212-477-0777
42 E 20th Street
Near Park Ave South
Rating: Mind Altering
Cuisine: American Nouveau
Prix Fixe Dinner: $86
Meals: Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Most addictive dish: stuffed meatball with fontina cheese
Review
The institution that is Gramercy Tavern has been on 20th street for over 15 years now. It continues catering to well-heeled New Yorkers who crave not only amazing food, but civilized country-side ambiance (without the hassle of travelling to the country-side). The main bar is a darkly shellacked, dutifully scuffed wonder to behold. It seats over 20 earthy socialites, while many more hover close by. They’re all chomping at the bit for Danny Meyer’s heralded cuisine.
The dining areas look a bit like gallery sitting rooms with several well-appointed portraits on the walls. You’re left with a feeling that you’re being served in an elegant country home in rural UK.
The food is the stuff dreams are made of – rich flavors, perfectly conceived and executed. On a recent visit, I ordered the brioche pudding with rum ice cream, and it was so good that I felt my consciousness being sucked out of my body. I’ve never had a better dessert in my life. The impossible news is that these types of out of body experiences are not rare at Gramercy Tavern. In fact, they are the norm. The homemade lamb sausage is sublime. The scallops are consistently paired with surprising ingredients (like watermelon radishes and sunchokes) that delight seasoned foodies as well as new initiates. Everything is addictive. If you’ve been in New York for any length of time and haven’t been to Gramercy Tavern, you aren’t living life as fully as you could be.