Fairway Cafe

[MartyL]

Today's NY Times reports that Mitchell London's upstairs cafe at Fairway (where I've enjoyed many a brunch) is now a steakhouse by night. According to the blurb, they serve pasta, fish and burgers as well. Note that they have no liquor license, so it is BYOB (but bring glassware unless you want to drink your wine out of tumblers).

I haven't been, but am eager to hear any reports.

Link to NY Times Blurb (may require subscription)

[Steve Plotnicki]

There is hardly an announcement that involves steaks where Mrs. P and I don't take notice. Oh we pay no attention to those announcements from out of town steakhouses. Like who cared when they announced that Ruth's Chris was going to open (if I open a steak house I will be sure to call it "Lillie's Steve.") But an announcement that Fairway was going to have a steakhouse at night seemed to be the real deal New York City thing going on. And since the blurb in the Times said it was okay to BYO, how could we pass this up? So since I am leaving in the morning for a continent with a greater tradition of dining then my native one, what could be a better sendoff then the thing we do best here, a nice big, fat, juicy steak.

I have to tell you I'm not a Fairway person. Everytime I've ever gone into Fairway people seem to be either pushing each other out of the way, and/ or they are screaming at each other. I prefer a slightly more pristine shopping environment and it probably has been at least ten years since I've been inside. So I was a little apprehensive about our visit. But fortunately within five feet of entering the store there was a sign hanging from the ceiling that said "Now Open, Mitchel London Steakhouse, blah, blah blah." Of course this didn't help us much as it didn't say where in the store it was. So Mrs. P and I started to prowl around figuring we'd find it. "Where's the butcher Mrs. P said (now she's a sharp one eh?) Our confusion was further complicated by our finding a new sign about 20 feet from the old one that said, "Opening Soon, Mitchel London Steakhouse." Uh oh. So we decided to ask someone and we found a guy who was stamping the price onto cans of something. But he didn't know what we were talking about. So we split up. Finally after about 3 or 4 minutes of working the aisles while I both searched for the secret entrance to the steakhouse and avoided shopping carts being pushed by old ladies whose style of grocery shopping is to walk in exactly the center of the aisle at a pace that would make a slug seem like it was sprinting, I miraculously ran into Mrs. P who when she saw me, pointed up a flight of stairs near the front of the store. Aha, Fairway has a cafe. Who knew?

But this cloud had a silver lining because when we got to the top of the stairs and walked into the cafe, there lay a display case with gorgeous cuts of meat inside. NY Strips, Ribeye, giant Filet Mignon and double cut Lamb Chops. And next to the display case lay some pretty fine looking side dishes. We entered the room which was decorated in a style I can describe as "faux warehouse." Kind of like what the stockroom at Pathmark must look like but this had some gift baskets and other tchochke strewn about. The room has about fifteen tables that were well spread apart. They sat us at a table for four and they took our wine away.

A few minutes later the waiter returned with the wine having been opened and two water glasses. "Don't you have any wine glasses I asked?" No, we use these glasses for wine, and he began to pour my 1990 Paul Avril Clos des Papes into a water glass. Alrighty. But we were troopers and we both ordered salads (caeser for me and iceberg with blue cheese for Mrs. P,) NY Strips rare and side dishes. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. The way they work it, it's a price fixed $35 a person for the salad, steak, and side dishes of mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and creamed spinach. They also offer a series of additional side dishes like potato gratin, parsnip puree etc. for $4 an order. Could this be real? Could they deliver a top notch steak at that price? After we placed our order, Mitchel London himself came over to our table to schmooze with us. "What did you order? Strips, rare, ceaser iceberg? Good, good." I asked him what was up with there being no wine glasses? "It's under discussion?" he replied. Discussion with who I pressed? "My wife" and he laughed.

Let's skip past the salads which were fine but ordinary and get to the main attraction. Other then the fact that I like my meat a bit dry aged, and these were on the fresh side, the steak was terrific. It was a juicy hunk of meat that must have been a few inches thick. It had an even char crust that did not extend much beyond the surface, and it was dotted with threads of marbled fat throughout the steak. You could have cut it with a butter knife. They served it with a beautiful plate of mixed mushrooms that were showered with chopped garlic, a large portion of creamy and slightly cheesie potato gratin and a healthy size portion of home style creamed spinach. Home meaning the spinach wasn't completely moist and soft. It was chopped in a course manner and it was slightly undercooked.

