Eleven Madison Park

[sophie]

I will be going to 11 Madison Park for dinner this weekend, and I wanted to know any tips in order to get the best experience.  Any better tables, values from the wine menu, must-have dishes - any other descriptions?  How does this place compare with Union Square Cafe?

[Bux]

Unfairly perhaps, I was underwhelmed my first time at USC and although I've always meant to go back, I've never made it. I've been back to several times to 11 Madison Park in it's shorter life. Several of my visits have been with people who know people there, but my first visit was without any introduction and the food was as good as at any subsequent visit.

Better tables, as at most restaurant may well depend on some subjective interest. I've sat all over the place and when I've seen the chef come out and greet a diner, I didn't think that table was a special place though clearly those people would have been seated at the best table. I think the layout is democratic.

Just about everything I've had has been enjoyable, but nothing so special that I craved it again the next time. I've often thought the appetizers were specially great buys and have considered putting together my own tasting menu by having three appetizers rather than an appetizer and a main course. The food is very updated and in its way, very NYC contemporary, French classic. For me, it's comfort food with a little edge.

The wines seem to be good buys in general. I will never get over finding a Jurancon Sec that cost just over $20 at the restaurant in a wine shop for a price in the high teens. It hardly seemed worth the trouble of pulling the cork and recycling the bottle for the difference. Not all the wines are that well priced, but keep an eye out for the Jurancon Sec if it might complement your appetizers. I don't know if it's still on the list.

[Wilfrid]

I can add little to what Bux has said.  It's a beautiful room, and I think all the tables are nicely situated - but try to get away from the door if the weather stays like this.

The wine list used to be exclusively French - I don't know if it still is.  They used to have some incredible bargains among the burgundies - a premier cru from a decent year (1995/6) could be had for $60 or $70, which must represent a very small percentage mark up.

Very sweet service too.

[berg man]

I had a dessert there that was three lemony things: a sorbet, a tart and something else.  It was superb.  Though that was about 2 or 3 years ago; they probably don't have it on the menu.  If they do, try it.

[TCD]

The wine list used to be exclusively French - I don't know if it still is.  They used to have some incredible bargains among the burgundies - a premier cru from a decent year (1995/6) could be had for $60 or $70, which must represent a very small percentage mark up.

The wine list is no longer solely french and to my recent recollection is propably half US now.  With a few exceptions, I find the wine pricing to be quite fair.  It's really an outstanding restaurant on all counts.  I've dined there alone, with a group of eight and several sizes in between.  Each time the service and food have been outstanding.  I personally prefer the "raised" dining room on the side closest to the windows, although there really are not any bad seats.  Note that with the exception of one round table all seating is banquette.

[robert brown]

My wife and I completed the Danny Meyer cycle last night, meeting up with Mr. and Mrs. Bux at Eleven Madison Park for dinner. I have been hard on two of Meyer's restaurants, Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke, on eGullet recently, being critical of the food and the style of overbearing, slightly obsequious service (conceived to make the unsophisticated diner feel he or she knows what he or she is doing, as my wife pointed out).

I would like to think that our being treated like "menches" was "de rigeur" for Eleven Madison Park, not because of Bux and his wife being known to the restaurant. Although our waiter kept referring to us as "you guys" ( as did our waiter at much more casual Blue Smoke), he and the busboys were unobstrusive and efficient. Only the end-of-the mealtime disappearing act of the wait staff that often characterizes the greatest of restaurants marred the service. Nobody, it seemed, wanted to take our money.

Of all the Danny Meyer restaurants, Eleven Madison Park feels like a good classic restaurant. Besides making you feel you are in a serious, respectable dining establishment, the cooking is the most interesting. One gets the sense that the lead chef is left more to his own devices than any of the others in Meyer's empire. Best of all, there are no rigid, fixed-priced menus. Instead, you can put together your own from the list of a la carte dishes.

