Strip House

[Fat Guy]

Dinner last night at Strip House (13 East 12, opp Gotham, 328-0000). This was my third visit. On my first visit in September 2000, I was very impressed by the succulent strip steak. On my second visit things weren’t so good. Happy to say, it is just as good as it was on my first visit. The torchon of foie gras was silky smooth (tho unsurprisingly this was not up to the standard of the foie gras pâtés I had in Bordeaux a few weeks ago), my strip steak was terrific and I especially liked the crunchiness of the black pepper on the outside. The steaks appeared much bigger than before. The creamed spinach was garlic-y, and the pots cooked in goose fat were lovely. Service was OK, tho maybe a bit on the abrupt side. The décor remains oppressively red (this used to be Asti's and not much has changed)and the play on “strip” is a bit tiresome. Call me a prude, but I do not like those tacky napkins with the striptease silhouettes. Sadly (not that I had room for dessert) pastry chef Wayne Harley Brachman (I’m a big fan) no longer works there. Does anyone know where he is?

Business is certainly picking up here. It was pretty full. All in all a very good meal.

[DonWalsh x]

they're owned by the Michael Jordan's people, no?

that group gets really good steak...i went there once but like Jordan's better for location and feel...dd you have the double cut strip?

amazing...better than the one at Wollensky's...the thing with the supposed truffles, maybe it was the spinach, didn't taste like truffles at all though...

too bad about the pastry chef...those desserts were good...

[Fat Guy]

Peter and Penny (which happen to be my parents' first names, too) Glazier co-own Michael Jordan's, Strip House, and Monkey Bar. They also used to own Tapika, which recently closed.

I thought Strip House showed some early promise, but my overall reaction was who needs yet another steakhouse that doesn't offer anything beyond the others. It sounds as though it may be gathering some steam, though. If I ever get up the strength to eat another steak again (I must have eaten 25 of them in close chronological proximity last time I set out to write about steak, qeulling the urge for a while), I should go back.

Don: No I didn’t think I had the double-cut strip. Mine was around two inches thick. As for the spinach side you mentioned, last year I found it very truffle-flavored and too salty. It was quite different this time--much creamier and less salty. I preferred last night’s rendition.

Regarding Wayne Harley Brachman: while he was at Strip House I heard he was also pastry chef at the other places run by the Glazier group, but he’s no longer at any of them. I’m not much into desserts, but he has a way of not making them too sweet. He won my heart at Mesa Grill around ten years ago. <p>So the mystery continues: where is he?

[Emily x]

Did you ask at the Strip House about pastry chef Brachman? They would probably know the answer. Or one of us could call the restaurant. I can't find anything on the Internet or on Dow Jones.

[Fat Guy]

Emily, I did some research yesterday. Checked with Monkey Bar and Michael Jordan and like the response I received at Strip House, everyone said they had no idea where WH Brachman has gone. Staff at Michael Jordan even referred me to Glazier group’s head office so I called them (I should’ve been a private investigator, obviously). They too didn’t know his whereabouts, but did recommend his two books: “Retro Desserts”, and “Cake Cowpokes”. So the search continues.

[Fat Guy x]

Bits of Wayne Harley Brachman information are beginning to arrive in my inbox now. The latest lead I have is that he's doing a Food TV show called "Melting Pot," with Michael Symon. He has also been sighted on "Sweet Dreams" as a guest. His Food TV bio, however, has not been updated to reflect his departure from the Glazier Group's restaurants. I've made an inquiry at the Food TV site, so we'll see where that leads.

-----

Steven A. Shaw

www.fat-guy.com

eGullet Community Coordinator, New York

[Fat Guy x]

I finally received reliable information regarding Wayne Harley Brachman. Apparently he is not working at any restaurant right now and is happy doing his shows and his books. I wish him success, though I'm pissed that there's no current way to get his desserts without preparing them myself.

-----

Steven A. Shaw

www.fat-guy.com

eGullet Community Coordinator, New York

[yvonne johnson]

I read in the NYT the other day that Wayne Harley Brachman is now at Lawrence Scott restaurant, 1363 First Ave (73rd St). I've never heard of this place. Anyone been? WHB is my favorite pastry chef so this might call for my going beyond the Greenwich Village perimeter.

[Wilfrid]

There was an old thread about this Village steakhouse, but I thought I'd start over to discuss last night's visit with various divas and windbags (include me in both categories please).

It's well-known that the decor is faux-New Orleans bordello, dark and red with ancient smutty photos on the walls. It was also fantastically noisy last night, until we outlasted most of the other tables.

