Zoe

Warm and inviting. That is immediately what hits you as you walk into Zoe, a chic SoHo restaurant. You may think that it would be loud and difficult to maneuver due to it’s Prince Street location, Zoe is anything but. 

Zoe been open since 1992, is owned and run by Stephen and Thalia Loffredo. Stephen Loffredo is a very strong, very involved presence in his eatery and it shows.  I must say, it is always very nice to see a restaurant owner as a presence in their restaurant. It makes you feel as though they really have a vested interest in overseeing what is happening.

Spoon and I were meeting up with our dear friends the Salad Tongs for dinner. It is always a culinary adventure and feast when we pair up with them.

We arrived first and were shown to our table. So glad they didn’t make us wait for them to come before they sat us! We ordered iced tea – fresh, tasty, and bottomless. Our bus boy (more on him later) brought bread over – a huge basket with three very thin slices of bread and three very thin slices of foccacia. Certainly not what would be presented to a table for four people.

The down side of having dinner with the Salad Tongs is we want to eat EVERYTHING! We can never manage to order what’s on the Restaurant Week Menu without a lot of extras!

This trip was no exception! While deciding what to order from the Restaurant Week menu, we ordered the Pizza Prosciutto with Figs, Whipped Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions. We actually thought, “Hmm, maybe not, we won’t be able to eat everything else.” All I can say is HA! This may be the perfect pizza! Crispy crust, sweet figs and caramelized onions all balanced by the tang of the whipped goat cheese. There are 6 slices in this pie and there could have been a fight to the death for the last two slices…..

For starters Mr. Salad Tong had the Salmon Tartar with Ginger Lime Dressing and Taro Chips. I am not always a fan of raw fish, but this salmon was so fresh and such high quality, that eating it any way other than raw would have been sinful.  The ginger lime dressing adding the perfect bite to the perfectly seasoned salmon. The added crunch factor from the taro chips was just an added bonus.

Mrs. Salad Tong also had the Grilled Scallops and Chorizo with a ParsleySauce. Perfectly grilled, plump scallops were coupled with grilled chiorizo. The chiorizo adding just the perfect spicy kick to this dish. The parsley sauce added a nice depth of flavor to this simple but very flavorful starter.

Spoon and Fork both had the Zoe Market Salad loaded with Summer Radish, ToyboxTomatoes and a White Balsamic Vinaigrette. I think we may be saladed out at this point. This salad had julienned radishes on top with grape tomatoes over a mesculin mix.  The dressing was quite tasty. Unfortunately a salad is a salad and there really isn’t much to say. 

Onto the entrees!

Mrs. Salad Tong had the Wood Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mizuna, Red Onion and Mango Vinaigrette. The mahi mahi was perfectly grilled, just slightly rare in the center. The mahi mahi was served over a wonderful salsa made with mango, mizuna and red onions with a light vinaigrette.

The rest of us had the Hanger Steak, served over green beans and potatoes with a wonderful balsamic reduction. Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, very generous portion, does anything else need to be said? 

During Restaurant Week we should tell the waiter as we walk in, ‘Please don’t let us see anything but the Restaurant Week menu!’  Of course the words Polenta Fries found our eyes. Spoon and Fork looking and the Salad Tongs, no one wanting to say…..should we order these…..I couldn’t help it! I had to have them! And they were just what we expected. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. The only problem? THE SAUCE! Not good, not good at all! Perhaps it was trying to be a remoulade, sadly it was more like mayonnaise and ketchup hurriedly mixed together.

My favorite part of Restaurant Week is that dessert is always included! I am always hoping that everyone orders something different so we can try everything! No such luck here!

Mr. Salad Tong and Fork order this incredible White Chocolate Pudding.  The pudding was served in a juice glass – or what would be a large juice glass. In the middle of the pudding was a layer of pistachio cream. Thick and soft and oh so delicious! Floating on top of the second layer of white chocolate pudding was chocolate, cherries and candied pistachios. All my favorite sweet flavors in one glass! Packed quite a wallop!