Our selections from the cuisine at Eleven Madison Park were uneven, but not really bad except for my carpaccio of King Salmon that was cut too thick and without much flavor. Our appetizers were followed by a service of small portions of other appetizers, with each person receiving a different one. My wife's mousseline of English peas with a thin strip of Bayonne ham and a morille and oyster mushroom was one of the  best dishes we have had anywhere ihn recent memory. The texture was smooth and light and the mushrooms fresh and full of flavor. Although my loin of pork was cooked longer than I had requested and was therefore too dry, it still retained the pleasantly mild taste of great pork. The piece of pork belly served with it was perfect. No one complained of the Thursday special of squab, except for the berry sauce being a little too sweet. I had delicius pistacho crunch ice cream served on the side of a chocolate covered dome of biscuit that I was unable to finish because of the richness of the dark chocolate and the copious amount of food that preceeded it.

The room must be, as many of you know, the most awe-inspiring of any restaurant in New York. This genuine Art Deco three(?) story high dining room is unforgettable. Although it gets rather loud when the restaurant is full, it is worth the tradeoff to be transported back before you were born. The touches of vintage photographs outside the main room and a few wall decorations are tasteful. Of all of the Danny Meyer restaurants, perhaps even of any in the city, this is the one to celebrate a special occasion without suffering a financial hernia, or to take an out-of-towner for dinner.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Robert-The way I read your thread, you like Eleven Madison Park because it's a French restaurant, as opposed to the other Meyer establishments which are Italian-American, American and BBQ. And I'm intimately aware of how nice the room is because we held our sons Bar-Mitzvah luncheon there on a beautifully sunny Saturday in May of 2000. It is so much nicer than the other places.  In fact, one can argue that it is as nice a restaurant setting as can be found.

Unfortunately my experience with the cooking is that it's been

erratic. I've had great meals and average meals. They used to have a special foie gras tasting with the foie prepared three different ways which was great. But the last time I was there they didn't have it. In fact the menu was a little less daring in general. But maybe they have put some more oomph in the place since my visit in October and I should try it again.

[robert brown]

Steve, I have no previous visits to compare it with. It is more French than GT; that's for sure. I found it to be uneven, but high points that were very high, just in the context of the one meal. Is it still Kerry Heffernan cooking? I sense it is the Danny Meyer restaurant least talked about, yet it seems the best. I think Bux said he like the food there better than that at GT. So did we. Maybe Danny Meyer figured that the room held so many attractions that he could afford (if that's the word) to let a chef do more of what he wanted. That's the impression I got. It's more like a chef-owned restaurant in terms of culinary conception or freedom.

[Pan]

Our selections from the cuisine at Eleven Madison Park were uneven, but not really bad except for my carpaccio of King Salmon that was cut too thick and without much flavor.

Seems like you're damning this place with faint praise, although your follow-up tempered that a little. Still, at those prices, if it's uneven, I would find it hard to consider going there for a special occasion. I'd rather go to a place that's more consistently good or/and not as expensive. I figure that an average dinner there must be upwards of $75; am I right?

[robert brown]

Pan, with wine and tip that's what it came to. However, in terms of what you could call a special occasion restaurant; i.e. Lespinasse, Daniel, Jean-Georges,etc. it is a more-than-adequate and still special lower-price alternative.

I didn't mean to damn with faint praise. Uneveness is, to me, a fact of eating out. I have had so few "perfect" meals no matter where. It doesn't mean that I am comparing the restaurant to the above-mentioned ones; I don't think informed NY diners consider quite it in the same class in terms of cuisine. I just found some dishes very good and some not as good.

[Bux]

Needless to say from Robert's post, it's a restaurant to which I return. It's not Daniel, where a basic three course meal will run $85 or more with supplements. When Eleven Madison Park is on, it's a great value and when it's off, it's still pretty good and worth the price. I may have mentioned a $20 Jurancon Sec on the list that I've seen for about seventeen dollars in a wine shop. Factor that in to the price and it becomes an even better deal. I've tended not to find any fault with the appetizers which run in the very low teens. I think one could put together a superb tasting menu of three first courses for under thrity five dollars. The desserts we had were all quite satisfying and about ten bucks apiece. I've found minor faults with main courses, but those faults are the kinds of things that others might prefer. Squab cooked rare as I like it, was accompanied by a berry sauce that I found a little too sweet. A lamb dish had too many ingredients for my taste. I was actually rather fascinated that all of the garnishes went well with the lamb and with each other in any combination you could make. I just thought it was too much. That might be exactly the thing that might impress someone else.

The final factor, and maybe that figures in Robert's opinion is that sometimes we find overall a meal is more satisfying than the sum of its parts and at other times, the pieces seem great, but the meal seems average.

I find the food conservative, but not stodgy. It's a little more riveting and more sophisticated than comfort food, but it's still the kind of food that lets you sit back, relax and enjoy the meal.

[SobaAddict70]

Had dinner at USC last Friday and took my Mom out for lunch at Eleven Madison Park yesterday.  (for a side report of Craftbar, see below)

Details are a bit fuzzy re USC, probably because the meal itself wasn't particularly memorable -- although my partner's filet mignon of tuna made a suitably distinct impression.  Never have I seen a steak knife be used with a piece of fish -- and quite a hefty block of fish at that!

More memorable was lunch yesterday at 11MP.  Of all of Mr. Meyer's restaurants I've visited thus far (USC/Tabla/11MP), this one takes the cake as "a quick and easy entry onto my favorites list".

Apps were sorrel soup with orzo, bacon and stewed fennel; I had an English sweet pea flan with morels and Bayonne ham (jambon de Bayonne).  Can I second that egullet motto:  I love morels.    

Mains were roasted free-range chicken with baby bok choy and crusted potato cake; and seared mahi-mahi with spring vegetables and rice pilaf.

As for dessert, Mom opted for the dark chocolate creme brulee, but mine was the more interesting of the two:  lemon assiete -- consisting of a lemon flan, bitter lemon sorbet with a peanut caramel tuille and warm lemon crepes with unsweetened whipped cream.  Sheer heaven.

Not bad for $85 (tax and tip included).  Oh, and none of that bottled water crap y'all are used to.  Funny thing, I've not experienced the roving bottled water patrol (yet), but as soon as I encounter one a'them platoons, I'll give y'all a report.  

Now, based on your experiences, what's the best thing for a first timer to get at Gramercy Tavern?  Probably go there sometime in June.

Side note:  dinner last Thursday at Craftbar.  If this is a taste of what's to come at Craft, I'll take it, although my partner was unimpressed.  Chicken soup was the epitome of homemade Jewish penicillin -- chockful of vegetables and herbs, although we weren't expecting ground up chicken dumplings to take the place of shreds of chicken.  A frisee salad with gorgonzola, bacon and walnuts seemed a tad too heavy with the chees-y creamy dressing.  I felt I was eating an upscale version of iceberg with blue cheese glop.  Fried stuffed sage leaves were scrumptious, made even more so by the gremolata topping -- minced Meyer lemon zest and garlic.  Braised rabbit was quite the highlight of the evening:  tender, falling off the bone, flavorful and served with oil-cured olives.  Dessert -- ricotta cheesecake with rhubarb sorbet and compote.  I'll take the sorbet anyday of the week.  Dump the cheesecake and the compote.

I sincerely hope Craft's space brings for a more sedate and civilized experience.  Craftbar's too loud; in the space's defense, the foursome next to us were clearly the most rambunctious group in the entire restaurant.  In fact, I could hear my partner once they left.  Wow, fancy that.

[Steve Plotnicki]

It was one of those last minute emails that arrived from a friend. “My wife is out of town Thurs-Sat. Do you want to put together a bunch of guys for a BYO?” Since Thursday was my only free night, I sent a missive to four others. After two positive and two negative responses, I booked a table for four at Eleven Madison Park. Further emails went out, who was to bring white wine and who was to bring red. I emailed everyone the bottles I was bringing and hoped for the best. When you organize a BYO, you never know what types of wines people are going to bring. Sometimes people feel generous, sometimes cheap. Many times you don’t know anything until they whip the bottle out of their bag. The only info I had was an email earlier that day that said “I have a white wine with me.” Gee thanks a lot. Then another diner emailed his contribution, a wine of distinction and I thought maybe we had a chance that this would work out well.