The steaks were so big that both Mrs. P and I couldn't finish them. But we did have room for a plate for Haagen Das vanilla ice cream with some homemade caramel sauce. And the grand total for all of this was $76.00. What an unbelievable bargain. So if you don't mind eating in a warehouse environment without much decor, sitting on metal chairs that are both cold and hard, and drinking your wine from water glasses (at least until they get them,) Mitchel London steakhouse is for you. But I guess that describes me as well because as we left to say goodbye to Mitchel, we told him we'll be back. And we meant it.

[Fat Guy]

What you're describing probably can't be done consistently over time for $35 in Manhattan when no wine is being sold. Probably a good idea to get there right away and often -- and to bring your own glasses.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Well that is why I was so skeptical. I know the meat must cost at least half of that or more. But then again I thought they had their system down pat. Maybe they don't pay any rent and Fairway looks at it as a loss leader to get people into the store.

[Fat Guy]

Plotnicki, I'm sure there's an explanation -- the Fairway people aren't stupid -- but the cafes and prepared foods sections at supermarkets are almost never loss leaders. They're usually the highest profit areas in the joint. The rest of the store is the loss leader designed to get people to dine at the cafe, buy pre-made deli salads, and otherwise get ripped off. My fear would simply be that there's an opening budget that allows for a certain category and portion size of meat, and that they won't be able to keep it at that level. But we shall see. Certainly, I'll grab a bottle of wine and head there soon to establish a benchmark. Then we can watch.

[jaybee]

I've eaten lunch at the cafe many times. It seems to make sense since they invested in the kitchen, equipment, the space, tables, etc, and they supply the meat to simply extend the cafe into a steakhouse at night. The lunch food is very good. The tarts and pastries are excellent, as are the omelettes and prepared dishes. I will have to get over there soon! Thanks for the heads up.

[Fat Guy]

But tarts, pastries, and omelettes are among the lowest food-cost items in the culinary universe. Steak is among the highest. Not that food cost is a particularly good indicator of profitability, but still the whole steakhouse money-making formula depends on high volume and strong liquor sales.

[MartyL]

Jill and I ate there tonight. Everything was delicious and the portions generous. The sides deserve special mention (especially the garlicky roasted mushrooms and creamy potato gratin). Mitchell London came over and was very gracious. We chatted a bit about wine (he likes Burgundy). Later he brought over some chocolate cake and lemon meringue pie for us.

Not sure their BYO days will last long, as the waiter told us they are applying for a liquor license.

[Doolittle]

We went last nite and it was great. They offer Strip, Ribeye, & Filet as part of the $35 deal. We were started w/ a gratis plate of Babaganoush, olives and warm pita. The apps our table chose were the onion soup and the caeser salad. Each was massive and could easily have served two people. One of the diners w/ us wanted to substitute Lamb Chops and she got two rare, double-cut, rib chops that had been marinated in garlic, olive oil & parsley. I got the ribeye, grilled medium rare.....yum. The steak was huge, approx. 3 inches thick and 24 ozs. It was well charred and rosy pink on the inside. The sides were served family style....lovely mashed potatos, mushrooms w/ whole roasted heads of garlic , and the best of all, chopped creamed spinach.

This was all washed down w/ bottles of Ravenswood Lodi ranch Zin. (On sale, along w/ the Mendacino and Almador single lot Zins, at Michael Towne Wines in Bklyn Heights, for $12.99 !!!)

We couldn't think of ordering dessert, but were given a vanilla ice cream w/ caramel sauce on the house.

Go there hungry or don't go at all.

