Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
month, the menu lists what is peak in that particular season. When
I visited in November, sunchokes, pumpkin, black cod, bosc pear,
chestnut, and a variety of mushrooms were some of the fresh items
used in the dishes prepared that day. Matsutake mushroom and sun-
chokes, for example could be found in the roasted langoustine appe-
tizer, while the amazingly flaky and moist entree of black cod sat
atop a delicious celeriac puree. The bosc pear was used in a perfectly
made tart tatin for dessert, while chestnuts were found in a floating
island accompanied by orange blossom madeleines. Service, as it is
at all the BLT restaurants, is professional and helpful, and the room
tries to recreate a rustic, farmhouselike ambience with water served
in milk bottles and an old plow at the restaurant's entrance.
1430 Avenue of the Americas (at 59th St., in the Ritz-Carlton Central Park).
&
212/
521-6125.
www.bltmarket.com. Reservations recommended. Main courses:
$32-$45. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Daily 11:45am-2pm and 5:30-10pm. Subway: N, Q,
R, W to 57th St.
EXPENSIVE
Frankie & Johnnie's
STEAKHOUSE When restaurants
open other branches, red flags go up. Does that mean they have
become a chain and their quality has eroded to chain-food status? In
the case of Frankie & Johnnie's, the legendary Theater District for-
mer-speakeasy-turned-steakhouse, which opened another outlet in
the two-story townhouse once owned by John Barrymore, those
fears were allayed after one bite of their signature sirloin. It also helps
that the dining room on the second floor of the town house is gor-
geous, especially the Barrymore room, the actor's former study with
stained-glass ceiling panels, dark wood walls, and a working fire-
place. Not only are Frankie & Johnnie's steaks underrated in the
competitive world of New York steakhouses, but the other options
are superb as well. The crabcake appetizer had an overwhelmingly
high crab-to-cake ratio—and that's a good thing in my book—while
the side of hash browns was the best I've had. Service is old-school,
and if you are staying in Midtown, the restaurant provides compli-
mentary limo service to and from the restaurant.
32 W. 37th St. (btwn Fifth and Sixth aves.).
&
212/997-8940.
www.frankieand
johnnies.com. Reservations recommended. Main courses $25-$36. Mon-Fri
noon-2:30pm; Mon-Thurs 4-10:30pm; Fri-Sat 4-11pm. Subway: B, C, D, N, R, Q, W,
V to 34th St./Herald Sq. Also at 269 W. 45th St. (at Eighth Ave.).
&
212/997-9494.
Subway: 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, Q, S, W to 42nd St.
Keens Steakhouse
STEAKHOUSE Up until the latter
part of the 20th century, Keens, which was established in 1885,
