles, an amenity very few restaurants offer. We took advantage of it to share one half-bottle (we were going to the movies, and wanted to remain alert). It works equally well for solo diners or those who want to sample more of the list.
Now if only Marc Murphy were serving food as interesting.
Landmarc at the Time-Warner Center (10 Columbus Circle, 3rd floor)
Food (and especially Wine): *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *