Three restaurants, three (four?) wines

[marcs]

So I kind of splurged in Manhattan this holiday weekend, attending two operas and three excellent restaurants with friends. If you haven't visited recently, Manhattan feels all the way back post-Covid -- the streets are thronged, restaurants are humming, the feeling is festive, and about the only difference service-wise seems to be that a lot of high end restaurants have not added back their lunch seatings. I review it all below:

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill (Columbus Circle) -- a fun place offering excellent sushi along with other fun comfort foods like fried chicken, ribs, bone marrow, fried rice etc. (in case you didn't get enough cholesterol from your sushi). A very chill and relaxed atmosphere. Food is good and every bit up to New York standards (i.e. in DC it would be great but in NYC it's just solid). Prices NY standard too (i.e. high). The sushi was particularly good, had some sensational salmon sashimi. Good for relaxed pre-theatre dining.

They offer an extensive Sake list and excellent service on it -- when you express interest in one they give you a small taste so you can see if you want to order a full serving. Very nice for Westerners not familiar with particular Sakes. We settled on Seikyo Omachi Junmai Ginjo (https://www.jotosake.com/wp-content/upl ... omachi.pdf), which is moderately priced at retail. I question whether Sake is truly 'wine' in that it lacks the full complexity you get from fermented grapes and has some of that underlying high-carb thickness of beer. But whatever you call it this was very enjoyable -- refreshing, very easy drinking, and a perfect combination of sweetness and citric freshness along with a satisfying depth. A great match with sushi of course. Will seek out some in the future.

However, I was scanning the wine list as well and along with a lot of overpriced usual suspects spotted the 2019 Foillard Cote de Py at $105, a reasonable markup of a bit over 2x on retail. Not a bargain exactly but an opportunity to hang out with the wine in a restaurant setting. I find Foillard reliably good and this was no exception. The nose in particular was absolutely wonderful, Burgundy level stuff, vivid, floral, fresh, with a raspberry Beaujolais note but too much chewing gum or anything. The palate was tart, tangy, and balanced, not showing the fruity southern rhone-type exoticism that this wine can have in hot vintages. Excellent food match.

La Grenouille - always wanted to try this famous French restaurant in midtown and it did not disappoint! Just an absolute blast from the service you get on walking in, to the amazing look of the room, to the food, to the entertainment. I said the previous restaurant was "fun" and this one was too, but it was fun on a far higher and more hedonistic level. It didn't have any of the somber, solemn aspect that occasionally attends to "fine dining" in the US, this place was all about pleasure. That starts with the room, which is just gorgeous and joyful -- flower arrangements everywhere, a beautiful pink and salmon/red color scheme, plush velvet couches around many of the tables. The room has not been changed since the 1960s (although it is in perfect condition) and you really could be walking into a time warp from the Kennedy era. The menu is equally hedonistic, full of classic fun French dishes ranging from frogs legs to Dover Sole and lots of sauteed foie gras added on to the main courses -- nothing too elaborate but perfectly executed and delicious. Then there are a dozen flavors of delicious souffles for dessert. Not sure how the food compares to the most cutting-edge stuff but I would say this is a level of execution in French food I have not found in DC. Also have to say the dress code (jackets required for men) really added to the vibe as well, as everyone was dressed up and there was none of the slob factor one sometimes gets in U.S. restaurants. (Not trying to be a snob here as I am often one of those slobs LOL).

Then the entertainment kicked it up to another level around 9 PM -- they have a very good jazz combo ('ordinary' musicians in NYC are at a higher level than in any other city I have been to outside of New Orleans), that starts off with a campy but highly enjoyable show by the owner, who looks like something out of a Rat Pack documentary. (Here is an interview about his act, the photo of him definitely gives the feel -- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/dini ... e-nyc.html). After he camps it up for a bit an actually skilled and beautiful French chanteuse comes on to raise the heat some more (here she is -- https://www.naimapohler.com/singer). Overall this was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I have had in many years, with a price to match LOL.

The wine list is extensive and excellent (although very pricey), but they allow BYOB so I brought a bottle of 2014 Boillot Puligny Clos de Moucheres ($100 corkage, but still cheaper than the list markups!). It was very good but possibly my expectations were a bit high. This bottle was drinking a bit young to me, very crisp and with a fine edge to it, but the oak was still in evidence and it hadn't relaxed with age enough to reveal more complexity. Definitely very far from pre-moxed!

