A Valentine's Celebration at Gilt

Gilt

(51st Street and Madison Avenue)

Hubby-to-be (H2B) and I recently enjoyed a delayed Valentine's Day celebration at Gilt.  Gilt is a proud recipient of 2 Michelin stars, which only 5 other restaurants in the city have equal rights to brag about.  It is also located in New York's Palace Hotel, which is one of the ritziest and most finely-decorated hotels I've seen in this town.  Needless to say, the Michelin star rating and overall classiness of the hotel set the bar high for this fine dining experience!

 

Taken on my iPhone from the outside of Gilt, looking down onto the lobby of the hotel

 Love the chandelier and grand pillars

We had a reservation for 7pm on a Saturday night.  In order to get to Gilt, one walks through the hotel bar... a very interestingly decorated bar, to be exact.  It's hard to describe the theme but it has a spiky igloo apparatus sticking out from it.  A large wooden door separated the outside bar from Gilt, and we walked through it and were seated promptly.  The ambience was striking and reminded me of being in a castle tower!  Dark wood panelings covered all the walls, and a dark red light cast a glow over the restaurant.  I felt like a queen, and H2B was my king!  A very austere-looking medieval painting adorned the main wall.  I was definitely impressed by the ambience and decor of this restaurant, particularly the way the dark wood and red glow came together.  It was slightly eerie but also incredibly romantic.  It definitely gave me a feeling that no other restaurant has evoked before, so I am giving the decor/ambience rating a 5 out of 5!

 Taken from Gilt's website

H2B and I went with the 5 course tasting menu for $110 per person.  I had a glass of Malbec (my new favorite wine alongside Pinot Noir!) and my manly man had a Manhattan.  Service was only so-so for a high-end restaurant.  The waiters weren't as attentive as they should have been and one in particular was too grouchy-looking.  Patronage was overall older, but actually young compared to the other fine dining establishments I've eaten at.  We saw 2 other couples that were also in their twenties/thirties, and I'd say overall most people were in their forties and fifties.  Sidenote: I prefer to dine at restaurants with older people... the older, the better.  People in their sixties and beyond are quieter, better dressed, extremely refined, and know where all the good food is!  When I'm surrounded by older people, I know I've found a gem of a restaurant.  What can I say, I'm 24 going on 42!

So back to the story.  Our 5 course tasting menu began with an amuse bouche... can't remember what on earth it was (something involving a blueberry?), but it was AWFUL.  The worst amuse bouche I've ever eaten.  Blech.  This set the tone of the meal rather awfully, but fortunately it got much better from there.  By the way, another criterion of mine in determining a good Western restaurant is the selection and quality of bread.  Is bread served warm?  If so, the restaurant earns major points with me.  Do they serve at least three to five unique varieties of bread?  If so, wonderful!!!  Butter over olive oil?  Perfecto!  There's not really much in life I enjoy more than a warm sourdough roll slathered in top-of-the-line French butter.  :)  Gilt had a wonderful array of breads, including sourdough, whole grain, lemon tart, and apple cinnamon.  My favorite part was when the waiter asked me what bread I wanted and after I chose sourdough, he said "And?"  I don't think any waiter has ever asked me that before.  Nothing makes me happier than ordering 2 pieces of bread from the get go!  I loved the sourdough roll.  The lemon bread was tasty as well but I just didn't want to be eating something sweet with dinner.  By the way, the best bread rolls belong to Daniel.  I remember the waiter there carried around a tray of approximately 8 types of bread!  Amazing.

The remainder of our meal consisted of - 

First course: Spot prawns (avocado, coconut, pomelo, and aji amarillo).  Very delicious, but each "prawn" was more like a circle of one-inch in diameter.  TINY. 

Second course: Some sort of bass.  TASTY.  I don't know what sauce they put on the fish but it was extremely delicious.  Again, a small portion.

Third course: Veal sweetbreads.  WOW.  This was my first time ever eating sweetbreads, and let me tell you, it's not anything to do with breads.  Rather, sweetbreads are... wait for it... the thymus (throat) of a baby cow.  It sounds gross, but was actually really yummy!  They are served in little bite sized circular morsels, and funnily enough, they actually tasted sweet.  Who knew?  In this case, I was appreciative of the smaller portions.  I don't know how much sweetbreads I could have eaten (they are rather rich).