The room always looks beautiful at Eleven Mad. Especially when the sun is still shining which it was when I got there at 7:30. One of the others was there already and they sat us at the first banquette in the front room of the restaurant. The others arrived a few minutes later and we began assembling the wines on the table. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The wines were,

1999 Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche

1989 Comtes Lafon Montrachet

1961 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino

1982 Paolo Scavino Barolo

1985 DRC Romanee-Saint-Vivant

The DRC was actually brought along as a backup bottle. I had brought the Conterno but the Fat Guy had told me recently that it was time to drink it up. So in case it was already past it, I brought the DRC as a backup. At this point Steve Beckta the sommelier at Eleven Mad came by the table, looked at the wines and I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. After a bit of schmoozing, and a bit of discussion about which wines to decant and which ones not to, he was off to open the Conterno so I could taste it first before making a call on decanting it. A few minutes later Steve returned with an open bottle and he poured me a taste in a small glass. How disappointed was I? It was all cloudy and murky and it had the look of a bottle that had seen its best days long ago. I tasted it and it had a little life, but it had the type of volatile acidity one finds in wines that are going to die 3 minutes after being poured. I passed the glass around the table and everybody’s diagnosis to a man was pretty much the same.  Except for John Gilman, a more experienced taster than the rest of us. He said, “put it on the side and let’s see if it will be okay with the cheese. Meanwhile open up that DRC.” I love people who have hope.

We organized a tasting menu to go with our wines. What follows is a blow by blow of the carnage.

Oysters on the Half Shell/Tuna Tartar with Caperberrys

I had the tuna. It was more sashimi like than tartar. It was two long thin blocks of tuna with sliced caperberrys. Nice and light, with just enough bite to the capers. A reasonably good way to get started. With it we drank the Drouhin Marquis de Laguiche figuring that a new wine would have lots of zingy acid. A good call on our part. I never find the Drouhin to be a compelling bottle of Montrachet, but it is a fine one that is made in a somewhat austere style for my liking. Which is probably why John loves it so much. Nice citrus on the palate, but not the creamy hedonism that a great Monty can have. Worthwhile revisiting this in 10, 12 and 15 years respectively.

Charcuterie Plate

Some rilletes, mousse of some sort of foie, and some cubes of what seemed to be ham, possibly parsleyed and served on some frisee lettuce. With it we drank the 1982 Barolo from Scavino. It was a perfect bottle with those Barolo violets on the nose. Beautiful to taste. A testament to the art of wine collecting as this bottle cost $11 on release and gave 20 times the pleasure on this night. The charcuterie was just fair. Sort of non-distinguished among charcuterie plates.

Pea Flan with Morels and Jambon

Stupendous dish. The intense flavor of buttered peas. I would have been happy if they served me a small tub of the stuff and I could have jumped in head first. And the texture of the creamy and airy flan was well set against the crispy ham and earthy morels. Since we had the Scavino in glass, and then they poured the Lafon, we had a choice of two wines that complemented different aspects of the dish.

Lobster poached in a lobster infused broth

I didn’t care for this dish much. Half of the table complained that their lobster was overcooked and tough as nails, and the other half were complaining that it was undercooked. A big slice of fennel bulb was sitting alongside the lobster meat (I hate fennel.) But the Lafon Montrachet was outstanding. What a nose, like a big cup of buttered popcorn. If you like your chardonnay opulent this is a good choice. It was drinking well, well along in its maturity. The rap on Lafon is that the wines are good right out of the box but they never get better. Same here. Terrific this night but not getting any better. I should add that the purists at the table didn’t prefer this bottle. Though they had no complaints as to its quality, it wasn’t the style they prefer and they announced that if they had other bottles (which they didn’t) they would put them up for auction.

Roasted Loin of Pork and Braised Pork Belly

The belly was moist and delicious. But the loin was dry and overcooked. Dommage. But the Romanee-Saint-Vivant was outstanding. Not quite mature, it needs another 5 years or so. It has an earthy, mushroom-like quality to it that was tight on it first being poured, but expanded and withered away as the wine opened up. For a great vintage, DRC’s work that year doesn’t seem to be as of high a caliber as other classic years like ’78, ’90 or ’96. There’s a hole in this wine somewhere, those it’s hard to pin down. It won’t be until it is fully mature that it will be obvious, or it will resolve during the ageing process. But even though I am picking nits, it’s a huge mouthful of vibrant pinot noir.

