Landmarc at the Time-Warner Center

[Luckylies]

I hope I'm not offending anyone by suggesting that maybe it's meant for UWS mommies (of the stay at home sort) and kids?  It seems like a decent place to sit with your kid and grab breakfast and then go to the park/museums, etc.  You can even fit in a quick trip to Williams Sonoma.

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Dude, It's a MALL... If they didn't figure the mommies in they'd be f'd! especially daytime!

...not offended.

[oakapple]

The TriBeCa Landmarc, at its heart, is an unpretentious neighborhood restaurant trying to offer quality NYC-worthy food and wine at a great price along with friendly service.  The TWC location is following the same aesthetic.  So, yea, of course it's for UWS mommies and kids...  it's also for 30somethings on date nights, pre- and post-theater dining, after-work hanging out for industry types and performing artists.  Providing breakfast to mothers and kids before a trip to the park, museum, shopping, whatever is entirely in line with their raison d'être.

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I'm always particularly amused by posts that try to stereotype a restaurant's clientele. I was there last night, and both two-tops near me were taken by elderly couples (a category not matched by any of the above). One of the tables cleared, and another 50+ couple came along. There were indeed a number of stroller families too, along with other parties of various sizes that I wouldn't presume to categorize.

The restaurant was pretty close to full. When I arrived a bit before 7:00 p.m., I was initially told it would be a half-hour wait; then, they seated me immediately at a wonderful table with a park view. There was a large number of staff on the floor, so they had things working pretty efficiently, with only a few minor glitches.

I ordered the marrow bones ($12) and the calf's liver ($22), mainly because I was alone, and I know both of those dishes would gross out my girlfriend. Both are well known Landmarc specialties, so I won't dwell on them. I thought that the veggies that came with the liver were perfunctory (tasted like they'd been in a frying pan too long), but otherwise I was quite pleased. Even better was the half-bottle of Saint-Georges-Saint-Émilion that I enjoyed for $26. One can hardly complain about the $3 blueberry crumble.

Two managers came over to see if I was satisfied. In the course of conversation, it came out that this week was supposed to be a soft opening, but they quickly found out that that's impossible. The main dining room, by the way, seats 200, not 300. Two private dining rooms (not yet open) add another 90.

[oakapple]

Do they have WiFi?

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The website says they do.

[slkinsey]

The TriBeCa Landmarc, at its heart, is an unpretentious neighborhood restaurant trying to offer quality NYC-worthy food and wine at a great price along with friendly service.  The TWC location is following the same aesthetic.  So, yea, of course it's for UWS mommies and kids...  it's also for 30somethings on date nights, pre- and post-theater dining, after-work hanging out for industry types and performing artists.  Providing breakfast to mothers and kids before a trip to the park, museum, shopping, whatever is entirely in line with their raison d'être.

I'm always particularly amused by posts that try to stereotype a restaurant's clientele. I was there last night, and both two-tops near me were taken by elderly couples (a category not matched by any of the above). One of the tables cleared, and another 50+ couple came along. There were indeed a number of stroller families too, along with other parties of various sizes that I wouldn't presume to categorize.

If you thought the comments you quoted were an attempt on my part to stereotype or narrowly define Landmarc's clientele, I must not have expressed myself very well -- since that is exactly the opposite of my intent. My examples were intended to be just that: examples from among the many kinds of people who might go there and be well-served. The point being that they've always been a neighborhood restaurant that seemed devoted to serving the neighborhood -- and that includes every demgraphic that stops in.

The main dining room, by the way, seats 200, not 300. Two private dining rooms (not yet open) add another 90.

That's partly correct. The private rooms are "created" by bringing down a couple of gigantic garage doors. This area can funtion as two smaller private rooms or one larger private room, and of course with both garage doors up the space simply becomes part of the main dining room. I was at Landmarc late on Saturday with the cast of NYCO's Flavio, along with assorted friends, family and colleagues, after their final performance. They were kind enough to lower the first garage door in order to hold several large tables for us in that area of the restaurant so the 25 or so in the post-performance group would be able to sit together (they raised the door upon our arrival). This is a nice feature: Both rooms have separate entrances and can serve as entirely separate and private areas. Or, as it was for us, the garage doors can be lowered to separate out a space for a large reservation or party, then raised once the diners arrive for a more open feeling. Since the lowered garage doors obscure the view of the wine storage area, I have to believe that they will normally be raised -- effectively making the restaurant a 300 seat space.

When we arrived at around 11:15 PM on Saturday, I'd estimate the rest of the space at around 80% capacity. Walk-ins would be able to get a table, but they were doing a bustling business. When we staggered out at quarter to two in the morning, there must have been at least 40 people still there.

Edited to add: The TWC location is now up on the web: http://www.landmarc-restaurant.com/twc/. Fact sheet says: "300-seat dining room / 17 seats at the bar / 80 seats for private entertaining"

Edited April 23, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[weinoo]

Had lunch here yesterday - a friend and I walked in at 1 o'clock and were seated immediately - I kinda like the space, especially in natural light...but figuring out how to open the bathroom door, or even where it was, was kind of a challenge!

Anyway, we went with some standards, and the food was very good...fritters of smoked mozzarella and ricotta and the frisee aux lardons as starters, followed by a nicely cooked and quite tasty medium-rare burger for me (though the fries were good, they don't approach my favorites here in the city) and rock shrimp risotto for my friend, the weakest of the four dishes we tried (and not something I would necessarily order at Landmarc).

A couple of ice-cream cones and espressos were a nice way to finish off the meal - imo, a great addition to the neighborhood, and once you're inside, you barely remember you're in a mall!

[wannabechef]

Has anyone actually had the breakfast here yet? I'm going tomorrow for a business breakfast. Will report back.

[Megan Blocker]

Has anyone actually had the breakfast here yet? I'm going tomorrow for a business breakfast. Will report back.

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I had lunch on Monday, but the couple next to me had eggs Benedict...looked fabulous.

[sadie_siamesecat]

Tasted fabulous, too. I had breakfast (for lunch) there the first week they opened and had the eggs benedict. With ice cream for dessert, no less.

Edited May 2, 2007 by sadie_siamesecat (log)

[wannabechef]

Had my company breakfast here the other day. All in all it was just so-so. Nothing really too special and very spotty service. I knew something was wrong immediately when they served OJ with ice in it. Big no no. I ordered one without ice and it was definately Tropicana. Not that big a deal, but most high end breakfast places serve the fresh squeezed stuff.

I ended up going with my traditional diner breakfast - two eggs overeasy, home fries, wheat toast and bacon. Homefries were excellent. Shredded potato style, with onions mixed in, nice and carmelized. This was maybe the highlight. Eggs were fine, although slightly overcooked. The wheat bread was excellent good quality bread.

But the annoying part was that for some reason they didn't put the bacon on the plate with my eggs. A bunch of other people didn't have some of their sides either. When we asked the waiter about them, he said "they're commmming" in an annoyed voice. He disappeared and didn't come back for 5-10 minutes. During that time, there were at least 3 or 4 waiters and busboys milling around our table chatting with each other. How long does it take to bring a plate of bacon out? Other people were missing toast, and other side dishes. By that time he came back my eggs were cold. It's very frustrating to sit with your food in front of you getting cold, while waiting for an integral part of your meal which is missing.

The bacon was also disspointing. It was thick which I like, but no hint of smokiness, very tough and fatty, and way too salty. Just didn't seem like high quality bacon to me. Someone else ordered a side of chorizo, and it came out in a huge bowl that looked like chili. Oh one other positive - the coffee was great.

So all in all, it wasn't HORRIBLE, but my local diner does a better breakfast for half the price.