[cabrales]

Encouraged by the posts in this thread, I proceeded to The Steakhouse at Fairway for lunch. I wondered whether the steaks were available for brunch/lunch on Sundays, and called in advance in the late morning. I asked "Do you have steak now", to which the response was "yes". I further asked whether Beacon Wine & Liquor, which is directly across the street was then open, to which the answer was "no". From such exchanges, I would have imagined there was no ambiguity about my intentions to go to the restaurant for lunch! Imagine my disappointment when I arrived and discovered that the Fairway Cafe has a completely different, non-steak-oriented menu in place for lunch today.

I politely asked why I had been told there was steak, to which the laughable response was that "Steak and Eggs" (a different kind of steak) was on the brunch menu. Pl---ease. If a place that is a steakhouse at least part-time receives a call regarding steak being available, steaks and eggs, the brunch dish, should not count; at least the dining room team member should clarify what the situation was. I was very dissatisfied with the restaurant on this account, as I had had the foresight to inquire and had been mislead.

Still, I proceeded to be seated and ordered the 1/2 roasted chicken with french fries and garlic mayonnaise (between $8 and 10). Signfiicant utilization of rosemary, and parts of the skin of the chicken were fine. However, the intrinsic quality of the chicken was mediocre (this is a refrain in my review of most chicken dishes in the US) and the dish overall was average-minus. The fries were average-minus, and the garlic mayo lacked robustness. Overall, a disappointing performance by the restaurant, although I obviously did not sample the steak.

The service seemed amateurish. For example, I brought an inexpensive bottle of CA red (thank goodness it was only an average wine) and the dining room team member opened it in a way that left 1/3 of the cork floating in the wine. Also, as mentioned by Steve P, there were no wine glasses. Members contemplating BYO would be well-advised to bring their own glasses; the ones available are not acceptable.

The Steakhouse's menu is as follows. The Steakhouse operates from Tuesday through Sunday, 5 pm through 9 pm. Note that no lunch availability is in place.

A. The Meal Complete: USDA Prime Dry-Aged Steaks for $35

-- Choice of: Caesar salad, French onion soup gratin, Iceberg lettuce with Roquefort, Boiled shrimp ($4 supp).

-- Choice of: NY Strip steak, Filet, Rib Eye, Steak au Poivre (sauces: Bernaise; shallot butter; Peter Luger sauce ), Served with Creamed Spinach, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Mushrooms

B. First Course, a La Carte

-- Caesar Salad, 6.95

-- French Onion Soup, 6.95

-- Iceberg lettuce, etc. 5.00

-- Boiled shrimp, 12.00

C. Sides, a La Carte (all $4): Fries; Creamed Spinach; Mashed Potatoes; Roasted Mushrooms; Macaroni & Cheese; Parsnip Turnip Puree; Hash Browns; Potatoes Gratin; Roasted Red Onion

D. Entrees, a La Carte

Two jumbo crab cakes, 14.50

Grilled marinated tuna, 14.00

Pair of grilled double lamp chops, 18.50

Cornish game hens, 11.00

Fairway burger with fries, 10.00

Rigatoni with sweet sausage and arugula, 11.00

Penne with roasted tomato and basil, 11.00

Market fish

E. Desserts (all $4.50)

Old-fashioned Chocolate Layer CAke

Chocolate Galette

Apple Pie a la Mode

Vanilla or Chocolate Ice-Cream, served with caramel or hot chocolate sauce

Cupcakes

Lemon Meringue Tart

[Suzanne F]

Here's the piece about Mitchel London Steakhouse at Fairway that Florence Fabricant had in the Dining In/Out section on 10/23:

Groceries and Dinner

Tablecloths and votive candles in a restaurant are nothing special. But in the Fairway on Broadway and 74th Street? Up the sawdust-strewn stairs to the second floor, what is a cafe by day gets dressed for dinner as a steakhouse. Mitchel London, the chef, sears cuts of prime beef and serves them with creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and sautéed mushrooms for $35, including onion soup or salad. Pasta dishes, fish, lamb chops and hamburgers are also available. Chocolate dominates the desserts. There is no wine license or even wine glasses, so your own bottle will be poured into a tumbler.

Seems pretty clear to me on the time it's a steakhouse, and that they use tumblers. I guess details are not always remembered.