I know there are going to be some disagreements about food and service, so let me stick my neck out.

I thought service was adequate for a restaurant of this level. No, it wasn't beamingly gracious, and yes we did have to hang around a bit for a bottle of wine during our main course, but I thought it was okay.

I ate a generous appetizer: half a roast squab on a large rice cake, balanced in turn on a mound of cabbage. The squab was excellent, but the dish suffered from dramatic contrasts in temperature: the bird was just above warm, the rice cake was blisteringly hot, and the cabbage ice-cold from the refrigerator. I burnt my mouth.

Last time I ate here, I found the strip steak disappointing - chewy in an uninteresting way and not strongly flavored. This time I shared the strip for two, and it was very significantly better. Tender, cooked rare as ordered. I have to say most of the flavor came from the well-seasoned crust, but the steak was pleasant. It was also very large, even when split. It came with a marrow bone which was drastically undercooked (not uncommon in the few New York restaurants where I've seen it) and a tasty strip of bacon rolled around a piece of leek.

Creamed spinach was average. Everyone said the potatoes cooked in goose fat didn't taste of goose fat. Well, I cook potatoes with duck fat and they certainly had the distinctive taste of either goose or duck fat to me. I didn't get near the french fries, thank you. Creamed spinach was unobjectionable.

The dessert at my end of the table was a remarkably architectural chocolate cake which looked and behaved like a tottering skyscraper. Disturbing but enjoyable.

There was a split vote on the wine order. We settled that by ordering both selections. I chose a 1995 Rioja Ardanza, which I had liked before, although I could understand some finding it too soft to drink with steak. I don't think we discussed the other wine, a Chianti Classico, but I must say I didn't particularly like it. A bad example, or not just to my taste?

Overall, a meal which matched the restaurant's proffer, but didn't exceed it.

Okay, everyone tell me where I'm wrong.

[johnjohn]

Wilfrid - Could you tell us a little more about the marrow bone. I haven't had much experience with them. How would I tell if they are cooked properly, have you had any good ones in NYC, etc...

thanks

johnjohn

[Wilfrid]

It's usually a veal marrow bone, which is roasted in the oven, split into lengths of about two to three inches, and served with a utensil suitable for scooping out the marrow inside.

It is often obvious from a glance at the bone itself that it has been well-cooked. Any little bits of meat or gristle still attached to the outside of the bone will be caramelised, and the bone itself will be darkish in color. A pure white bone is a sign of likely undercooking.

As for the marrow, when properly cooked it has a very soft, gelatinous texture, not unlike unset jelly, and a rich flavor. The more undercooked it is, the more it feels and tastes like raw, white fat. The marrow at the Strip House had that pasty, raw fat texture and didn't taste great.

Best marrow I've eaten in New York was at Gramercy Tavern, where it had already been extracted from the bone and used to garnish the fillet of beef. Also found an excellent one hiding in a pot au feu at Cafe des Artistes.

Edited December 5, 2002 by Wilfrid (log)

[Liza]

In complete agreement about the undercooked state of the marrow bone, Oh Mighty W. And also on point about the flavor of the strip steak coming from the crust.

I was expecting more from the creamed spinach, as I believe the menu had it listed as creamed spinach with truffle flavor or something like that. Nice, decent creamed spinach but nothing more.

We had asked that the wines be brought to the table together so we could do a side by side comparison and they politely refused, saying the table size would not accomodate that. Any thoughts?

[yvonne johnson]

No, you're not wrong Wilfrid. I thought it was quite good overall.

My rare strip steak (for one) was, as usual, very tasty, well seasoned and tender. I tasted the double-cut strip for two and it was more tender and flavorful than mine, so I'd go for the double in future. I liked the creamed spinach (in the past I've found it over-salted or over truffley), and the pots cooked in goose fat were as good as usual, and crunchy on the outside (I thought they tasted of goose-fat--I must've missed that conversation about them not tasting of it), and the French fries were very good plus, thinnish, hot, needed further salting (nowhere as good as those at Les Halles, though. Sorry, Wilf, that they didn't reach you). I was very taken with the layered (13 stories) chocolate cake. I've never seen such a huge slice of cake. I'm not a fan of chocolate desserts, but it was one of the best chocolate desserts I've had in a while as it wasn't very sweet.

A few downs: We ordered garlic bread and this was mediocre (bread was a cardboard specimen). My appetizer, torchon of fie gras was nice and silky smooth, melted in the mouth, but was too cold. I think it had been in the fridge along with Wilfrid's cabbage till seconds before being brought to table. Agreed on the marrow bones. Maybe few people want to eat the marrow, and are there for decoration?

