rm (Closed)

[southern girl]

Admin: the current active thread for discussion of rm may be found here.

I read a Q & A with Rick Moonen in NRN discussing his new venture, RM(where Lure used to be). Has anyone been or heard anything? He mentioned he didn't "bring" anyone of the dishes he was known for at Oceana to rm...but was producing the same style of cuisine.

Edited December 15, 2004 by slkinsey (log)

[CathyL]

It was favorably reviewed in the NY Post yesterday. Click.

[southern girl]

I also found this review in NY Metro click

[tommy]

3rd hand for y'all, but mrs. tommy tells me that she probably wouldn't return.

warm greeting, small portions, slow service, dishes ranging from really good to "eh."

i shall try this place an offer an expert opinion soon.

anyone been recently? i find it hard to believe that no egullety-types have darkened its door.

[TCD]

anyone been recently?

Haven't been to RM, but I dined at Oceana two weeks ago and it is still going strong.

[johnjohn]

Some of my best meals in NY had been at Oceana when Moonen was in the kitchen. I was really looking forward to RM, but have also heard some so-so reviews. I'm going to give it some more time, than check it out.

johnjohn

[Robert Nesta Marley]

i just can't get over how "rm" reminds me just a little too much of "mk" (chicago reference to the name of michael kornick's place, opened at least 4 or 5? years ago). i mean, really . . . .

edited to include the similarities in the all-lowercase name, even!

[Hank]

Had the pleasure of eating at RM twice. Once at a pre-opening by invitation only that was a bit hectic, but when we went on our own the food was wonderful while the service was bad, but I am sure that Rick has taken care of that by now. There is no excuse when our wine arrives after we are finishing our appetizers and someone else's food is brought to our table. That said the Spaghettini Bolognese, lobster instead of meat in a tomato sauce was wonderful as were the scallops. The cod was as good as it gets. There was nothing that we tried that reminded us of Oceana. Very different preparations. And while we are on the subject of Oceana my advise is GO. The sous chef, Michael, who worked for quite some time with Rick has also left and the new chef Cornelius Gallagher served us one of the best meals I can remember. Totally different from anything that Rick ever did. He has worked at Daniel, Peacock Alley, Lespinasse, Bouley, El Bulli in Spain and L'Esperance in France. We were most highly impressed with this chef. Just try his yellowfin tuna tartare with a topping of horseradish sorbet. Outstanding. We will be going back in the near future and will gladly report to you our experiences. Some people have mentioned to me that the prix fixe at Oceana is $68.00 while at RM it is only $55.00. Don't be fooled folks. That price, as soon as all the tables are filled will certainly go much higher.

[tommy]

rm was written up in the new york times today.

[Suzanne F]

Notes on meal at restaurant rm, 12/4/02

I worked as a line cook and the pastry chef for almost 2 years when the site was Match Uptown, and interviewed there when it was being turned into Lure. So going to restaurant rm was like revisiting the apartment where I’d grown up. The contours of the place were familiar, but it had a new paint job and someone else’s possessions scattered around. They’d even done some renovation, which did them credit (although that probably came about during the brief period in which it was Lure NYC). I couldn’t bring myself to check if the back walk-in was no longer dripping with sewage, nor if they had found a way to make the minuscule restrooms even just seem larger. At least the old second-floor employee-locker-room-cum-dry-storage-cage had been turned into a rather appealing lounge and dining room. The original ground-floor bar and dining room have a much warmer look now, and a large semi-private banquette replaces the sushi bar. The average age of the diners was 2 to 3 times what it was when the place was Match; even I felt young there! So it appears to have become a neighborhood place for the Park Avenue denizens, instead of attracting the young and loud.

Immediately upon his approach, the waiter was thrown into a tizzy by my request for a dry sherry. Why oh why does that cause such consternation? It took an awfully long time until he could bring 2 bottles from the bar for my inspection, since he had no idea what “dry sherry” means. At least they had a Lustau Palo Cortado; and in all that confusion, they neglected to put it on my bill. Well, that made up for something else later ...

