Restaurant Week: Porterhouse in New York, NY

There is no doubt what Porterhouse, located on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center, is serving: steaks, steaks and steaks. 

With seafood, but steaks. It has been a while since I went to a steakhouse for restaurant week, as I typically tell people to avoid these types of places during that period, the quality of the meat being often sacrificed. I even did a test with my favorite steakhouse in Hoboken, Dino & Harry's: while the steaks have always been sublime, they were not good for Restaurant Week (see the post here). Why did I change my mind? Because my friend Julien convinced me that I would not be disappointed at Porterhouse. 

So, we booked the place on Opentable for a Sunday, for lunch. We arrived a bit early and got seated fairly quickly in this incredible 140 seat place that overlooks Columbus Circle.

To give you am idea of the place, it all started in 2006, when Chef Michael Lomonaco took the bet to replace Jean-Georges Vongerichten's V Steakhouse place by a more traditional and more successful restaurant. The decor, designed by Jeffrey Beers (The Wynn in Las Vegas, DB Bistro Modern in NY) is very elegant with its leather banquettes, polished designed and the restaurant feels roomy. Contrary to most of the steakhouses, there is a lot of light, thanks to the large windows. 

So we were there for the Restaurant Week menu that was printed on the bottom of the regular menu, replacing their business lunch and eliminating the awkward moment when you ask for it and can see in the eye of the waiter an expression that says "I should have guessed". 

Right after we ordered, they came with a bread basket that had three types of bread: French white, raisin-pecan and whole wheat. 

Jodi went for the French white

Dovetail in New York, NY

Chef John Fraser, the owner of Dovetail, is no stranger to me. Well I do not know him personally and would love to meet him; it is more that I have a personal story related to one of his restaurants that unfortunately closed few years ago: Compass, located few blocks down from Dovetail. That is where Jodi and I went for a drink on our first date. We went back few times to celebrate our anniversary or other occasions, always having a great experience there.

Anyway, Chef Fraser has an impressive resume: he worked at the famous French Laundry and Taillevent, an award winning restaurant in Paris. I was so thrilled to see how he works his magic.

So, this time I was at Dovetail, located few steps from the Museum of Natural History. I like the place: the decor is simple and elegant. I went with some friends on a Monday night and, to my surprise, the restaurant was packed. 

Menu wise, they offer seasonal dishes. For dinner, you have a choice between the vegetarian menu and the Chef's menu. I went for the latter. 

To accompany the meal, we decided to order a bottle of red wine. A Crozes Hermitage 2010. 

At first, they brought us some amuse. It started with truffled arancini, rosemary crackers and white cheddar corn bread that were all very good and a great way to open our appetite. 

Then, they brought us a delicious leek panacotta topped with honeydew. 

I think the most difficult part of eating that was the tiny spoon they give you...

For the appetizer, I decided to try the steak tartare that one of my friends recommended.

Bareburger in New York, NY

As my cousin Sandrine was in New York, she could not leave without having a burger. This time, we proposed to go to Bareburger, at their location in Hell's Kitchen. I heard a lot about this place that serves organic meat, but never went before, so you can imagine my excitement. 

I was surprised to see that it was full table service, more used to the fast casual restaurants, where you order at the counter, get a number assigned to you and, they either yell that number when your order is ready or bring it to your table. No, at Bareburger, you can sit and relax. 

Decor wise, there is a play on words between bare and bear that translates not only on the walls, but also on their packaging. 

Menu wise, they have a large choice of dishes, whether appetizers, entrées or desserts. If you do not want a burger, they have a large choice of salads for instance. And, if you are vegetarian, they have a black bean patty or, again, salads. 

For burgers, you can either order one of their specialty ones or built your own. We went for the latter. 

To build your own, you pick the bun, the patty, the "bacon", the cheese, the toppings and the sauce. So, I had a beef patty on a brioche bread, with grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, brisket as my "bacon", sharp cheddar cheese, ketchup and mayo. 

A day in Coney Island

One of the things my cousin Sandrine wanted to do was to go to Coney Island, so we hopped on a train on a Saturday morning, our food destination already decided...

After 45 minutes of train from Port Authority, here we are, in a place totally different from Manhattan. And outside of the train station, here it is: Nathan's, the hot dog institution, home of the July 4th Hot Dog Eating contest. Know that this location is the original Nathan's that opened in 1916.

Yes, you guessed well: it was out first destination. You cannot go to Coney Island and not go to Nathan's to eat a hot dog or two...It is truly American.

The place was crowded, so we had to organize ourselves: Sandrine and I were to order the food and, while we waited for it, Jodi took care of the ketchup and mustard, but most importantly, to find us a spot outside (there are no tables inside).

I should mention before describing the food, that we had breakfast in an Italian joint right before taking the train, so the girls were not that hungry. Sandrine got a hot dog with sauerkraut, as well as fries.

First, we got drinks: the homemade orangeade (I did not really like it):

Restaurant Week: David Burke's Fishtail in NYC, NY

We took advantage of Restaurant Week to enjoy a delicious dinner, at a discounted price at David Burke's Fishtail. It was on my list for a while, being a fan of Chef Burke and looking at his mouth watering food photos on Instagram with always a bit of drool. For sure, we had to book quickly and used Opentable as this place was a popular spot for Restaurant Week.

We got our reservation at 7:30pm and I thought the odds were against me as there were issues with the subway and I was worried that they would not hold our table, Jodi having to come from downtown by train. I arrived on time, explained the issue and reassure me that there was no issue. It would have been such a bummer to have to come another time, especially as my mind and stomach were prepared for a nice meal there. 

So, Fishtail is all about fish (you can get a steak if you want, but it is not the point) and everything in the decor will remind you that, whether it is the walls that mimic fish scales

Or the art. 