Fourth course: Ribeye.  With a name like "Ribeye," I was expecting a slab of steak to be served to us.  I was hoping for the sake of my pride (I did pick out the restaurant) that ONE dish out of the entire tasting menu would be served in a normal size portion to keep my fiance full.  But that was not to be.  The "ribeye" was served to us in 4 inch long by 1 inch wide sliver of beef.  It was cooked nicely (medium), but left much to be desired.  This was the most unoriginal course of the meal for me.
Intermezzo: Palate cleanser consisting of dipping dot style ice cream in Asian flavors. 

Five course: Chocolate panna cotta. Another blah dish.  I don't go to fancy restaurants to be served with panna cotta for dessert!  :(  I would have rathered something more creative that would show off the chef's skills a bit more.

The meal ended with a platter of 5 different types of bite-sized petit fours and mini chocolates, as well as chocolate and gold-covered almonds.  

Overall, I would say the gothic ambience and decor was one of the best of any restaurant I've been to.  It was certainly the most memorable and emotive.  Service was nothing to write home about.  Half of the dishes were very good, but the other half were only so-so.  Portions were teeny tiny for the price - not so worth it.  I was full at the end of the night but probably mostly due to all the water/wine/tea I imbibed as well as the 3.5 sourdough rolls I consumed!

Fun fact: Before Gilt was housed in the Palace Hotel, Le Cirque actually occupied that exact space.  How coincidental, as we just had dinner at the new Le Cirque 2 weeks ago!

M-Stars:

Decor/ambience: 5 out of 5!  Stunning.

Food: 3 out of 5 (some dishes were excellent, others only slightly above average; portions were laughably small)

Service: 2.5 out of 5 (not as impressive as one might expect from a 2 Michelin star restaurant)

Value: 3 out of 5 (even as a staunch believer in quality over quantity, I was a bit shocked by the tiny portions... thank heavens for the bread rolls)

"It" factor: 3.5 out of 5 (loved the ambience, but one visit was enough for us)

M&M's overall satisfaction: 3 out of 5

Bottom-line: Gilt is a great place to go if you want to be moved by its overall atmosphere, and if you prefer above-average quality over quantity.  One visit was enough for us, and at least now we can say we've been to Chuck Bass' (Gossip Girls) home!

Restaurant Week at Le Cirque

Hello readers!!!  I am back after an almost 2 week hiatus.  Work has been busy and this month has been craaaaaaaawling by at a snail's pace.  Apparently February is the shortest month of the year but it sure as heck doesn't feel like it!!

Now, although I've been busy at work during the week, that doesn't mean I haven't found the time and opportunity to eat!  I've mentioned several times already that I LOVE living in Midtown East.  Not only is my apartment ultra-close to 3 subway lines, but it's also within walking distance to so many wonderful haute French restaurants.  French food is without a doubt one of my top three favorite cuisines (my other two favorites being Japanese and Chinese [and all its variations], since I can't live without rice!) - there simply isn't a better combination than the top quality food and top notch service inherently found at most classy French restaurants.  La Grenouille (53rd between Madison and 5th) and Daniel (65th between Park and Madison) are located in our neighborhood, and a recent discovery, Le Cirque (58th between 3rd and Lexington), is a stone's throw away as well!

My fiance and I headed up to Le Cirque last Friday evening for dinner.  They had extended the duration of their Restaurant Week menu, so we were lucky enough to be able to experience it.  I've tried a few restaurants during Restaurant Week (ie. Butter, Brasserie, Dos Caminos...) and although it's a wonderful concept for us middle-class folk, the food usually doesn't deliver.  Choices are minimal and unoriginal and the quality is not so good, to say the least.  In my almost 5 years of living in NYC, I can only recall 2 excellent Restaurant Week experiences I've had, and they were at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and now Le Cirque.

Le Cirque
(58th Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues)

The only negative thing I have to say about Le Cirque is that upon walking into the lobby, the receptionist directs you to a coat check section before bringing you to your seat.  Rather than wait in line to check my coat (which reminds me too much of going to a nightclub), I think it'd be much classier if they had someone at the receptionist counter take our coats for us and check them in on our behalf.  