The rolls offered included a seeded sourdough, onion sourdough, and a simple French roll. Instead of butter or oil, a white bean purée with lemon juice and olive oil.

The amuse was a tiny cup of cauliflower soup with celery root and apple. Many patrons around me suggested that it go on the menu as a regular item, and I had to agree. Unctuous, creamy but not too rich, and the tiny bits of fruit and veg made a very nice contrast.

For my app, I unwittingly chose one of the items the NY Times had pooh-poohed: Blue Island Oysters with Cucumber Sorbet and Tennessee Paddlefish Caviar. Actually, I thought it sounded rather good; and it almost was. The Times was right about the scoops of sorbet being just a bit too large for the oyster/sorbet/roe combination to be eaten in one bite. But that gave me a chance to combine the elements in several different permutations. The sorbet could have been a little more cuke-y, a little less sweet, and less bitter. I initially thought there might have been some yuzu juice in it, but the captain said the chef does not use it because he can’t find a reliable supply (of the fruit, I suppose). So that meant the bitterness came from the lemon juice – which I also noticed in the bean purée. The paddlefish caviar was rather nice, although quite salty.

With the oysters, I had a glass of a non-vintage Nicholas Feuillate ($13).

Main: Orata with Olive-Caper Relish, Roasted Garlic, and Gnocchi. A glass of St. Joseph ________??? ($12) I love orata, and this was a beautifully cooked fillet, with very crisp skin. BUT: overall, this dish is a salt-lover’s dream. On top of the fish were capers and a brunoise of black olives and tomato; underneath was the roast garlic purée, more capers, slivers of olives, and the gnocchi; along the side was a thin line of olivada. The garlic tasted like a version of skordalia, with a base of potato purée mixed with roasted garlic purée; quite tasty, actually. My only complaint about the gnocchi is that they were few, and tiny: they were quite delicious, almost like nickel-sized potato croquettes, crisp on the outside and smooth on the inside. I could have eaten a whole plate of them. A mostly successful dish, if one could ignore the salt (difficult to ignore, though) and the smallish portion size.

I skipped dessert – nothing appealed much to me – and instead had the now-ubiquitous cheese plate, at a $5 supplement. A mistake. A little each of manchego, Tomme, and Ste. Nectaire, garnished with a tiny portion of quince paste, 6 paper-thin slices of apple, and a small pile of pomegranate seeds. Good walnut-raisin bread, and slices of ficelle. Overall, totally undistinguished. The glass of Elysium (black muscat) from Quadry in California ($8) was quite lovely, though.

I did receive mignardises after my cheese, with my coffee: 2 tiny chocolate cakes with a slightly strange, unknown flavor, and a demitasse of caramelized popcorn and pumpkin seeds.

Other than the unwarranted supplement for the cheese, the price seemed fair: $55 for 3 courses, with a few extras.

One curious occurrence: I noticed on the wine list a Shooting Star Blue (Something). Piqued my curiosity, since I very much like Jed Steele's wines, and this was one I'd never heard of before. Asking the captain about it resulted in several very long absences on his part, with the eventual report: no one knew anything about it; the place had inherited the contents of the wine cellar from the previous owners. ???????

But now I know, I can’t go home again.

Edited December 19, 2002 by Suzanne F (log)

[ellenesk]

I ate at RM two weeks ago. The food was very good, however, the service was slow and.

The skate was excellent, as was the tuna appetizer, and the snapper appetizer. Desserts were teriffic, and they have an excellent assortment of cheeses. Hopefully the service will improve

Ellen

[Wilfrid]

Badly beaten up by Jonathan Gold in January's Gourmet magazine. He liked Fresh better.

[Suzanne F]

Now that I've tried Thalassa, I prefer it to both fresh. AND rm. But I've only been to each once.

Admin: the current active thread for discussion of rm may be found here.

Edited December 15, 2004 by slkinsey (log)

[Al_Dente]

When and if I ever get up to NYC, I might be dining at this place called RM. Anyone ever been there? Opinions? Suggestions?

