Gray and Grizzled Food Fan

1) Low-key high quality service: I’ve rarely felt so warmly welcomed when entering a high-end restauarant without reservation or plan. The front of house gently steered me to a small plates menu and a great seat overlooking the dining room. Well timed course delivery rather than typical Chinese restaurant approach made for an elegant hourlong mini-dinner rather than a rushed cramfest.

2) Composed Cheese Plate: Artisanal has a bigger selection. Picholine has better cheese trolley theater. John Johnson simply has the best palate for cheese pairings in the city. Each offering is a miniature dessert composition consisting of three or so perfectly harmonized elements. Epoisses with apple strudel and walnuts and an easygoing goat with blueberry and cured lemon were two favorites.

3) Oyster platter: It’s easy to get spoiled by oyster service in high end restaurants. It’s even easier to get spoiled when they come with a perfect stippling of acidity in the form of a mustard vinaigrette and a grace note of color and flavor contrast thanks to a just so chervil leaf.

4) Cocktail craftsmanship: Much remarked on mixology continues to be a draw at Town. Everything made in house except the rigorously curated liquors. Surprisingly well-priced and unpretentious. I was particularly taken by the Hendrick’s gin drink with its lovely citrus and cucumber elements. I would happily have had several more if a late night dinner reservation hadn’t been looming.

5) The rest of the menu: A great mini-meal like I had at Town makes me want to poke around the rest of the menu. I don’t want all the answers in a single session. Even an epic tasting menu should leave room and reason for a return. A small plates meal should prove that much more enticing. It did.

This entry was posted on June 26, 2007 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Midtown. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.