Compass

[ewindels]

What a happy surprise, on my third visit to this troubled tenacious property since it opened, to find it’s fourth chef in three years making this a destination to visit as often as possible. Chef John Fraser has done stints at Taillevant and the French Laundry, and the seriousness of his background showed throughout an overall excellent meal.

Sure I have a few quibbles. (What would an egullet review be without them?) The place was too cold, even on a painfully sweltering evening. The amuse – a microscopic curl of flavorless smoked salmon – was kind of pointless. (This is true of all too many amuses around the city these days, a gimmicky gesture which I doubt rarely impresses even novices any more.) And my companion’s monkfish was unpleasantly watery and limp in the center, suggesting a recent and poorly planned stint in a freezer. But these minor issues aside, the overall experience was terrific.

The service was lovely and polished, and the staff is clearly happy to be involved with quality food. The full menu can be seen here. The summer corn risotto, topped with a positively obscene shaving of summer truffles, is a dish of such exuberant luxury as to make your eyes cross and tempt to you cancel the rest of your order in favor of repeats of it. I’m glad we didn’t, because I would have missed out on the truly delectable (pace Martha) Berkshire pork three ways: a moist, succulent sliced loin, a small heap of Carolina pulled pork, and a sinful block of braised bacon. For all it’s peculiar texture, my companion’s monkfish was actually pretty tasty, especially with its mild curry sauce. Better yet are the 45 different and excellent wines offered by the glass (for those of us with delicate livers or imminent performance at Lincoln Center, neither conducive to getting a full bottle).

Tempting as much of the dessert menu was, we trusted in our waiter’s recommendation: a plate of tiny balls of lightly fried pate choux filled with a Earl Grey tea-tinged ganache, polished off with a pot of passion-fruit scented green tea and a plate of excellent mignardises, including a bizarre but oddly successful pork crackling covered in white chocolate (I know, sounds weird, but it really works).

$65 a person, including tax and generous tip, for one shared app, two entrees, one shared dessert, one glass of wine each and the pot of tea. And absolutely worth it given the quality of the overall experience, especially the food.

I was sad to note, however, that the place was barely a quarter full, while Café Luxembourg next door, whose popularity remains something of a mystery to me, had a line to get in. This is due, no doubt, to the revolving door problem Compass’ kitchen has had since it opened, and also to the room itself, which, with its slate pillars and post-Munch red panels on the wall, is not exactly inviting. This is a real shame – other than Nougatine, I can’t think of another restaurant of this caliber at this price level within 20 blocks of Lincoln Center. Regardless of what you may have read, or personally experienced, Compass is definitely worth revisiting.

[oakapple]

I seem to keep returning to Compass, as it's one of the better mid-priced fine dining options near Lincoln Center. Last night, I returned with a new friend, and again I was not disappointed.

We both had the $32 prix fixe, which for its quality is one of the better deals at this price point. I started with a salmon tartare, followed by braised shortribs that melted in your mouth. Dessert was a yogurt panna cotta.

My friend and I dined at Blue Hill the night before. Now, if you asked a dozen knowledgeable people, most would say that Blue Hill is the more reliable, but my friend and I had no trouble concluding—at least on this occasion—that we had enjoyed our dinner at Compass more.

With its checkered history of four chefs in four years, it would have been easy for Compass to wither and die. It has a large dining room to fill, but we found it busy last night. It's a pity Amanda Hesser demoted it to one star, back when Katy Sparks was at the stoves (which seems like ages ago). Compass is back.

Edited November 6, 2005 by oakapple (log)

[ewindels]

It’s nice to know that the Times’ restaurant reviews can have some beneficial effects, despite the chaotic state to which their rating system has degraded. Case in point is Compass, which when I visited last week was packed with Bruni-inspired visitors, clutching their list of approved dishes to essay. Best of all was that the staff seemed genuinely happy for the place to be getting the recognition it deserves.