Liza: On the wine glasses, maybe they'd run out and had enough clean ones to give us only one each. Also, in future I'd ask for the wines to be left on the table to get around the slowness and having an empty glass in front of me (the horror).

Nice to see the chap with the long tongue again.

*PS: On that old thread Wilfrid links you to in his opening post, that's Fat Guy impersonating me. Yours truly started that thread. FG impersonates stefanyb too. You have to watch those moderators.

[Wilfrid]

It was a pity we couldn't sample the wines side by side, but I think as a point of fact the sommelier was right that there wasn't room on the table. It was a small table for six people - and even then it was hard to hear each other at first.

Come on, someone say something about the Italian wine.

[Simon Majumdar]

I was overwhelmed by the company as usual on my NY trips but underwhelmed by the food and service and price.

The starters were measly. My bib salad while not actively nasty was close to being inconsequential as it is possible to get and I was thrilled when Liza stole some.

My real "beef" with this was the quallity of the meat. GJ's Prime rib looked excellent, but in the true spirit of a former pupil of a minor public school he refused to share so I could not confirm one way of another.

My rib chop was perfectly cooked ( balck and blue ) with a good crust but the flavour ended once you cut through it. It lacked anything at all. Very disappointing

W is right though, my choice of the Chianti was a bad one. It was insipid to say the least.

Still few evenings in the company of EG's can be less that memorable and this was a highlight for me because of a superlative martini made by our very own Miss Jean Brodie

Hats off to you madam

S

[Jinmyo]

It is a shame when marrow is served under-cooked. Some punter rallies his courage and orders marrow for the first time after seeing it only here and there on menus. "Gah. It's just fat." And never oders it again. Making it more difficult to find. And confirming a git in his prejudices or preventing a git from raising himself, squaring his shoulders, and becoming worthy of good marrow.

A vicious cycle. It is us up to all concerned who are concerned to do their part and insist under-cooked marrow be returned to the kitchen to be tended to with the dignity it deserves.

Edited December 5, 2002 by Jinmyo (log)

[stefanyb]

Strip House has its pros and its cons. It also has its tables for 8-10 with young whippersnappers getting drunk and making an awful racket.

I will say one thing; they are doing a nice business. No economic turndown for them.

Onto the food: My rib chop was nicely charred and flavorful on the crust but that was the beginning and end of its good points. I thought the sides of the fries, goose fat potatoes and creamed spinach were fairly well done. I’ve had the spinach before, though, and I will agree with Liza, it didn’t have much truffle flavor; in the past the truffle flavor was much more pronounced. The marrow bone seemed to have mashed potatoes stuffed into the top. Maybe it was just the uncooked marrow. All in all the food was just okay.

The chocolate cake, serving for one?, was surely modeled after the Flatiron Building and almost as large.

Of course, the ever delightful and entertaining Simon was able, even in this room of screaming mimis to keep us all amused and three hours just flew by.

[Alan7147]

Admin: threads merged.

So I am headed up to NY from DC for the weekend and have reservations with some friends at Strip House on Friday. I searched the forum and really did not find a thread solely devoted to this place. Has anyone been lately and can comment on the overall picture of the restaurant (food, wine, service and ambience)? Also, if any dishes in particular stand out, I would love to hear what is good. Thanks for the help.

[SaltySnack]

I went to the Strip House this past weekend for dinner with friends. They both ordered steak. one the filet and I'm not sure what the other ordered. Both steaks had a very nice crust on the outside. The filet was a little bit fatty though and had been requested rare and was served medium rare, but it stilll had a good flavor.

I wasn't too hungry so I only had the lobster bisque and the bibb lettuce salad. The bisque was very good though I'm from Louisiana so it could have used some more spice for me and the salad was pretty good though not enough bacon.

For sides we had mushrooms which my friends said were excellent. The spinach which was also very good and the potato in goose fat. We'd skip the potato in goose fat next time.

Service was very pleasant. It was dark and the music was a bit loud in the bar where we had drinks waiting for our table. We were very early for our late reservations. Once at the table, there was adequate light and not near as loud. All in all an enjoyable night and wasn't so overly masculine or heavy as I think some steakhouses tend to be.

[oakapple]

I paid a visit to Strip House tonight on the advice of blogger Augieland, who pronounced their bone-in ribeye ($42) his "favorite steak in Manhattan."