Mrs. Salad Tong and Spoon each had a Peach and Apricot Tart with creamy custard and a scoop of Ice Wine sorbet on top. The plate was drizzled with honey.  The tart shell was fantastic, so crispy and buttery. The custard creamy and rich. The fruit was just sweet enough. But the star of this dessert was the ice wine sorbet. It took a couple of spoonfuls to realize what it was, but it lent a tang and refreshing element to this custardy dessert. Great idea!

All in all, this was a great dining experience, far above what I expected it to be. I would definitely go back here again, Restaurant Week or not.  If you’re in SoHo and need a great place to eat, this is it!

Well, wait……my only complaints are the bread basket, the dipping sauce for the polenta fries and OUR BUS BOY! He climbed behind the banquet to reach his arm in front of Mr. Salad Tong to take a small plate while he was still eating, he reached across the table in front of all of us while we were still eating to grab plates or glasses, and at one point he came to place (haha) something on the table and he practically threw it at us! Our server was fantastic, this guy, not so much!

Zoe . 90 Prince Street . NYC, NY . 212.966.6722

Beacon Restaurant & Bar

There is nothing that the cutlery trio love more than Restaurant Week! Our waistlines may not, but our tummies and taste buds sure do! 

 Our dear friend Absinthe Spoon was celebrating a birthday and we decided to try Waldy Malouf’s Beacon Restaurant & Bar. For those of you who don’t know Waldy Malouf, he is the one responsible for earning the Rainbow Room it’s New York Times’ 3 star rating.  He has brought that special touch to Beacon Restaurant where open fire and wood fire cuisine is the specialty.

Beacon is located in Midtown, just off the beaten path of some of New York’s finest shops and is surrounded by midtown hotels.

We don’t have an outside photo at this time as the front of the Beacon is wrapped in scaffolding. But when walking into the Beacon, one walks into a beautiful Art Deco dinging room. The hosts could smile more or try to be more engaging.

There are two separate seating areas in the restaurant. One on street level, and one towards the back and down a short flight of stairs. The pit,as we were told it is referred to, is right in front of the kitchen and from certain tables you can watch the chefs working away. We were sitting in a wonderful half circle banquet off to the side. But even from this vantage point you can here the clatter and chatter from this section of the kitchen. There is also a new burger and sandwich bar which puts you right in the middle of the action. You are sitting within 4 feet of the executive chef and the wood burning ovens.

Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and quickly offered his opinions and was informative about the entire menu. My only small thing against this fellow was WINKING. He winked at everything.

While we were looking over the menu we ordered iced tea – bottomless and freshly made – and our server, Brent, brought over a complimentary  amuse-bouche for the table. Three small triangles of delicious fire grilled pizza. A wonderful way to start our celebration.

The choice of starters wasn’t very varied. There was a salad or a salad or a soup. Sadly for our followers, we all chose the Arugula & Warm Potato Salad with Parmesan. What arrived was a small mountain of arugula, covered with shavings of parmesan, and – not mentioned in the description – potato chips. We sort of looked from one to the other trying to figure out if this scattering of potato chips were the warm potatoes described in the menu. But once you dug into the arugula, you realized that there were a few (and I do mean a few) half-dollar sized warm potatoes buried there. I must say, the dressing on the potatoes was wonderful, but the Fork is a sucker for potatoes with vinegar, but the three of us would have gladly traded some of out arugula for more potatoes – three half-dollar sized potatoes was not in any proportion to the mound of arugula.

Because the three of us love artichokes so, we couldn’t help but order the Wood Roasted Artichokewith Gremolata. It was a beautiful appetizer. The artichoke was huge! The artichoke could have been blanched a bit longer before it was roasted. It was seriously tough. The gremolata on top of the heart should be called anything but.  Gremolata is classically finely chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest. The ingredients were there, but the garlic cloves were whole, and when you aren’t expecting them it’s a bit off-putting. This certainly didn’t warrant a $14 price tag.