The cheese course was up next. But in anticipation of it being served, Gilman asked for the wine list and actually ordered two more bottles of wine. We had already drank four bottles, we had the ’61 Barolo in the wings, and that maniac ordered two more bottles. And there were only four of us there and seven bottles of wine! My lord.

1974 Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

1997 Huet Vouvray Moelloux Cuvee Constance

But first the Conterno. Here is why wine is amazing. They gave us a small pour and the wine was now clear. It seemed like I had shaken it up in the taxi and that is why it was all murky and disjointed. Then a taste. Rocket fuel! What a monster of a wine. Now the wine was a masterpiece of old school Barolo wine making with cherries, berries, violets, cloves and that amazing earthiness that good Barolo has. Then they poured us the Sterling, and it was a perfect example of traditional California Cabernet Sauvignon. Just an amazing amount of ripe and fresh fruit. As I had squirreled away a bunch of wine from earlier in the evening, I now had all four red wines set out in front of me and I was working them over in a systematic fashion. And if the proof is in the pudding, I finished the glasses in the following order. DRC first, Conterno second, Scavino third and I left a small amount of Sterling in my glass. Then they showed up with dessert and the Cuvee Constance. I got the Apple something or other. The Constance was great. A bit thin as it’s a young wine. It should pick up a bit of viscosity with some bottle age. But it was smooth, especially for a wine that is only five years old. One would expect it to have a little more heat on the palate.

All in all a spectacular evening. But 100% due to the phenomenol wines. The food hardly played a role and to be honest, was quite a number of notches below the quality of the wines. Wines like that need chefs who are thinkers. Ones who would brood over what to cook to make the perfect pairing. But alas this is New York City and not a place like Roanne.

[davidbdesilva]

Visited your fair city last night from Philly for our anniversary and had another wonderful time. After taking over 3 hours to get there (because of turnpike traffic and an hour to get through the Lincoln tunnel! ), we finally arrived at the restaurant at 7:45. We called from the road to change our reservation from 6:30 to 7:00, which they graciously did. I was sure that we would not have a table when we arrived but they promptly seated us with a smile (lucky for us it was not overly crowded).

The restaurant is truly perfect in every way. The atmosphere is stunning, the food excellent, and the service outstanding. Highlights of the meal were the red pepper flan app, the loin and shoulder of lamb and artic char entrees (both cooked prefectly), and the HUGE chocolate souffle (way too much for 2, more appropriate for 4). The sommilier was extremely helpful and, for the first time we ordered all our wine by the glass and let him match each course (incredible Chablis 1st cru, Montrachet, Marsannay and Bandol - predominately a French wine list to match the French inspired menu). His matches were perfect and he even gave us each a 3 oz. pour that he never charged us for.

I love Philly and it is a great restaurant city, but we have few, if any, places that are on par with Eleven Madison. We felt that, while the meal was not cheap ($200 with tip), that it was quite a good value for the quality of the meal. They also have 5,6, and 7 course tasting menus for $60,$70 and $80.

We ended the evening by having drinks at Guastavino's (beautiful space, quite a singles scene) and then drinks and a cigar at Club Macanudo (being an avid scotch and cigar man). So what started out being a hectic and aggravating trip turned out being another lovely night in NYC. We fell into bed at 4 am, feeling quite happy with our evening. Thank you egulleters who recommended that we try this restaurant!

[Bux]

I'm a fan of Eleven Madison Park and I've also been known to say that it's the best looking dining room in NY, although I don't like to speak of any one place in absolute terms. Perfect is an interesting word as it's clearly an absolute term. Eleven Madison Park is hardly the best, finest, greatest, etc. restaurant in NY, but it is "perfect," perhaps in the way a ruby can be a perfect ruby, but still not be a diamond. It is a gem anyway.