[ermintrude]

Just arrived in NYC on the 4th and was recommended Landmarc by someone we were talking to in a bar, since travel can be unpredicable we had no reservations for this night so thought give it a go. In the same center as Per Sea (didn't eat there as had reservations for the French laundry)

Was surprised to see "bone marrow" on the menu so I went for that, the rest of the menu was standard fare but very well cooked and we all enjoyed the meal. The surprise was the cost of the wines, extremely reasonable so we went for the châteauneuf du pape, clos des papes, paul avril 2004 at only $72

A great recommendation from a local New Yorker for a casual meal.

[Nathan]

you went to Landmarc in the Time Warner Center...not the one in Tribeca. but yeah, its most notable for their wine program.

[markk]

Well, with the best intentions, and in very good moods (these can matter, I know) we went to Landmarc in the Time Warner Center for dinner before "Lucia" at The Met, and had a thoroughly lousy meal...

One of us started with the daily special of "Insalata Caprese" (mozzaella and tomatoes), which I did not taste, so I can't comment on:

and two of us (who eat a lot of foie gras) had the foie gras terrine,

and apart from the 'fleur de sel' sprinkled on the top, we both found the foie gras way too salty to eat, and said so to a pretty much uncaring server.

Now, I only make this comment because of how much good stuff I've heard about the wine program there, including what we were told during the meal. We found a half-bottle of Hugel's "Cuvée Les Amours" Pinot Blanc, and asked if they had it in a full bottle; we were told that they did not, but that "we have Italian Pinot Grigio, which is basically the same thing". [No, it certainly isn't - if we had been talking about an Alsace Pinot Gris, I might have to allow the comment on a technicality, but it was a Pinot Blanc!]. But more on the wines later.

After tremendous discussion about the foods, I opted to continue with a half order of the "crispy sweetbreads", and my partner had the "frisée aux lardons", while our guest sat out a mid-course.

The egg, though poached, was hard-cooked, the yolk completely solid, not runny. (If this is some law in NYC, I hope someone will tell me.) It made a lousy salade.

The sweetbreads were something that my local (and not very good) Jersey diner could have made just as poorly. (This from someone who eats a lot of sweetbreads.)

I considered warning my partner, who had ordered a full order of them as his main course, but thought that if it was too late for them to let him change his order, I might be better off not saying anything in case he happened to love his.

At this point, we decided to get some red wine, and I chose an Argentinian Malbec, mostly in honor of our guest who had ordered the "hangar" steak. Now, we drink a lot of Argentinian Malbec, and there was no excuse for this one - it was thin, yet harsh and bitter, and I had to break it to our server that we couldn't drink it. So I ordered a Gevrey-Chambertin, which though not terrible, was also not terribly good.

And now we were on to the main courses.

Our guest's "hangar" steak:

She didn't specifically comment on it (she would've if it was great) but afterwards she asked if our meals were as disappointing as hers was.

My partner had the full portion of crispy sweetbreads, and asked why I hadn't warned him

and I answered that since our complaint about the overly salty foie gras didn't seem to matter, and since we had just sent back a bottle of wine, I doubted that they'd have let him switch his order, and didn't want to influence his perception of it with my feelings about the appetizer portion. And yes, it does look like something from the "Anti-Dinner Gallery of Regrettable Dishes"!

I had the liver with onions. There had been much discussion with my server, suggesting medium rare for the liver as a minimum, which I agreed to (having wanted even less cooking) but it arrived well done

Aside from the overcooked liver, this dish actually kind of worked - the crispy smashed potatoes, the peas, and the tomatoes worked with the vinegary sauce and the liver, and as I had already adjusted my expectations downward, I was able to get some enjoyment from the dish.

However, I just don't get it. It was an all-around lousy dinner, and we went in with open minds and great attitudes. I expected a good "bistro" meal, not "haute cuisine", and certainly didn't get either. What gives?

[Nathan]

I don't get it either (the food that is).

the wine program is famous for two things (not its overall selection):

1. having numerous half bottles (many unavailable at all elsewhere).