[Fat Guy]

I've now been twice to the Mitchel London Steakhouse at Fairway and can confirm that it is an incredible, one-of-a-kind, shocking, get-it-while-it-lasts deal of historic proportions.

I'd like to think that, were I a restaurateur, I'd approach the enterprise as London does. He talks to the customers at every table, listening politely to the idiots and intently to those who know what they're talking about. He's also a conscientious executive chef who will no doubt tinker with all the recipes until he gets them exactly right. And he's comping desserts and side dishes left and right in order to solicit opinions, strut his stuff, and build customer loyalty.

The big question, of course, is how can this place sell a $35 meal that includes a very generous portion of good soup or salad, an approximately 1 ½ inch thick USDA Prime dry-aged New York strip weighing around 22 ounces (or a hefty rib steak or a nice looking filet mignon), a choice of sauces including a correct bearnaise, and three generous side dishes of creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, and high-quality wild mushrooms? I asked, and the answer I got was: "If you knew what they do down there just in olives every day you wouldn't worry. Fear not for Fairway." So the implication seems to be that there's a subsidy or other arrangement that relieves him of the need to register much of a profit. Considering that the USDA Prime dry-aged steaks purchased downstairs at the butcher counter (more on this later) will cost you approximately $24 each, you are essentially getting a meal prepared in a restaurant for less than the raw ingredients would cost you at home. Add to that the BYO policy and the smart money is on dining at Mitchel London's as often as possible until something breaks -- either they get a liquor license, raise prices, reduce portions, or whatever. (Of course the cheap-ass neighborhood clientele is already gaming it out; I noticed that a few people have already discovered the meal is plenty big for two people of average appetite to share at $17.50 apiece.) And if they never do any of that, I will be a regular there for life.

The steaks are at the high end of the quality spectrum, though not fully on par with the very best steakhouse steaks (or the steaks from Lobel's). They do not appear to be from the highest category of USDA Prime, but rather from somewhere in the middle -- which still makes them better than what you'll get at most steakhouses where the same meal would cost nearly twice as much money. They don't seem to be aged quite enough, so they don't have as fully developed a mineral and beefy flavor as they could. They are insufficiently salted. And the cooking apparatus is unfortunately a grill rather than a broiler, so the crust tastes more burnt than caramelized. Of the five New York strips I've seen cooked there, four were overcooked -- two by an acceptable margin and two by an unacceptable margin. So there are a few things that could use some work. But overall it's an excellent piece of meat, and Mitchel London's obvious desire to make improvements gives me confidence that these problems will be licked rather quickly.

For comparison, immediately after my last meal I purchased a steak at Fairway's butcher counter that was close in appearance and size to the ones at the restaurant. It cost just under $24. I salted it and cooked it under my infrared broiler. My steak was in many ways better than Mitchel London's because mine had the right amount of salt, was cooked with an overhead heat source (allowing the grease to flow away from the steak without flaring up, as it would with a grill that heats from the bottom), and was at exactly the right stage of doneness thanks to my Polder digital temperature probe. Mitchel London's steak was a better piece of meat, however. I've got to guess that he's skimming the best steaks from the butcher department. So even at $24 you can't actually buy the steak that is being served upstairs for $35 (including all that other stuff).

The waitstaff is relatively incompetent. A lot of training is still needed. The waiters seem to mean well but most of them are barely qualified to be busboys. Were it not for Mitchel London's personal supervision of the operation, the whole thing would be a disaster.

If you're unsure about what to order, just ask Mitchel London. He's entirely frank about which pieces of meat are the best. Right now he's recommending the strips and the lamb chops. When he gets some rib steaks in that he thinks are worth recommending, I'll happily try one.