Le Cirque is on the ground floor of a section of the Bloomberg building.  The Bloomberg building is a very unique, circular construction, and as such, the restaurant is built in the shape of a semi-circle.  The interior feels like a warm and high-class French restaurant, me likey.  :)  I can't remember what I had for an appetizer (something shrimp-based) but my fiance enjoyed his lamb shank terrine.  You can always tell when my fiance is in fine-dining mode when he starts eating reaaaaaally.... slooooooowly... in bite-sized morsels.  Usually my eating pace is half as slow as his is (eating family-style with the 3 men of his family is always a harried experience! lol) but when we are eating out at fancy joints, a mysterious sense of calm comes over him and then I'm the one who looks like Miss Piggy.  No joke.

My favorite course at Le Cirque was the entree: Berkshire pork belly.  I believe this was the second time in my whole life I'd ever had pork belly (the first time being at Casa Mono) and it was PERFECT.  Just the right amount of fat crunchiness on top, followed by braised soft texture beneath.  I know "pork belly" doesn't exactly sound the most appealing, but I guarantee you will find it has the most delectable combination of softness and crunchiness all in one.  Not in the least bit overwhelming.  Double credit goes to Le Cirque for offering something as unique as pork belly on their Restaurant Week menu.  They could have so easily followed all the other restaurants and had your standard fish and beef prime rib available.

Dessert was also a delight!  It was called "milk chocolate milles feuilles" which consisted of soft and delicious milk chocolate sandwiched between two lovely wafers, I think.  It was complemented with salted caramel ice cream and was very, VERY good.  Sweet, but not rich, which is good for me!  Hubby-to-be chose the tiramisu but he definitely preferred mine!  So what else is new?  :) 

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 4.5 out of 5 (lovely red and gold undertones made for a warm and classy dining experience... minimalist decor is so overrated these days!)
Food: 4.5 out of 5 (10/10 on the entree and dessert, but their bread rolls could have been better...)
Service: 4 out of 5 (not in the 5 star league of Jean Georges and La Grenouille)
Value: 5 out of 5 (GREAT quality 3-course meal for only $35!)
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom-line: We were HUGELY satisfied and very impressed with this meal.  Will definitely be back when I'm next in the mood for pork belly!

CNY Take #2 at Chiam

Chiam
(48th Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues)

Since 2009, it's been a tradition for my fiance, sister, her friend (let's refer to this friend as "Emma Bella") and I to get together for Chinese New Year dinner.  Last year, we went to Peking Duck House (which I just reviewed) and this year we wanted to try something new.  Emma Bella had suggested Chiam, a rather high-class establishment in Midtown East, for peking duck and overall Chinese food.  I guess he (yes, Emma Bella is a boy) had been there previously and thought it was close to nirvana for peking duck fans around the world.

Of course, being a peking duck fan, I was very keen and signed up for the dinner right away!  Between the four of us, we ordered one peking duck, one kung pao chicken, one dry sauteed string beans, and one grand marnier prawns.  According to several people on yelp and menupages, the grand marnier prawns are a must-try, so that was definitely on my radar.

The waiter brought out the roasted peking duck for our approval, and then went away to slice it up for us and roll them into pancakes.  There was no tableside carving, but that didn't bother me too much.  We each got 2 peking duck rolls... the pancakes themselves looked off.  They didn't look like normal peking duck pancakes, but more like burrito tortillas!  (I give my fiance credit on that one this time.)  They were charred and not soft like normal.  The duck inside was no better - where was the skin/fat/thinly sliced duck?  It was more like duck chunks inside.  The texture was yucky.  Plus, they had the spring onions in there which I really don't like.  I would've rathered they let us pack and roll our own peking duck.  Anyway, that was a definite bust... by far the worst peking duck I've ever tasted.  No offense, Emma Bella!!  This in no way affected my opinion of you as a friend... Haha!!

The other 3 dishes were served to us rather strangely by Chinese standards, and by that I mean not family style.  They actually divvied up the 3 entrees into 4 separate plates so we each had our own plate to eat from.  The remainder of the food was okay, but definitely not anything to write home about.  The grand marnier prawns were cooked with mayonnaise, which I've had before... but it wasn't review-worthy by any stretch of the imagination.  I was not impressed with anything regarding the meal, aside from Emma Bella's stealthy arm.  He was amazing at re-filling our tea cups from across the table without anyone noticing!  :)

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (the decor looks relatively classy, and there are private rooms near the entrance)
Food: 1 out of 5 (I don't know how this really counts as Chinese food...)
Service: 2.5 out of 5 (there were a few waiters who barely understood English)
Value: 1 out of 5 (the $40 peking duck was downright awful)
"It" factor: 0 out of 5
M&M's overall satisfaction: 1 out of 5

Bottom-line: It was really fun hanging out with friends and the overall conversation and joviality fortunately distracted from the fact that the food was terrible.  You couldn't pay me to come back here!