Thanks!

[adegiulio]

I had reservations to go a while back, but wouldn't you know it, there was a giant blackout that day... . I want to go back and look forward to reading some reviews here...

Anthony

[mikeyrad]

Here are a few posts (including a Fat Guy review) of rm from last summer's Restaurant Week.

[Al_Dente]

Here are a few posts (including a Fat Guy review) of rm from last summer's Restaurant Week.

Cool, thanks!

[Lreda]

Went here early Friday evening and were extremely disappointed in the food. An amuse of Rockfish was served to us in a coconut-citrus broth that was ok. We had the 3 course prie-fixe, I had yellowfin tuna with crispy carrots and what I remember to be a sweet miso sauce, average at best, little flavor in either the tuna or sauce. Sue had hamachi with blood oranges that was also uninspired. For the main course I had lobster and it's sad to think that I can't remember a single thing that the lobster was served with because by this time I was getting a little peeved. I might add service was excellent and I had every chance to complain but where to start, besides it's just not my style, I just don't return. I really didn't want to write this as I find the place attractive and I felt bad for them as we left at 7:30 and there was only 4 tables seated but I'm looking at my bill for the dinner and it came to $268 with tip and I'm asking myself for what? In addition they sat a 3 top right next to us when the dining room was empty and I had to listen to this woman on her cell phone, waiting for her guests and the menu and restaurant clearly ask the cell phones be turned off or at least to vibrate. I even mentioned this and she couldn't care less nor did the staff. Should have gone to Oceana but Sue had a marvelous lunch here recently. Chalk it up to experience.

[oakapple]

A friend and I went to rm on Saturday night. Our meal was outstanding. To start, I ordered the scallops, which were delicious, and came in a more-than-generous portion. The highlight of the meal was sturgeon with caviar. I would rate this as the best entrée I've eaten all year. The portion was a tad small, but I suppose when it's this good you wish it will never end. In a word: Wow! The apple cake dessert was nothing special. That was followed by tea. Rm has a separate tea menu, and they make quite a production out of serving it. They have a custom strainer for separating the leaves (unbagged) from the hot water. The Chinese tea I chose was well worth the extra $5.

For dinner, you cannot order a la carte. The prix fixe menu is $68 for three courses. Rm (named for chef Rick Moonen) is known as a seafood house, so I was surprised to see that one of the main course options was a porterhouse for two ($20pp supplement). I like my porterhouse as much as the next guy, but I can't imagine choosing it at rm. There were a few other meat dishes available (e.g., a venison loin), but overwhelmingly the menu is tilted towards seafood.

There are also tasting menus at $80 or $100. We were going to choose the $80 tasting, but we were told: "The kitchen has decided not to offer the tasting menus tonight." It was because of this that I ended up with the sturgeon, so I am not complaining too bitterly.

Some of the posts on the older rm thread (can these be merged?) mentioned long waits, and we experienced that. The appetizers came out rather quickly, but it was at least a half-hour wait for the mains after our first plates had been taken away. We were in no hurry (and obviously neither was the restaurant), but the food should have come a bit more quickly.

Aside from the long wait for our entrées, service was wonderful: polite, attentive, and smooth. The space is tastefully dedorated in a way that slightly resembles the interior of a cruise ship. The tables are discretely spaced, and the ambiant noise level is low.

On this showing, rm certainly seemed to deserve its three-star status.

[Pan]

Great post as usual from you, Oakapple. Why do you suppose they didn't do the tasting menu that night?

[oakapple]

Why do you suppose they didn't do the tasting menu that night?

←

I would have to guess that they were short-handed in the kitchen. They didn't admit this, but I can't think of another explanation. At first, we thought they might be extraordinarily busy that night, but when we left (8:30 or 9:00pm) the restaurant still wasn't full.

[slkinsey]

rm has a nice web site that features, among other things, a page with pfds of all their major reviews.

[slkinsey]

According to Florence Fabricant in today's NY Times, rm has closed its doors and Rick Moonen is set to open two seafood restaurants at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.