The sides and appetizers are coming along nicely. The onion soup is a bit too sweet but the cheese is of good quality. I'd like to see the amount of broth reduced and the amount of cheese increased. The Caesar salad is made with a serious dressing that includes actual raw eggs. It is made daily and kept under rigorous refrigeration so as to allay safety concerns. It's the best Caesar salad dressing you're going to find in a New York restaurant, and it comes by its robustness honestly -- there's no cheating with Tabasco. The blue cheese dressing is also impeccable. The creamed spinach is more spinach-with-a-creamy-sauce than creamed spinach, but it seems to be thickening up a bit. The mashed potatoes suck and should be eliminated, and apparently the plan is to replace them with the gratin. Good idea, because the gratin is spot-on. The mushrooms are amazing, roasted wild mushrooms (well, they're probably wild but they could just be very well cultivated -- who can tell anymore?) with whole garlic cloves mixed in. The macaroni and cheese is also executed well, if you have room for extra sides (which you won't). I look forward to sampling the rest of the menu. Mitchel London says his fish and chips are good, and points out that the steak sandwich is filled with about seven ounces of the same Prime meat that comprises the New York strip. (There are several items that are not on the menu but are either written on signs or sold by word-of-mouth.)

A couple of other nice touches: Real pepper grinders on the table, fresh widemouth bottles of Heinz ketchup, Eli's farmer's bread with butter, and a hummus or babaganouj snack with warm pita presented as soon as you're seated.

The stemware situation seems to be on the mend. I brought glasses the first time around, and I offered to buy the restaurant a couple of dozen cheap wine glasses just to save me the trouble. On my return visit, I learned that Mrs. London had gone to Crate & Barrel and purchased a few acceptable stems. They still had the stickers on them, actually.

Now, the desserts. Ah, the desserts. Well of course this is what Mitchel London does best: Upscale renditions of homestyle American baked goods. All the desserts are lovely, ranging from merely terrific to full-blown Jean Georges-quality. The old-fashioned chocolate layer cake is super-moist and tastes how Duncan Hines would taste were it made with good chocolate and otherwise refined into something non-artificial-tasting. The apple pie has a flaky, non-dense crust and the apples are well spiced and not too sweet. Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream is scooped over pretty much everything, and is also available with a nice hot caramel sauce. There's a lemon meringue tart that is clearly made with a lot of lemon juice -- it is the lemon equivalent of a good piece of key lime pie. Not on the menu, but visible in the display area, are an apple tarte-tatin (not as good as the apple pie) and rice crispy treats (a big seller in the East Side store). The best dessert by a mile, however, is the molten-center chocolate galette, which could easily give any three- or four-star pastry kitchen a run for its money. It's made with Callebaut, which is a notch or two below Valrhona in my opinion, but in this dessert it works well enough and the execution is so slick it's hard to complain. Actually, at $4.50, it would be perverse to complain. You'll get Callebaut and like it.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I only salt afterwards. I find that if I use a good quality sea salt that the steak never misses the salt in the cooking process. And I prefer the crunch of the salt against the meat as opposed to the salt melted into the char. Of course I could do both, but that would make it too salty. And if the steak costs $24 at the butcher, I'm probably not too far off at $17 wholesale.

The way they can make this thing work at $35 is if the economics allow them to work on a 200% markup instead of 300%. If dinner cost $50 instead of $35 (which is what it should cost,) that would seem about right. But if there is no cost for rent, decor, etc., maybe they can make it happen. Remember they already had a cafe there. How much more did they add to the mix by grabbing meat from the butcher case and staying open until 9:00pm? Doesn't sound like a lot of new overhead to me.

[Fat Guy]

And if the steak costs $24 at the butcher, I'm probably not too far off at $17 wholesale.

There's actually a sign right on the butcher counter at Fairway that claims the store doesn't make any profit on the USDA Prime dry-aged steaks. Given the weight loss from dry aging and how closely the steaks are already trimmed, I can believe it. I can't explain it, but I can believe it. Then again, after dining at the restaurant I bought $86 worth of groceries that I otherwise would have purchased elsewhere.

[tommy]

Then again, after dining at the restaurant I bought $86 worth of groceries that I otherwise would have purchased elsewhere.

bingo.

any time you get someone in your front door, you're in better shape than you were. any time you get even 23 cents extra out of a customer, you're in better shape than you were. that's part of the theory behind "super-sizing" at mcdonald's and its ilke.

[anusha1]

I know I'm a little late in the thread, but how is the atmosphere in the evening? (I've been to the cafe for lunch and brunch....) Would it be awkward to dine alone at the steakhouse?

