The GOTHAM BAR and GRILL, A special dining delight!
Written: Jul 07 '04 (Updated Oct 17 '05)
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Pros: Excellent service and some items were the best we have ever experienced.
Cons: Reservations can be difficult for dinner on short notice.
The Bottom Line: Be sure to reserve a table early, perhaps a few weeks in advance.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Gotham Bar and Grill |
My wife and I took a few days to visit NYC last week. We were fortunate enough to be in during the NYC Restaurant Week. This is when the usually hard to get into and often expensive eateries open their doors to all offering Prix Fixe Lunch and sometimes dinner. We were able to get a reservation at the Gotham Bar and Grill for lunch just one day in advance. From what we have heard it is usually a two week in advance call to acquire a dinner reservation.
We were in mid-town and took the subway down to Union Square. That put us just two blocks away from this 12th Street restaurant that has a wonderful reputation for fine foods and service. The restaurants celebrity chef, Alfred Portale is known worldwide for his Contemporary American Cuisine. He studied with the best both here in the states and in France after graduating as #1 from the Culinary School of America.
He is considered as one of the very first chefs to combine unusual food combinations and set them in artistic presentations, some of which seem to reach for the stars.
The ATMOSPHERE
Walking into this unpretentious restaurant you immediately realize the chef/partners artistic skills that are apparent in the restaurants decor. The room is open and well lighted. It is not cozy, however there are many little nooks and crannies where more intimate dining can be had.
A comfortable banquette serves as the seating for much of the restaurant. The floors are wood with a worn stencil-like pattern throughout. The ceiling is quite high and high intensity spot lights are pointed down through large drape wrapped lighting fixtures that diffused the rays. Your eye is drawn to these fixtures as soon as you enter the door. A NYC touch of an eight to ten foot tall Statue of Liberty holds the attention on one side of the large room that is balanced by a marble top bar on the other side.
Concrete molded forms, caps, and urns, as may be found on the top of walls in a park, help divide the room into more intimate spaces.
The full front window is balanced by the clear floor to ceiling windows in the back of the restaurant that opens up to a hidden backyard garden. An automated shade system opens and closes to change the lighted atmosphere of the restaurant. Part of the back area is elevated making the restaurant a multi-level room. The beautifully tiled and styled rest rooms are downstairs. I do not know if there is elevator service there. These rest rooms alone are worth a visit to this restaurant.
The wait staff was very quick to our table and knowledgeable answering all the questions my wife had. Our gal was very businesslike but immediately warmed up with a smile at some of our small talk. She did suggest some particular items that she felt were very worth trying.
This is one of the very few restaurants in the city where when you leave your seat and place the cloth napkin on the table, the staff is quick to refold it and put it in its proper place. Though you get this service you do not have help hovering over you. They are discreet, yet attentive.
All dishes and service was to the left of the diner and always served one item at a time.
The white table cloths were accented with small flower arrangements.
The PRIX FIXE MENU
We were somewhat limited in choice when ordering from the Prix Fixe menu however the offerings were still superb. Though the establishment has an extensive wine list and a full cocktail bar we opted for the recommended Litchi-Lime Cooler. It was an unbelievably refreshing drink with a taste that was quite unique. It is served in a very tall stemmed glass with very thin slices of lime rings decorating the perimeter of the interior of the glass. The beautiful presentation and the lime combined with the Litchi fruit taste was wonderful.
The Prix Fixe price was $20.12. This is an absolute steal! They also happen to offer a Prix Fixe every Mon-Fri 12-2:30PM year round. It's an offer you can't refuse. Dinner prices are much higher and no Prix Fixe there.
The Prix Fixe offered the Gotham Caesar Salad Garlic (Croutons and Anchovy Vinaigrette) or Gotham Soup (Composed Daily).
We both chose the Salad that was given to us as a square presentation. All the Romaine lettuce was crisp and placed as a rectangle on a square plate. The croutons were excellent and the flavor of the dressing perfect. My wife commented and said this was the best Caesar salad she had ever eaten!
The entrees were a choice of either Roast Atlantic Salmon (Israeli Couscous and Grilled Vegetables) or Orecchiette with Duck Sausage (Broccolli and Parmesan Reggiano).
Again we both chose the same, the Orecchiette, and once again we were thrilled with a unique experience. The flavors and textures were wonderful, the sausage excellent and the broccoli perfectly cooked.
The dessert was labeled simply as Chocolate Cake (Served Warm with Sour Cream Ice Cream) or Selections of Sorbets (Composed Daily). We had the Chocolate Cake.
Oh MY!! This was a flavor of chocolate better than anything I have ever experienced! It was a dark chocolate taste and the consistency of the "cake" was more like a mousse but was presented as a slice that had body to it. My wife and I smiled at each other with every taste of this unbelievably delicious dessert.
The two wines, by the glass, suggested for these lunches that day were 2002 Muscadet. Luc Choblet. Loire Valley, France $8.00 or 2001 Lavrados de Feitoria "Tres Bagos". Douro, Portugal $8.00. Our suggested choice of the Litchi _Lime cooler with Vodka was $8.00, $4.50 without.
LUNCH MENU
Though we were limited in our selection the regular menu was quite varied and interesting. Items like Warm Mushroom Salad, $14, Goat Cheese Ravioli, $14.50 Chicken, Foie Gras, and Morel Terrine, $16.50 Grilled Octopus, $16. and Yellow Tuna Tartare, $15 all sounded wonderful as a first course.
The second course offered Seared Sweet Prawns, $20, Black Sea Bass, $21, Sweet Shrimp Risotto, $20, Grilled Lamb Sausage, $18.50, Roast Chicken Breast, $18.50 or Grilled Hangar Steak with Crisp Potatoes, Spinach and Roasted Garlic Custard $22.50
We saw some of these plates being served and each was a work of art. The chef works magic with the menu items.
Desserts were Chocolate Almond Tart, $11. Rhubarb Tasting, $11, Cherries "Jubilee", $10.50 Strawberry Meringue Tart, $11, Duo Cream Brulees, $9.50, The Chocolate Cake $9.50, A stone Fruit Cup that offered Peach, Nectarine, and Plum Jus with Ginger Ice Cream, $11, and a few other items.
These are all prepared under the guidance of their pastry chef, Deborah Racicot.
DINNER
The dinner menu has many of the same first course lunch items with a few extras. The second course offered much more like Maine Lobster, $44, Atlantic Halibut, $34 Grilled Saddle of Rabbit, $35, Snake Rivers Farms Pork, $33, Grilled New York Steak, $37, Duck Breast "Chinoise", $42, Roast Squab, $36.00, and a raved about and suggested Rack of Lamb, $37.
Everything chef Alfred Portale had on his menu sounded terrific. The desserts once again are much like what was offered for lunch.
Many different kinds of coffees and Black Leaf and Herbal teas are listed on the menu. all about $4.
IN CLOSING
I'm not sure I will ever pay the full price for the items offered in this restaurant, quite simply they are out of my usual price paid for lunch and dinner. I am happy that they do offer the Prix Fixe all year round and I will be able to return to another wonderful culinary experience at this fine establishment without having to wait for next years NYC Restaurant Week. "I shall return!"
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Nearby Accommodations
W Hotel Union Square
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Must have the Chocolate Cake. It''s like nothing you have ever before tasted!
Best Suited For: Trendy Crowd
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