For our mains, Spoon and Absinthe Spoon both ordered (it must be a spoon thing) Spit Roasted Ten Herb Chicken with Panzanella Salad. What arrived was a half a roasted chicken. The portion was substantial. The chicken very moist and tender. The injection of herbs to the chicken was fantastic and very tasty. Great dish. Wait, did I forget to mention the panzanella salad?  The parsely leaf, half of a grape tomato and 5 BOXED croutons hidden underneath this beautiful chicken? What was the point of that?  That isn’t enough of anything to consider it part of anything! 

The Fork on the other hand ordered Grilled Sirloin Steak with a Red Wine Reduction. There was a supplement for this dish, but in the end it was well worth it. Substantial piece of steak perfectly grilled, perfectly seasoned. It was tender and juicy. This beautifully prepared steak sat on top of (are you sensing a theme here) a little surprise of chopped chives, asparagus and other little bits of greenery that I couldn’t identify but were equally delicious. There was also some watercress on the plate for show. The wine reduction was such a perfect complement to the steak.

Brent had told us that the dishes didn’t really come with any sides (especially panzanella salad!) so we naturally had to try some of their very varied assortment of side dishes.

Brent recommended the Anson Mills Cheese Polenta. To the table arrived this tiny (perhaps a cup in volume) cast iron, covered, casserole pot. Inside was delicious, steaming hot, cheesey polenta. Perfectly cooked and delicious. Enough for a spoonful or so each. Certainly worth it.

Roasted Asparagus was our other side dish. NO. You can’t call something roasted unless you actually roast it! These were not roasted. These were not good. They were mushy and tasteless. Very disappointing. This, like the “panzanella salad” had, perhaps, one grape tomato sliced in half. Has there been a run on tomatoes that we don’t know about?

So, on to dessert! One of the nicest things about Restaurant Week is that dessert is included.  

Spoon and I each ordered the Cheesecake with Mango Salsa. Something inside of me kept saying ‘Get the chocolate cake! Get the chocolate cake!’ Did I listen? NO! AM I sorry? Oh, yes! Cheesecake is cheesecake, but this promised to have a toasted coconut crust. Nope. Didn’t taste any coconut. Not a shred. And what was worse than the average cheesecake was the mango salsa. I should let the photo speak for itself…..but all I could think of was baby spitup. Enough said.

Absinthe Spoon ordered the Chocolate Souffle after much praise from our server.  Sneaky Spoon let our him know that we were celebrating Absinthe Spoon’s birthday.  So when when the souffle arrived there was a candle and Happy Birthday written across the plate in chocolate. Very sweet thing to do!  The souffle was very sweet. Sadly it was not cooked long enough so it wasn’t set enough. We all agreed that a souffle needs a bit of a crust on top and lining the ramekin. A little more time in the oven would have accomplished that.

All in all, this meal wasn’t terrible, or even bad, it just wasn’t great or something to be repeated.

Waldy Malouf does have two cookbooks, one called High Heat which is a grilling and roating cookbook; and the other the Hudson River Valley Cookbook which celebrates the ingredients indigenous to the New York Hudson Valley.

 Beacon Restaurant & Bar . 25 West 56th Street, NYC, NY . 212.332.0500

Gramercy Tavern

Really, can we just call Danny Meyer and the USHG team geniuses? Each restaurant unique. Each restaurant impeccably run. Each restaurant reaching a different group. The great food and great dining experience the common bond between each restaurant. And good food and a fantastic dining experience are what these places all do best!

Walking into the Gramercy Tavernyou are greeted instantly by beauty. The front of the Gramercy Tavern is very plain. Gold lettering on each large picture window let you know that it’s the Gramercy Tavern, but that’s all there is. Once you open the door from the street, all that changes. There is an unbelievable warmth from the moment you step into the foyer . Beautiful flowers, a lovely handed painted sign with Gramercy Tavern on it let you know that you are in for a treat.

The Fork was late. Very late. Running down the street is not the best look for the Fork. Spoon was waiting, patiently. I walked into the Gramercy Tavern and was greeted by two hostesses with the kindest look about them and the biggest smiles. I immediately felt at ease and far less late than I knew I was.

