[Nathan]

I really liked the food at the Biltmore Room (although they had some FOH issues) so I'm pretty hopeful about Sheridan Square.

The decor is tasteful though nowhere near as elaborate as the Biltmore Room or nearby restaurants such as Bar Blanc or Commerce.....and no cellphone booth either (anyone remember that?).

Service was very good and friendly.

Had a special to start: young garlic soup with potato, crab and creme fraiche. I first thought of the JG garlic soup with frog legs...but it's nothing like that. I liked my first few bites more than the rest....it seemed to get a little mundane. ingredients were good.

then had a duck entree and added a side of roasted mushrooms (some tasty maitiakes in there). the duck was properly cooked and flavorful. ditto for its sauce. but the bed of greens it rested on struck me as kind of amateurish....the kind of thing you'd expect from a good home cook.

there is an abundance of roasted fish on the menu and the foie dumpling app looks interesting so that's probably the way I should have gone (and will soon).

obviously, it just opened so we'll see how it turns out. prices are standard.

a couple drinks were comped.

[Nathan]

oh I meant to say, the cocktail program is quite good.

although at first the drinks kind of look obvious (rhubarb daq, smoked salt margarita)....there's an excellent use of homemade and fresh ingredients.

highly recommend.

[oakapple]

Nathan, on May 30 2008, 08:45 AM, said:

The decor is tasteful though nowhere near as elaborate as the Biltmore Room or nearby restaurants such as Bar Blanc or Commerce.....and no cellphone booth either (anyone remember that?).

I can't compare it to Biltmore Room (never went), but I think the décor at Sheridan Square is about 100 times nicer than Commerce. The comparison to Bar Blanc is a closer call, but I would give the nod to Sheridan Square.

[jimk]

oakapple, on May 30 2008, 01:26 PM, said:

Nathan, on May 30 2008, 08:45 AM, said:

The decor is tasteful though nowhere near as elaborate as the Biltmore Room or nearby restaurants such as Bar Blanc or Commerce.....and no cellphone booth either (anyone remember that?).

I can't compare it to Biltmore Room (never went), but I think the décor at Sheridan Square is about 100 times nicer than Commerce. The comparison to Bar Blanc is a closer call, but I would give the nod to Sheridan Square.

We were there last night - we live just down the street - and I'll agree with almost everything said above, although we liked the garlic soup a bit more than Oakapple did. I believe last night was their first night open to the public although it didn't feel especially like an opening night - i.e. no hoopla, celebs, etc.... They gave us a great corner banquette which I'm surprised wasn't being held for a VIP or investor type. Sounds like they did friends and family for a couple of weeks with the paper still up on the windows (to keep away the bloggers our server told us) which must have made for a weird closet-like room.

We started with negronis which were well mixed. Had a bottle of a nice cru beaujolais which ran just under $50 ... one weakness in the wine program is they only have one lonly rose on their list. I started with the squash blossom stuffed with crab served with avacado, some sort of corn salsa, and a mango/chile sauce which sounds like a lot but the plate was nicely balanced and nothing was extraneous except for a handful of greens in the middle of the plate. Ourtstanding - generous with the incredibly fresh crab meat so seemed fairly priced at $17 for the starter. C had the garlic soup which we both enjoyed - mild but flavorful.

For entrees, C had a trout special cooked in the wood oven and served with pickled yellow beets, varely cooked haricots vert and some sort of vinaigrette. She liked it a lot - I didn't try it though. Her only comment was that the plate could have used a starch. My main was a really nice pasta dish, a strozzatelli I think (think hand-rolled rustic long penne) - really nice, served with a white veal bolognese (ground veal, english peas, bacon, mirepoix, white wine and loads of butter) - perfectly cooked pasta, nicely balanced flavors. Some might have found it a bit overly brothy but I thought it worked.

Tempted by dessert (berries and cream sounded nice) but we were both stuffed. On the whole while the menu looks pricey and the place will take some knocks for that - but we felt we got pretty good value. The portions were generous and our bill was under $140 before tip, including two $11 cocktails and a $48 bottle of wine. Not totally out of wack with what we'd pay at August for a similar week-night dinner.

Service was fine if a bit overenthusiastic. I hope they drop the thing where they bring over the big pepper grinder to the table after they drop the entrees on the table - that always strikes me as a bit TGI Fridays, and at least let me taste the food before deciding whether it needs pepper. But that's just a pet peeve of mine. The room was kid of eh, and I don't know that the outdoor seating with the view of the parking garage will be a big draw for me. The only major opening glitch I saw was that the lights kept flickering on and off which we eventually stopped noticing.

Bottom line is that everything on every plate we got was soundly conceived and well executed. Food at Bar Blanc is probably a bit more refined but we like this place better just because it had a bit more soul.

[oakapple]

jimk, on May 30 2008, 12:30 PM, said:

We were there last night - we live just down the street - and I'll agree with almost everything said above, although we liked the garlic soup a bit more than Oakapple did.

Actually, I think it was Nathan that had the garlic soup. I was there two nights ago (report here). I had the squash blossom, which I liked a bit less than you did; and the trout, which I loved. They didn't do the pepper-grinder thing, which I agree doesn't belong in this type of restaurant.

Quote

I believe last night was their first night open to the public although it didn't feel especially like an opening night - i.e. no hoopla, celebs, etc.... They gave us a great corner banquette which I'm surprised wasn't being held for a VIP or investor type. Sounds like they did friends and family for a couple of weeks with the paper still up on the windows (to keep away the bloggers our server told us) which must have made for a weird closet-like room.

Actually, they started taking walk-ins a few days ago. Too late now, but there was a 20% discount on the full bill, which I thought was a nice gesture. The paper was off the windows, and it looked for all intents and purposes like a fully open restaurant.

[jimk]

oakapple, on May 30 2008, 04:11 PM, said:

jimk, on May 30 2008, 12:30 PM, said:

We were there last night - we live just down the street - and I'll agree with almost everything said above, although we liked the garlic soup a bit more than Oakapple did.

Actually, I think it was Nathan that had the garlic soup. I was there two nights ago (report here).

Indeed - my mistake.