The gougeres are a wonderful start and apparently not a vip treat but given to all diners. It's worth ordering a bottle of wine just to complement them. I suggest an Alsatian riesling and let the waiter or sommelier know you are ordering the wine for the gougeres. If you're lucky and it's a slow night, maybe you can coax a second plate of gougeres out of the kitchen.

[davidbdesilva]

I agree that no restaurant is perfect and that Eleven Madison is probably not the best restaurant in NYC. I guess more of what I meant to say was that we had a perfect evening there and there really were no complaints or problems as far as setting, food, wine or service went. Thus, it fit our bill perfectly for our anniversary dinner. I would also have to add though, that it was one of if not the best dinning experiences we've ever had. I would love to go back and try their tasting menu sometime.

[Bux]

I've been meaning to recommend their pig's feet. I suspect a lot of New Yorkers may be put off seeing this on the menu and may not be aware that the meat is scraped off the bones and assempled in patties which are fried with a crisp exterior and a very moist succulent interior. We've always loved this dish, but the last time we had it, they changed it a bit. The patties are now larger and there's more of a contrast between the crust and the interior -- and we found it a better dish for that.

[foodboy]

How is the weekend brunch at 11 Madison Park?

[Bux]

Never had brunch at Eleven Madison Park, but lunch and dinner is good. What's on the menu for brunch?

[anusha1]

I've been for brunch -- generally good, I would say, but not as good as the lunch and dinner. The brunch menu has some sweet brunch items (banana nutella crepes, pancakes of some sort, fennel french toast -- I didn't love that one), some eggs, and a few lunch-ish items. The brunch prix fixe is good -- interesting choices, and more interesting than the usual brunch. They also have a lunch prix fixe (both prix fixes are $25), which my dining companions enjoyed quite a bit.

[Pan]

In the Winter Restaurant Week 2004 thread, I mentioned that I had reservations for dinner fairly late on Monday, January 26 at this restaurant.

It was a very pleasant experience, and I would sum it up by saying that this is a very civilized place to dine. And the food we had was subtle and, while there were no fireworks, it was satisfying, made from excellent ingredients by people who really know what they're doing, and truly interesting to analyze as well as appreciate.

I usually don't spend much time being concerned with decor when it's absent, but the decor in this room deserves mention. There are angled large mirrors on the wall, so that whoever is facing the wall can see the room behind him/her. Also on the wall are numerous black and white pictures. The ones I saw were all of the New York that was, including a picture of the beautiful old Madison Square Garden - not that monstrosity that was built over the ruins of Penn Station. The room is tasteful and classy.

We were first served some rustic bread, which was fine but nothing special - but the gougeres that followed were great! They had not only the usual gruyere cheese and butter, but some tasty herbs neither I nor my date could identify.

We then ordered. The choices in the Restaurant Week Menu looked good to me, though other items on the menu looked even better.

I ordered an appetizer of Mushroom Flan topped with small slices of mushrooms, accompanied by a delicate green salad, with arugula coulis around the side of the plate. The flan was very good and had an interesting meaty taste that I couldn't quite place. It was also nicely eggy, and had plenty of minced mushrooms inside (it was brown).

My date ordered an appetizer of Baked Root Vegetables that included the same delicate green salad I had, but the centerpiece of which was a small upturned mini-casseroleful of a white cheese infused with a very strong and delicious taste of truffles and including visible little shavings of black truffles. The root vegetables themselves probably couldn't have been better of their type - baby root vegetables simply baked in an oven. I tried a carrot, which was of top quality and so naturally sweet (neither of us think any sugar was added to it) that it was almost beet-like.

My main dish was Mackeral accompanied by chickpeas, little bits of cabbage atop a chickpea sauce, and more arugula coulis. I enjoyed the mackeral, and my date said they had done a great job with a fish that is usually smelly. We both enjoyed the succulent skin.

My date ordered french fries, which were delightfully potatoey and accompanied by a very pleasant aioli.