 

A mirror in the middle of the restaurant makes the hall look doubly long

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!  May you all have a happy and prosperous year of the tiger!

I'm sure Chinese New Year means a lot of different things to different people.  Growing up in Taiwan, I had the luxury of experiencing an authentic CNY experience for 13 years.  When my sister and I were young, our dad would buy a myriad of fireworks/firecrackers/sparklers and set them off in our backyard.  It was loud, dangerous and awesome all at the same time.  CNY also always meant angpows (red envelopes with money) would be coming our way!  That was definitely a highlight for my sister and me, and we'd often stay awake until midnight so that we could collect our angpows.  My dad would always host a CNY party at our house for his work colleagues, and every year we would cater a different kind of food.  Sometimes we did Mongolian BBQ (with the big grill and all!) and I remember one year we had Indian food (don't ask me how that makes sense...).  My dad and his buddies would always be sitting around the table playing poker and gin rummy, while the ladies would be chatting with us and our mom.  Those were fun times.  :)  As we got older, fireworks/firecrackers became illegal for purchase... but the fun didn't stop there.  Instead of obliging by the law, our driver would take us to hardware shops and after some schmoozing, the storekeepers would lead us down to their basement where whaddya know, they had a large contraband stash of firecrackers that they were happy to sell to us!  Oh, what great times we had in Taiwan.
   
In New York, celebrating Chinese New Year is a little bit tougher, especially if you're someone like me who doesn't fancy being swallowed by the crowds in Chinatown.  This is where Peking Duck House comes in.  A few friends wanted to get together for a triple-date last weekend and the only somewhat-classy Chinese restaurant I knew of stands right across the street from my apartment! 
 
Peking Duck House
(53rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)

I am highly biased to Peking Duck House because 1) I looooove peking duck - there is nothing better than stuffing roasted duck skin, cucumbers and sauce (hold the spring onions) into a delicious Chinese pancake (or as my fiance calls it, tortilla... *smacks forehead*) and 2) with "Peking Duck" as part of its name, this restaurant I assume has got to be one of the best in town for peking duck, right? 

Mmm... I can taste the skin and fat already...

 
ARGGHHHH!!!!  I just googled 'peking duck' images and this popped up on my screen!!!

 

Apparently this is what live peking ducks look like, just wandering the farms of China!  How adorable????  I had no idea real peking ducks were so... cute... I mean, this duck is smiling, for crying out loud, and doesn't have the slightest inkling about what is to hit him!  He's so white and clean... almost like a little swan or goose.  AWWW... I am feeling quite a bit guilty at the moment, I must admit. 
 

Anyway, Peking Duck House was great.  We ordered the set menu which is basically around $30 per person and you get appetizers, soup, one peking duck for the entire party, plus 4 entrees and rice.  Really quite a good deal!  The peking duck was sooo good... too bad we only got 2 rolls each though, since we had 6 people.  (I recommend going with a small party so that you get to eat more!)  Haha.

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (classier than anything you'd ever find in Chinatown)
Food: 4 out of 5 (peking duck is to die for... although the accompanying entrees are only so-so on average, depending on what you order.  Must admit that the non-Asian people in our group wanted to order the General Tso's chicken and orange beef - these ended up being better than the 'authentic' Chinese dishes, believe it or not!)
Service: 3 out of 5
Value: 3 out of 5
"It" factor: 3.5 out of 5 (the peking duck is the "it" factor!)
M&M's overall satisfaction: 3 out of 5

Bottom-line: The peking duck is spectacular for NY standards, and the $30 set meal comes with all the bells and whistles.  We will be back next Chinese New Year!