The restaurant has been built in a townhouse, with the bar on the first floor

And the dining room on the second floor. 

You can also have a glimpse at the kitchen, on the first floor, where all the magic happens. 

For restaurant week, they offer a menu for $38 that includes any appetizer, entrée or dessert from their regular menu. I love that, because it means that you will get dishes that are served on a regular basis and not created for that event, totally embracing the spirit of Restaurant Week. I guess the catch is in the quantity, but, at Fishtail, you will not leave hungry for sure. Well, at least I did not. Know that, similar to many restaurants, some dishes require to pay a supplement. 

They started off bringing us some bread and butter.

Bobby Van's Grill in New York, NY

There is a large amount of steakhouses Midtown: Ruth's Chris, Empire Steakhouse, Quality Meats, Quality Italian, Smith and Wollensky, Wolfgang Steakhouse...No wonder there are so many considering all the businesses located there. Because, let's be honest: steaks are fantastic in the US, but it comes at a certain price and you will not see that many families in steakhouses, especially now, as the price of meat is going up. Whenever I have visitors from Europe, I tell them to try a good steak if they can afford it, suggesting few places I tried and liked. So this time, I tried Bobby Van's with some of my friends.

Established since 1969, this family business has several locations across the US, five being in Times Square. We went to the one on 50th street that opened in 2006. It has all the characteristics of a steakhouse: masculine, warm and noisy. You may think looking at the photos that the restaurant was empty, but in fact, these photos were taken when I left, a little after 10pm; because, believe me, when we arrived, it was packed!

We had a small room reserved for us and we were all thinking: thank God, we will be able to hear each other. When we sat, I noticed that there was a small notepad on the table, wondering what the usage could be at the time of the smartphones and their note applications.

Menu wise, there is no surprise: you find the usual dishes a steakhouse proposes, such as crab cakes, shrimp cocktail or Caesar salad. Meat wise, they have the traditional cuts: filet mignon, ribeye, sirloin and of course a sizzling porterhouse.

As we were choosing from the menu, they brought us a bread basket with a nice variety, as well as some butter. Some say that the bread brought to the table makes the first impression: try in a way and so, for a steakhouse, you always expect one with different breads, breadsticks being a must have (don't ask me why...).

To go with our meal, we decided to order some wine. Red wine of course as pairing with a white wine our steaks would be a blasphemy. We chose a Bordeaux: Chateau Simard Saint Emilion 2004.

It is a wine that has a full and round structure, perfect with red meats, especially my favorite cut: the ribeye.

But first were the appetizers. I ordered one of my favorite in steakhouses: the crab cake.

The original Brother Jimmy's BBQ on the Upper East Side

After burgers, the second specialty I always recommend friends and family coming from Europe to try is BBQ. as I mentioned in prior posts, what we call BBQ in France is grilling. Little I know that in Denmark, they are familiar with the BBQ as we know it here. I knew about smoked fish, but not meat, and Our friends Anne and Klaus even have a smoker at home. 

Anyway, our place of choice was Brother Jimmy's BBQ, but not the location near Madison Square Garden I reviewed, but the one on the Upper East Side, that is in fact the original restaurant. As we went on a weekday, the place was empty. Not that it helped with the noise level, considering that the music was literally blasting. 

It is a fairly big place with four distinct sections :

The main dining room:

The back dining room:

The second dining room with the kitchen in the back:

The bar with its games:

5 Napkin burger in Union Square, NYC

Our friends from Denmark, Anne and Klaus came recently to visit New York with their kids Signe, Emile and Jonas. We spent some time with them and had to live up to our reputation of foodies (I hate that word). So we picked few places, some of them really representative of Americana. So, of course, we went for burgers. We had to take into account few things: first, there needed to be vegetarian options, Jonas being vegetarian. Second, there should be, a least, a classic cheeseburger. So we de facto eliminated Burger Joint and Umami Burger (although I still salivate like a Pavlov's dog when thinking about the truffle burger there). 

So, we picked 5 Napkin Burger. I went already to the original one in Hell's Kitchen, but never to the one in Union Square. No surprise there: the decor is similar, representing a slaughterhouse, the cleanliness indicating that it represents it after the slaughter. One cannot miss the hooks hanging

Or the multiple scales displayed all over the restaurant. 

If you have never been to 5 Napkin Burger, let me explain to you how it was born. It all started at Nice Matin, a French restaurant located on the Upper West Side. One of their most successful dish was a burger where the meat was so juicy that you needed five napkins for your hands. The owners of the restaurant Simon Oren and Andy D'Amico then got the idea to open a restaurant where their signature burger would be the star. Since then, it has been a success story, with few restaurants in the city, as well as in other cities. 

But do not imagine that the menu offers only burgers, as it's name could lead you to: they serve other dishes, including salads and...sushi! Interesting! Not sure I would think about ordering sushi there. 

The Kroners got their burgers, but, of course, we did too...Jodi ordered the classic cheese, an 8 oz. beef patty served with American cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, on a sesame brioche bread. 

It was very good, the meat being juicy and very tasty, topped by a nice amount of cheese. 

But it did not measure up with the 5 Napkin burger that I ordered. 

The beef patty was literally smothered with Gruyere, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. 

A bit messy for sure, but who cares? Certainly not me who needed more than 5 napkins to clean my hands, the juiciness of the meat adding to the delightful mess.

To go with the burger, I of course ordered a milk shake. Usually, I order a vanilla one, but I got tempted by a cookies and cream that had little pieces of oreo cookie in it.

Everything was fantastic there and it was the perfect introduction to the next few meals we planed for our friends! I certainly did not regret the choice of 5 Napkin Burger: this is definitely one of the best in the City!

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!