[Fat Guy]

The atmosphere in the evening is pretty much the same as during the day; just a little less crowded and fewer kids.

[ahr]

It's true, all of it. My steak, though overcooked (ordered rare; done medium at one end, medium-rare at the other), was delicious, everything else was no less than good, and that chocolate galette...

One surprise was Mr. London himself. For some reason, I was expecting Mitchel (one 'l') London to be some tall, elegant Brit like our Wilfrid; instead, he turned out to be this haimisch Jewish fella.

Visit before the place shuts down, raises prices, messes with the steak, or becomes impossibly crowded.

[porkpa]

I feel kind of ignorant. I assume that everyone here knows of Michael London. Until this thread came to the list I had never heard of him. From what I hear here, I assume that he is a baker and/or a pastery chef or maker. Please relieve my ignorance.

Porkpa

[Suvir Saran]

I feel kind of ignorant. I assume that everyone here knows of Michael London. Until this thread came to the list I had never heard of him. From what I hear here, I assume that he is a baker and/or a pastery chef or maker. Please relieve my ignorance.

Porkpa

He was the first celebrity chef that the Mayor of NYC had. He was privat chef to Mayor Ed Koch.

Rozanne Gold was also a private chef to the same mayor.

And it just happens that he makes the best pancakes in NYC and also some of the best pastries and also great fried chicken. His cup cakes are many notches higher than any you will find around the country. But there are never enough to get a good sampling.

[cakewalk]

There are two (two!!) Mitchel London cafes on Ninth Avenue -- one on the corner of 40th, the other (a larger one) between 35th and 36th. I stopped in there one afternoon only to discover that they close at 5:00, and it was 4:50, so of course I left. This past Sunday I thought I'd give it a try. And guess what? They're closed on Sundays (both of them). So now it's a challenge -- Mitchel London or bust! I have to try those apple tarts.

[cabrales]

Of course the cheap-ass neighborhood clientele is already gaming it out; I noticed that a few people have already discovered the meal is plenty big for two people of average appetite to share at $17.50 apiece.

Steven -- I'd actually consider ordering a 1/2 portion, given how large the strip steak is described as being and my attempts at dieting. The $17.50 would be a really good deal, and I am not a dessert person to begin with (except for a few very special desserts and Meyer Lemon-based desserts).

[tighe]

Did anyone who tried this place visit the restroom?

During a visit to NYC last year, I stopped in for a cup of coffee and a bite after some full-contact shopping the market. The only thing remarkable about the experience was that it was one of the most disgusting restaurant restrooms I've ever encountered. I'll spare the details. I understand the steak house is new incarnation, so hopefully that problem was addressed.

[cabrales]

For last night's meal with Nina, CathyL and her husband, I ordered a whole portion of the dinner, as nobody was eager to share.

We began with a complimentary hummous spread, with a chilli-like kick at the end, and with embedded olives. Pita and other breads were brought to us. The caesar that followed was average, but the dining room team members were accomodating with respect to my request for extra anchovies. (In general, the service was relatively inattentive, considering the lack of other diners.) The strip steak was nice, but I had ordered mine black and blue (to reinforce this, I said "very rare, literally"). It was at least rare, and therefore, as reported by members, at least slightly overcooked. For me, too much of the fat (if any) had been trimmed.

The restaurant accommodated our requests for changes to the included sides without charging us. Other members of our dining party sampled, for example, the red onions, even though the parsnip puree was not available. Overall, the sides did not seem large; each was initially presented on a large plate, but that represented six orders. Thus, I asked for an extra plate of mushrooms and those were, appropriately, not charged. CathyL and I both suspected the mushrooms included mousserons (spelling) as well as oysters, although the moussersons looked slightly different from others I had previously sampled and the roasted garlic overwhelmed the aromas of the mushrooms somewhat. The spinach was poor, as Nina mentioned, lacking onctuousness and being limp.

The BYO wines we sampled were Chateau du Couvent Pomerol 1998, Malbec Weinert 1996, and Bahans Haut-Brion 1998.

[Fat Guy]

Cabrales: Skirt steak?