2. almost no markup over retail.

welll...Pinot Blanc/Bianco is a clone of Pinot Gris/Grigio....DNA wise they're identical. which means that differences have to do with the terroir and treatment....not the grapes per se. (unless you're talking about American Pinot Blancs which are apparently actually usually Muscadet (they accidentally planted the wrong vines in California)).

regardless, considering the different origins and producers...I'm sure these wines were quite different.

[SaltySnack]

I had late lunch/dinner here a week or two ago and was actually very surprised at how good the food was. Granted I only ordered the skirt steak salad, but the meat was cooked perfectly and very flavorful. The other people with me ordered the french onion soup and the burger and then maybe the hangar steak, not actually sure what kind of steak the person ordered. They both seemed very happy with their meal.

No drinks and our server was very spacy especially on the refills. We also never received any bread, and we saw the table next to us get bread.

[Nathan]

the burger is the only thing there I've had that I would bother to eat again. a friend did like the skirt steak salad.

[erha2]

i have never had a good meal there (food and service). the tribeca location is definitely a bit better but still wildly inconsistent.

[oakapple]

I've had good meals there a couple of times. Nothing stellar, but never bad. My sense is that, on any given day, anything on their menu can be done well, but whether it will be is a crap shoot. The place is too big, and Mark Murphy is no longer keeping his eye on the ball.

I've always done my own wine ordering there, and I've found some terrific half-bottles, but I don't ask a server's advice.

[hshiau]

Same here. Wildly inconsistent is definitely the right word for both the food and the service. However, being a block away and reasonably priced, we're going to continue to go.

[markk]

Same here.  Wildly inconsistent is definitely the right word for both the food and the service.  However, being a block away and reasonably priced, we're going to continue to go.

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Well, if you're a block away and reasonably priced, can you suggest some good places for pre-opera dinners?

[markk]

I've always done my own wine ordering there, and I've found some terrific half-bottles, but I don't ask a server's advice.

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Maybe I missed it, but I didn't find the St.-Georges St.-Emilion (I think it was) that you had mentioned previously. I was looking for it, having had some very delicious ones (and thinking very highly of your opinions, btw).

Out of curiosity, I had asked our server about the wines. She had told me that the Argentinian Malbec was too big and heavy for her, and it turned out to be thin and bitter. I could have used some help choosing a replacement red, and don't know why at that point she didn't offer to send over somebody who could've helped. She also told me that the Gevery-Chambertin was delicious, which it was not. I guess it's my own fault for not asking for a wine person, if they have one.

[hshiau]

Same here.  Wildly inconsistent is definitely the right word for both the food and the service.  However, being a block away and reasonably priced, we're going to continue to go.

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Well, if you're a block away and reasonably priced, can you suggest some good places for pre-opera dinners?

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I AM reasonably priced but it's reasonably priced for the Lincoln Center area!

[markk]

Same here.  Wildly inconsistent is definitely the right word for both the food and the service.  However, being a block away and reasonably priced, we're going to continue to go.

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Well, if you're a block away and reasonably priced, can you suggest some good places for pre-opera dinners?

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I AM reasonably priced but it's reasonably priced for the Lincoln Center area!

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And can you suggest any other restaurants in the area, or are you suggesting that I keep going back there before the opera and try for a good night?

[hshiau]

And can you suggest any other restaurants in the area, or are you suggesting that I keep going back there before the opera and try for a good night?

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Sorry for the flippant remark. I like Telepan on 69th & Columbus. They have a really good deal on their 4 and 5 course menus. I find most of the other restaurants in the few block radius to be hit or miss unless you go high end.

[markk]

And can you suggest any other restaurants in the area, or are you suggesting that I keep going back there before the opera and try for a good night?

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Sorry for the flippant remark. I like Telepan on 69th & Columbus. They have a really good deal on their 4 and 5 course menus. I find most of the other restaurants in the few block radius to be hit or miss unless you go high end.

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No, it wasn't flippant at all! I started it after all.

I tried Telepan last year and had a dreadful meal, though.

[hshiau]

Ooh. Sorry to hear that. We've been several times and haven't had a bad meal. How about Cesca on 76th & Amsterdam? Or is that too far uptown?