This has still got to be one of the best deals in town, particularly the prix-fixe, from which I ordered the absurdly succulent short ribs atop a bed of macaroni gratin – oh so wrong for the waistline, but oh so right for a cold night. This was preceded by their chestnut and white truffle risotto: do you really need me to tell you how superb this was? My aunt raved over her lamb three ways, her enthusiasm entirely justified by the miniscule sample she deigned to part with, and her starter salad was just as good, even if I can’t remember what it was.

I’d asked for a slice of the chocolate gateau with a candle to celebrate her birthday. I’m not sure what turned up, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t chocolate gateau. It certainly had potato chips in it, another of Fraser’s quirky touches like those white-chocolate-covered pork rind mignardises, which are still there, still strange, and still entirely successful.

And not only is the wine list impressive, but this has got to be the best and most extensive list of wines by the glass in the city (except maybe for Cru where I still haven’t been!). Forgive me for being gratified if the sommelier heartily agreed with my selection of Malbec for our meal – I don’t remember what it was, but boy howdy was it tasty.

The overall warmth of the staff and excellence of the cuisine more than makes up for the still awkward setting. If you haven’t been recently, make a point – this is a terrific place to spend a cold winter evening.

[Sneakeater]

I, too, ate there recently, in their new post-Bruni era.

I'd like to emphasize your point that the prix fixe is a really good deal. Especially with the wine pairings (I think it's like $10 for two no-worse-than-decent glasses -- and they threw in a post-dessert sparkling wine, too).

I, too, had the short ribs. While I liked them fine (as one of my friends said, how many times haven't you liked something braised?), I think they suffered in comparison to the brisket I recently had at Uovo, which was truly ambrosial (and Uovo's prix fixe is an even better deal than Compass's -- rising, in my view, from the level of "really good deal" to the level of the astonishing).

The appetizer was some kind of really thick tubular pasta (thicker than buccatini even) with a duck sauce that, frankly, tasted a little bit odd to me. It must have been whatever tart fruit it had in it.

This all sounds critical, but the fact is, this was a fine meal at a more-than-fair price.

The only thing wrong with Compass's prix fixe is that it didn't include what to me were clearly the most enticing dishes on the menu (like the special venison appetizer I somehow forebore from ordering, or the halibut confit special main dish). But that's often the case.

If a restaurant of this quality fails on the Upper West Side, it only shows that the Upper West Side doesn't want good restaurants.

Edited December 7, 2005 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Forgive me for being gratified if the sommelier heartily agreed with my selection of Malbec for our meal – I don’t remember what it was, but boy howdy was it tasty.

You know, the wine pairing they offered for the short ribs was a malbec.

I have to say that it occurred to me that the two reds I enjoyed most over the last month or so -- the one at Compass, and one I pulled out of the closet to bring to Thanksgiving -- were Argentine malbecs. For whatever difference that makes.

[Eatmywords]

I couldn't agree with you guys more (Sneaker, Oak and Ewin). Took my gfriend for her bday last Friday (last minute ressy, was the only place w/availability). I remembered Bruni but the shake ups in the kitchen caused some skepticism. Boy, were we blown away. The prix fixe w/the pairings is one of the best deals in NY for this or any level (not to mention the free: amuses, homemade candy and amazing madelines they packed us to take home ( went perfectly w/our cafe o'lait the morning after). Every dish we shared was executed perfectly: Salmon tartar, duck cavatelli, hake and short ribs. The pairings complimented very well and the pours more generous the any pairings I can remember. I esp liked the Uruguayan Sauv Blanc and the Malbec (Complex and big). I could go on but it's redundant at this point as the pros stated previously. I highly recommend this place.

[Curlz]

Anyone been to Compass recently? Is it still the same chef? Any/all comments appreciated...

Thanks!

[elicious]

Anyone been to Compass recently?  Is it still the same chef?  Any/all comments appreciated...

Thanks!

←

I went maybe 3 or 4 months ago. I think the chef was the same. I thought the food was very good, especially after reading all the history of the revolving chefs, etc. They had a truffled mac and cheese side that was really amazing and gave us muffins to take home for breakfast the next day.

[ewindels]

I was there in late July, and yes, it was still terrific. Go. Now.