After dinner, we all went our separate ways and my fiance and I ended up at Bill's Gay Nineties pub, on East 54th Street.  I am a huge fan of live music (especially of the Frank Sinatra/jazz variety) and I was thrilled to find that there was a bar with live music a few blocks away from our apartment.  Sidenote: I looooooove living in Midtown East!!!!  Best neighborhood ever.  I will never leave until we move out of NYC.  :)

We had a great time.  We were only two of maybe six patrons, so the pianist/singer wasn't playing all that much music at the beginning.  Everyone was scared off by the upcoming snowstorm, we think.  Once he did start to play though, he was incredible.  He performed "Your Song" by Elton John, and several songs by Frank Sinatra ("Mack the Knife," "The Way You Look Tonight," etc.).  I always admire anyone who can play the piano.  I used to play the organ but it's extremely difficult buying organs nowadays.  Parents don't seem to make their children play instruments or cultivate any classical talents anymore... but I'll leave that to a separate post.  I'd like to learn the piano someday.  :)

Live To Eat

This is my very first post on my very new blog!  I am thrilled that I finally got the chance to sit down, sign up for a blog, and write.  I used to have a couple of blogs back in high school (seven years ago... eek!), but ever since college and kicking off the beginning of my working years, finding the time to sit down and write has taken a backburner.  Until now, that is.  :)  Since it's been all of seven years, I am experiencing a bit of writer's block typing this introduction... so let's cut right to the chase.

As mentioned in my profile, I am currently 24, a Manhattanite (although I originally hail from the eastern hemisphere), and engaged to the man of my dreams.  Unlike many young women my age, I LIVE for life experiences... not so much cute things or luxury goods.  Give me $200 and I would much rather spend it feasting on frogs' legs sauteed provençale at La Grenouille than on a new Coach bag or jacket from Bluefly.  Even now that my darling fiance and I are planning our wedding, we have happily maintained a small guestlist (comprised solely of our nearest-and-dearest) so that we could allocate a significant chunk of our wedding budget to our upcoming honeymoon (hello Maldives!).  Why spend money on a larger wedding when we could instead be pampering ourselves alone as a couple in paradise?  In short, I love to eat, travel, and experience new things.  Most of what I enjoy doing in life is evidenced entirely in my memory... hey, it makes for more closet space!

Secretly, I've wanted to write my own blog for awhile now.  I love to write.  Ever since I was a kid, I've always been better at expressing myself through writing than speaking.  Then a couple of days ago, I was having brunch at Boqueria with my sister and she asked for my recommendation on where she and her friends should go for Restaurant Week.  A sister is one thing, but apparently even her roommate (who I do not know personally) always asks my sister to ask me what I think about specific restaurants in NYC!  Even among my friends, I've earned the reputation of being somewhat of an informal restaurant guru and fine dining vanguard.  I think that's pretty cool and I thought it would be fun to record my dining experiences somewhere, both for my own reflection and enjoyment as well as for others' reading pleasure.


So without further ado... here is my first review!


Brasserie
(53rd Street b/w Lex and Park)


My fiance and I went to Brasserie for Restaurant Week last night.  We live in Midtown East, and as such we've walked by Brasserie a million times, always mentioning that we should try it out someday.  It was our first time there, and I don't mean to start my blog on a negative note, but it was pretty awful.  In absolute terms, it was average.  But I thought this was a French restaurant... and from the outside of the building, I assumed the restaurant would be nice and relatively classy.  Upon walking into the establishment though, everything was stark white.  Seats were made of plastic and my first impression was that it looked like a cafeteria.  This is probably a restaurant you'd see on Sex And The City and one that is self-professed as being modern and trendy... to me, it was just plain white.


We ordered off the R-Week menu: I had the split pea soup, ocean striped bass, and chocolate brown butter torte.  The mister had salmon carpaccio, a seafood soup medley, and toasted almond cake.  I drank a glass of Pinot Noir and he a glass of the darkest beer I've ever seen.  (I don't even know the name of it!)


The only noticeable pro for me was that the food came out fast.  We were seated right by the kitchen (not in a bad way, there was a wall separating us) and it never took more than 5 minutes for the waiters to switch our courses.  


Cons: The food came out really fast... almost too fast (it was pretty obvious they had a million desserts lined up and ready to be served in the kitchen... I suppose it is Restaurant Week, though!), our server was pretty lame (he handed me my plate when he could have very easily walked over and put it down in front of me), and the food was average AT BEST.  It was all very underwhelming, to say the least.  Average food is admissible in average venues, but not in restaurants that try to be higher-end.


M-Stars (my ratings) are as follows:
Decor/ambience: 2 out of 5
Food: 2.5 out of 5
Service: 2.5 out of 5
Value: 2.5 out of 5 (we were, after all, paying R-Week prices)
"It" factor: 0 out of 5
M&M's (my fiance's and my) overall satisfaction: 2 out of 5


Bottom-line: We won't be going back!  It wasn't terrible, but nothing set it apart from its peers.