We then decided to share an order of 5 varieties of cheese. The pieces of cheese were small, but the cheeses were all pleasant. We had some difference of opinion about which cheeses each of us liked best, but both of us enjoyed the cheeses. I don't remember entirely which was which, but we had a good blue cheese, Bleu de Gex; a delicate, creamy goat cheese which I liked (and I usually dislike goat cheeses because I've found so far that most taste like the foul smell of goat rather than the pleasant taste of goat meat, which is what this was more like); a dark reddish-orange aged hard cheese something like cheddar and aged gouda (from Wisconsin?); a cheese from Vermont, I think, which looked like Jarsberg, started off tasting mild and then had an interesting aftertaste; and Mimolette.

The dessert I ordered was Pumpkin Cheesecake, which was extremely good. It was clearly chock-full of pumpkin puree and had a generous dose of pumpkin pie spices. It was accompanied by a tasty ice cream that seemed like it was Torrone-flavored. Under and around the ice cream were some sweet and delicious crumbs of streusel.

Along with the cheese plate and cheesecake, we were also given 4 madeleines which had a nice, strong orange flavor. Later, we were given a series of small sweets: A delightful miniature flourless layer cake of chocolate, butter, and hazelnut paste; two chocolate-coated macadamia nuts; a small, square pate de fruit that my date thought was of plum, and I thought was of raspberry plus something else I couldn't identify; and a little chocolate.

We shared a bottle of Muscadet with the meal, which was a very pleasant fruity wine that accompanied the meal nicely.

If I wanted to be a real perfectionist, I could quibble about two aspects of the service: We felt like we waited some time for the menus after the bread was brought, such that my date decided to get up and inquire. Also, I finished my appetizer before my date did, and she had to fend off two servers' questions about whether she was "still working on it." But really, nothing spoiled our enjoyment of the spacious, attractive room where there was plenty of light for us to see each other and not a lot of noise, so we could hear each other. The background music was tasteful jazz (first bebop, later swing) which was soft where we were sitting and got louder in the bathroom and by the bar.

I'd be more than pleased if my lovely date would like to offer her own remarks about the evening. Frankly, I don't know exactly how much dinner cost tonight because she paid for it as part of a pre-birthday present!

Edited January 27, 2004 by Pan (log)

[Fat Guy]

I enjoy dining at Eleven Madison Park, but I also find it a frustrating, imperfect restaurant. I'm speaking mostly in terms of the cuisine -- I've had some fabulous food there, and the desserts are wonderful, but it has been overall uneven. I certainly agree that the room is stunning and the service is excellent, though I think the wine list is weak. In terms of achieving what it sets out to achieve, EMP is full of unrealized potential. Nonetheless, I've always enjoyed my meals there and it's a restaurant I use once in awhile if, for example, someone is taking me for a business lunch or I know I'll be dining with someone who has unadventurous tastes in food but will love the room and the service. During Restaurant Week, especially, it's a great place to go because the meal offered is so generous. But at full fare, EMP is my backup to Gramercy, Union Square et al.

[rpdkpd]

A familiar debate in this forum is about "brunch." We found a good answer yesterday (Sunday) at Eleven Madison Park based on other recommendations from this forum. I had already had a business breakfast in the morning, but our daughter and son-in-law were scheduled to meet us at noon for what turned out to be their first meal of the day. Eleven Madison Park offered two relatively reasonably priced menus ($25) -- one brunch oriented and one as a more traditional lunch. Both were superb: well conceived, prepared and presented. Even more choices were offered a la carte. Mimosas (in three natural fruit juice flavors) were a little pricey, but they were prepared with Billecart Salmon nv champagne. An excellent selection of wines by the glass, including a well balanced Sancerre at $7. The room is perfect for this kind of meal -- very high ceiling with lots of windows, making the room light and welcoming, with the effect reinforced by forced blooms. We were among the first to arrive at noon, but the room was quite full by 12:30, so plan accordingly.

[jogoode]

Eleven Madison Park offered two relatively reasonably priced menus ($25) -- one brunch oriented and one as a more traditional lunch. Both were superb: well conceived, prepared and presented.

Thanks for that, rpdkpd.

What was offered on the brunch-oriented menu?

[rpdkpd]

My daughter, who chose from the brunch menu, had a granola/yogurt/fresh fruit parfait, following by cinnamon French toast liberally garnished with berries and served with lightly smoked maple syrup.