By the way, kudos for allowing patrons to sit at their table and have a drink while waiting for a slow poke dining partner. 

There are actually two restaurants within the Gramercy Tavern, the Tavern and the Restaurant. The Tavern has a great menu. Everything is a la carte. It is as exciting and wide range as the Restaurant, just smaller.

When you step out of the Tavern and into the main part of the dining room you feel as though you were transported back in time to a tavern in the 1800s, but this is not the type of fare you would have experienced then!

The restaurant is adorned with early American antiques. The wood burning stove is made from bricks from the last existing American foundry to cut bricks by hand. There is a wood pile stacked by the stove and adds to the rustic feel.

I found Spoon happily seated at a table – a corner banquet – munching on bread and having an iced tea. As I sat a lovely young lady came to the table, beaming, and introduced herself.  Ana has someone bring over water for me right away – I think my panting gave her a hint – and asked if I would like a drink. I ordered iced tea as well.

As always, an aside about the iced tea! Large glasses. Lemon wedges on the side with the seeds cut out. We weren’t sure about the issue of bottom glass or ridiculous pricing! We always hold our breathwhen the check comes. This was not too bad. Four glasses, $3.00 each. Truly, we were expecting so much worse!

A bus boy came over with a huge basked of bread, with 6 different types of bread,  and asked which I would like. I was tempted to ask if he would just leave the basket, but instead chose a green olive bread and a sourdough. On the table were two little white dishes, one containing a sweet, creamy butter and the other salt. And if this carb fix were not enough, he came back to see if we would like more!

Spoon had already studied the menu and decided what we were eating.  Considering I was late, I agreed. What else could a Fork do? Our server came over, a lovely young lady named Ana.  She answered some questions about the menu, asked if we were ready – you betcha! As an aside, Ana had the brightest smile, knew the menu, was able to give informative answers to questions. We found out she had recently been promoted from hostess and reservationistto a server. Very good decision! This young lady is excellent with people!

This menu was truly inspired by Michael Anthony’s well known love of seasonal items and local produce. Round of applause for utilizing the best of the season and the best of local ingredients!

We started with a Summer Bean Salad, eight ball squash, green beans, wax beans, lima beans, and various greens served in a gooseberry vinaigrette dressing. Barely blanched the vegetables were fresh and crunchy. Gooseberries are so sour, it made an interesting combination with the vegetables. Unfortunately, the dressing was tasteless. You could see it, it had a pretty pink color, but it didn’t have a lot of flavor. Perhaps if the gooseberries had been smooshed a little it would have infused the dressing with a little acidity.

Our other starter was Lamb Pappardelle with lemon confit, olives and swiss chard. If there were a possibility of a tiny, little diving board on the side of the bowl, this would be the dish that you would want to dive face first into! The pappardelle are made fresh every day. They are thick and tender with the perfect toothsome bite to them. The lamb and sauce is so perfectly spiced, you just are disappointed when you get to the bottom of the bowl. Thank goodness for the bread! Believe me, you can’t let this sauce go to waste! To add to the beauty and simplicity of this dish is a lemon confit. It adds a very subtle zing to the savory flavors. All of this is served over a bed of Swiss chard. This is one of those dishes that you would want order every time you visit the Gramercy Tavern. Sadly, it’s not on the menu for the Tavern, but I wonder if a pout could have one served? I mean, 10 steps can’t keep a Fork or Spoon away from such a delicious dish.

 For our first entree we had the Pork Croquette served over Potato Puree and Escarole. This dish is on of the reasons we were so excited about going to the Gramercy Tavern. Fork and Spoon had been reading wonderful things about this dish in the blog world and this dish was an absolute given before we arrived. The presentation is simplicity at it’s best, but once you cut into the croquette, simplicity is the last thing you taste.  The pork is encrusted and fried – now how can it be bad? Pork and fried in the same temptation! You look at it and you think, hmmm, could all of those bloggers be wrong? As your fork starts to cut into it all you feel is the crispness and hear the crunch and then the shredded pork tumbles out. Sigh. There were cubes of pork, and pork belly, and bacony something, and shredded pork all encrusted in what Fork and Spoon are assuming was a mixture of panko and toasted breadcrumbs. The only thing that can make this sort of pork dish better – besides more pork – is mashed potatoes. The croquette sits on top of blanched escarole, capers and pureed potatoes. Again, the flavor profiles are amazing and so perfectly suited for each other. Spoon and I are still trying to figure out what the ingredients were in the delicious broth around the potatoes….definitely another trip back for that!  This dish is very, very good, and very, very rich.