I'd been to Strip House once before and ordered the NY Strip, which was okay without being memorable. But Augieland is right about the ribeye. It's a wonderful hunk of meat, with high fat content and a crisp char on the outside. I tried the identical cut of beef at Bobby Van's the other night, and while it wasn't bad, it lacked the perfection of Strip House's version.

Best steak in New York? It's hard to say, when there are so many of them. But I don't recall offhand having tasted a ribeye better than this one. It was preceded by an amuse bouche of warm potato soup with parsley oil in a shot glass. The restaurant was packed on a Thursday evening, but I had no trouble getting served at the bar, where service was friendly and efficient.

While I was eating, a couple next to me saw what I had ordered, and raved about the Strip House ribeye. The gentleman told me that the March 2006 issue of GQ pronounced Strip House one of the five best steakhouses in America. I couldn't find an online version of the full article, so I can't say which four other steakhouses were so honored. Visit the Glazier Group homepage, and you'll see they're crowing about it. I understand the company has announced plans to open Strip Houses in several other cities.

Edited March 17, 2006 by oakapple (log)

[ned]

Love the Striphouse. It's been more than a year since I ate their rib chop. Some years ago it was a monthly ritual. God it's good. Always ate the deckel in the restaurant and took the eye home for sandwiched and other treats. Glad to hear it still performs. There are disparaging comments about the creamed spinach from 2001. I always thought the creamed spinach at Strip House was about as good as a creamed spinach could be. Touch of black truffle, touch of gruyere or something, bechamel. Guess that's a mornay. Creamy, rich. Might just go over there now and have one for a snack. Always thought they did a way better than average torchon also.

Appears it's time to go back. Thanks for the update oakapple.

[Noodlebot]

I took my boyfriend to Strip House for his birthday last night. While some elements were different (re: worse) than I'd thought they'd be, overall I think I made a good choice. First not-so-good element is decor. The lighting is very dim and red, which I think is supposed to look sexy and interesting but seemed to me to be covering up for the out-of-style decor of the place. Strip House needs a face lift. It looks a bit seedy, like a speak-easy that has passed its prime. Even the details were tired--grease-splattered menus and tacky yellow and red (yuck!) napkins bearing tire-flap-girl designs.

The second bad element of the night was the wait for our table. We had a 9:00 reservation, and I'd told the reservationist it was a special occasion (birthday). I didn't realize that Strip House was one of the proliferating breed of restaurants that does reservations on cable repair guy time. When we got in a few minutes before 9, we were told simply that there were a few tables that were almost ready to leave. This didn't seem like a good sign. Twenty minutes later, no update, no apology (which is SUCH a huge pet peeve of mine), I went to the hostess stand and asked what was up. She told me the same thing I'd been told when I got in--that there were a few tables that were almost ready to go. We were finally seated half an hour after our reservation at a center 4-top near the kitchen instead of in the banquettes, where other couples were seated. We were later offered a banquette when one opened up, but the diners looked too cramped, so we stayed put. Luckily, our server was incredibly friendly and great the rest of the night, so we had a good time.

Now to the food. My boyfriend started w/a mixed green salad, which was served in a nice parmesan crisp that looked like a taco salad shell. I passed on starters to save room for the steak. We shared the porterhouse for two, a special that night. The porterhouse was brought to the table on a rolling cart and fileted tableside, with the steak being evenly divided between two plates. We were told that the right side of the plate contained filet and the left side was strip. The rib was placed on a separate plate and put on our table. The filet was delicious--a great crust provided a really nice textural contrast to an almost creamy-smooth center. I wasn't as crazy about the strip, which was much more marbled and took me a while to chew through. I made an effort at the rib, but my knife skills aren't great, so I mostly ended up splattering things on the table. I wish I'd been home so I could've picked up the rib and start gnawing! For sides, we ordered the goose fat potatoes and the truffled spinach. Strip House manages to make spinach as unhealthy as french fries, but it tasted so good! We weren't impressed with the goose fat potatoes, a tennis ball size ball with a golden brown fried crust. The inside was a dry, crumbly mess that was hard to manage. There was also an overwhelming herb taste that didn't work for me.

Finally, we ended with the chocolate cake, which came out w/a birthday candle and a happy birthday message scrawled in chocolate. The cake was delicious and gigantic. I've heard it described as huge before, but I could never have imagined. The thing is about 6-8 inches high and maybe 4-5 inches wide at its widest part. We barely made a dent, but we did take the rest home.

All in all, a great meal, and surprisingly well-priced for the quantity and quality of food we received.

[ASM NY]

I was favorably surprised with the steak, but I agree that this place needs a makeover. The place is so dark, I should have brought a flashlight.