[skiter53]

I was there in late July, and yes, it was still terrific.  Go.  Now.

←

Did they change the wine pairings? On their website (http://www.compassrestaurant.com/menu/menu-dinner.htm) it seems that they are merely suggesting wines that are sold by the glass?

However, the prix fixe still sounds appealing.

[oakapple]

A friend and I visited Compass last night. The $35 prix fixe is one of the better deals in town. The amuse bouche was a small soup. The appetizer was a Butternut Squash Velouté with brown butter. After it arrived, a server sprinkled a pixie dust of pumpernickel, apples and parsnips into the soup. Up next was the Pistachio-crusted duck, with roasted endive and carrot emulsion. Both first-rate. The dessert (yogurt panna cotta) was unmemorable. As always, there were petits-fours after dinner and a small coffee cake to take home.

They do recommend wines by the glass to go with each course—perfectly respectable choices, varying from $9–14 per glass. We'd already had a good deal to drink before dinner, so we just had one glass with the main course. The menu on the website is up-to-date.

[banco]

My parents and I had an early dinner last Thursday before seeing Faust at the Met. Compass, next door to the Café Luxembourg, is a beautiful, elegant space with a somewhat Asian feel, with (if memory serves) lots of translucent green glass, slate, and dark wood. We were practically the only ones there at first, but more people began to flow in as the evening progressed, though the large dining room was never more than about a fourth full, if even that.

Compass offers a very reasonable 3-course prix fixe for $35, which has got to be one of the best deals in Manhattan, but we all ended up ordering a la carte. First came a beautifully executed amuse of tiny morsels of octopus and mussels marinated in ouzu. My parents then followed with a butternut squash velouté, a Dungeness crab salad, and stout-braised short ribs. I did not try any of my parents' dishes, but they were by all accounts excellent. The crab salad was a particular hit, and went extremely well with an Ürziger Würzgarten from the extensive and eclectic open wine list.

I had two appetizers (a rare-seared bluefin tuna special with a balsamic reduction, and a warm oxtail terrine with salsa verde and black-eyed peas) and one main (pan-seared halibut with mushroom fricassé, salsify, creamy polenta and port wine reduction). It bothered me that the two appetizers were put in front of me at the same time. The tuna special was the requisite rare but tasted as though it had been reheated or kept warm for too long. The flavors and combination here were nothing special or unique. Overall the dish was competent, nothing more. The oxtail terrine should perhaps not have been served warm, as the heat accentuated the already gelatinous texture of the meat and made it taste, look, and feel more like rillets than a terrine. Again, nothing very special here. The halibut, on the other hand, was memorable: perfectly cooked with a light crust from the sear, the obviously high quality of the fish accentuated and deepened by the choice of garnishes so that everything worked well together and the elements played off each other in the mouth. A Pinot Noir whose details I cannot recall managed to accompany both this dish and my dad's short-ribs to good effect.

Aside from the two-appetizers-at-once issue, service was excellent. The bar knows how to make an ice-cold martini without also making it watery, frothy or ruining it with bits of ice. That's not hard to do, but it does show a care and thoughtfulness which, sadly, are hard to find.

Just a few blocks from the Met and with dinner service beginning at five o-clock, Compass is an excellent choice for pre-theater dining. Its prices, too, amount almost to a bargain. Still, the food needs some adjustments, above all because it's obvious from the seriousness that has already gone into the cooking that it could be significantly better without a great deal more effort--perhaps just the same kind of care and thoughtfulness that went into my martini.

[Nathan]

Stopped into Compass last night at 9:30 for a late meal.

There was only problem -- the kitchen had closed.

Does everyone go to bed on the UWS at 9 or something? It was empty.

Seriously. Whatever happened to Monday being the new Friday?

The bartender did rustle up some bread and parmesan breadsticks...which helped (I'd done some damage at the bar at an art reception).

Didn't look at the wine list but both the beer list and cocktails show some serious thought - had an Apry based concoction. Does anyone know who did their drinks?

There was one massively incongruous element -- the TV above the otherwise downtown-esque bar.