 The second entree we ordered was the Pasture Raised Chicken with Spring Vegetables. A lovely pirceof chicken, braised and then baked for a few moments to crisp the skin.  Served with carrots, green and yellow beans and sugar snap peas and sat atop a yummy carrot puree. Beautifully plated dish. The small piece we were able to eat was delicious. We suggest though that during a time like Restaurant when there are wonderful dishes to try that a simple chicken may not be the way to go. Anyway, we were unable to eat this dish as the main portion of the breast was very pink. Our server, Ana, came over and asked if there was a problem and we explained. The plate was whisked away, brought back to the kitchen, re-fired and packed up to go. Even the slightest hiccup is handled in a very kind, but professional manner. They get the concept that the customer is right.

Dessert, dessert, what to do? We wanted all of the desserts. See, some people go over their budget in restaurants or over the prix fixe cost on drinks…for Fork and Spoon, it’s dessert! Well, okay, perhaps a great side dish. We were champing at the bit waiting for the dessert menu. Would we HAVE to order a third. How can we be expected to pick only two? 

 The first dessert we decided to try – well, not decided. This – like the Pork Croquette – was pre-decided! When there is so much buzz about a dessert, how do you not try it? But, I digress. The first dessert was the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cacao Nib Ice Cream. Now, I have never been a big fan of bread puddings. They are either two dry or resemble nursery food. This, I must say was delightful. Moist, with a nice consistency. It doesn’t hurt that there were chocolate chips scattered through out! The ice cream was amazing! Very smooth and creamy with bits of cacao throughout, sitting on a little mounds of nibs. Streaked across the plate was a ribbon of dark chocolate and one of milk chocolate. And as if there weren’t enough here to keep your taste buds amused, there was a chocolate straw.

 Dessert  number two was harder to decide.  We really were stuck between the Rhubarb Brown Butter Cake and the Blueberry Peach Streusel Tart with Roasted Almond Ice Cream. It was probably the addition of the ice cream that tipped the scale.  And once it was presented, we knew we made the right choice!  The tart crust was crisp and buttery. So crisp, you would think it had just been made. There is no way that this sat around and retained the crispness this crust had. On top of the crust were blueberries and peaches. And on top of that was wonderful, crunchy, buttery streusel. On the side was a quenelle of toasted almond ice cream. Now, if, as a kid, you were a fan of Good Humor’s Toasted Almond bars, this ice cream will bring you back to skinned knees, baseball, hopscotch, or whatever your favorite childhood past time was. One bite of this and I could see our Good Humor man standing next to the park with his cart, jingling the bells, calling us all to come running! Connecting the ice cream and the tart was a streak of peach puree and a streak of blueberry puree.

The nice thing about both of these desserts was it gives you just the right amount of sweet after a big, rich meal without making you like you over indulged.

Normally, Fork and Spoon don’t discuss rest rooms unless they’re really – well, yucky. In this case, we had to mention the rest rooms. Yes, the photo to the right is the sight one sees upon entering the rest room!

There are surprising touches and flourishes in every corner of the Gramercy Tavern.

While people complain that they cannot get reservations in the main dining room, be flexible with your time, with your day. Eat in the Tavern, the food is excellent.

While there is no cookbook attached to this restaurant per se, there is a wonderful artisinal cocktail book MixShakeStir. This is a wonderful book full of cocktail recipes. And since cutlery cannot – or should not – drink on an empty stomach, there is even a chapter on Bar Fare. (Don’t they just think of everything!?)

Gramery Tavern . 42 East 20th Street . NYC . 212.. 477.0777