Quality Meats -- Finished things up with a leisurely solo lunch at a classic midtown steakhouse. Have to say this place 100% lives up to the name. I didn't fuck around with anything but the aforesaid quality meats, combining a steak tartare appetizer with a NY strip main, along with creamed corn prepared creme brulee style (such a simple and fun idea I'm surprised it isn't more common). No, I couldn't eat for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. The NY strip was notable for being perfectly prepared -- I asked for it medium, which a lot of restaurants screw up, but they did it just right, red and warm in the middle with all the nice fatty gristly bits on the outside seared perfectly so they were edible. Pretty standard NY steakhouse prices but a nice menu with all you could want on it and as I said well prepared. The inside was dark, quiet, and relaxing despite plenty of patrons, and they let you hang out for as long as you want.

The wine list was a decent steakhouse wine list but had the standard steakhouse problem that the wines by the glass and less expensive bottles tend to be sort of lame mass produced names or excessively alcoholic Napa wines, while the best bottles are too marked up. I was tempted by a 2016 Giscours at $190, but I knew couldn't handle the full bottle by myself and couldn't really justify $190 for a 'check in' on a wine I knew would almost certainly be too young. The reds by the glass were all pretty meh (there was a Ridge Three Valleys at $18/glass but -- shhhhh -- I don't actually like Ridge zins that much) so I got a 2018 Flowers Chardonnay Sonoma Coast. Also unfairly priced at $26/glass but this was mitigated by very large pours, like a quarter of a bottle per glass. I have to say that I really enjoyed this wine. It was sweet and hedonistic yes, notably sweeter than most Burgundy, but it had a subtle acidic/mineral edge to it that offset the sweetness just enough that it wasn't cloying and you could really enjoy it. Just a very fun wine to drink, and a perfect match with the corn. I'll have to try another sometime - I may have found myself a palatable mass-produced California chardonnay! I have to say, the 2014 Boillot Puligny the previous night was better in an absolute sense but in no way was it better in a QPR sense -- the retail value now is like 6x or 7x the Flowers and it wasn't anything like that differential in terms of the experience. I generally find that the differentials between white wines of different price points in terms of enjoyability are not as great as they are with reds, and I think I have to start putting this into practice more, as White Burgundy is really insanely expensive.

[jal]

Cool, we were also in NYC this past weekend.
Blue Ribbon Columbus is five minutes away from our condo. I haven't been in a couple of years but it is as you described. I like Blue Ribbon Sushi and Izakaya in Soho for more varied fare
We almost went to Quality Meats last month but settled on Benoit, we wouls have probably been better off with either Quality Meats or La Grenouille.
We went to a fun Greek place in Flatiron called Kyma. Decent seafood, insane prices, high markup on wine (a Gaia 2021 Assyrtiko for $120!!) I find restaurant prices in the US are now out of control.
Did you drink the chardonnay with the steak tartare and strip?

[marcs]

Your response reminds me that I should probably let the board know when I'm going to be in NYC for any length of time.

I did have the Flowers Chardonnay with the strip steak. No it didn't "match" but it didn't clash whatsoever either, it remained yummy next to the steak. Whites are often reliable that way.

La Grenouille was an absolute blast, in another level from the other two restaurants I described, but also a lot more expensive.

All the restaurants were really good, but I had to rank them for enjoyment I'd probably say La Grenouille in first by a good amount, then Quality Meats, then Blue Ribbon Columbus. But they were all good

[jal]

We were only there for the weekend and dogsitting for our daughter's pooch.
Chardonnay with steak is fine, Bordeaux with oysters is just weird hahaha

[jal]

At the beginning of the century La Grenouille and La Côte Basque were among the top French restaurants in the city, Benoit replaced La Côte Basque and though owned by Alain Ducasse, it is more upscale bistro fare than high end restaurant. Thank you for your review. We'll try La Grenouille next time we want to splurge.

[JimHow]

Are they still requiring face masks at the Met, Marcus?
Hoping to get to La Traviata and/or La Boheme in the spring.

[marcs]

Are they still requiring face masks at the Met, Marcus?
Hoping to get to La Traviata and/or La Boheme in the spring.

No face masks! It’s awesome and totally open. I wasn’t asked to wear face masks anywhere in NY. I’d suggest getting your tickets early though, maybe because it was holiday week but the Met was almost sold out. I saw Aida (the old warhorse production which is great but incredibly long) and the Julie Taymor family-friendly Magic Flute which was absolutely delightful

[DavidG]

Wow what a great enthusiastic write-up! I want to go!

[Jay Winton]

We were in NYC over Thanksgiving and I agree the city is rockin'. Our group enjoyed a visit to Birdland to see their house big band. Sitting at the bar watching music is something I've really missed-glad they were able to survive. Our visit to the Grand Central Oyster Bar was another highlight. NYC wine lists remain their high markups.