Gotham Bar and Grill

[cabrales]

I had lunch at Gotham Bar & Grill recently. This meal was average, and marked, ironically, the end of my boycott of this restaurant.

The boycott resulted from the restaurant's having cancelled my December 31, 1999 dinner reservation with only a few weeks to spare.  The restaurant had required several months previously that I sign a contract promising to pay for the meal regardless of actual attendance, but decided to close that evening due to inadequate requests for reservations. The restaurant offered nothing for the untimely cancellation. I would have thought that a comp'd meal would have been in order.

I'd have to admit that the $20.02 prix fixe lunch tempted me a bit. I had the following (brackets denote dishes not chosen):

-- Gotham Soup, Composed Daily

[Gotham Caesar Salad, garlic croutons and anchovy vinaigrette]

-- Roast Atlantic Salmon, leeks, shiitake mushrooms and potato puree

[Cremini Mushroom Pasta, fresh goat cheese, wilted baby arugula and EVOO]

-- Chocolate Cake, served with vanilla ice cream

[selection of sorbets, composed daily]

      1/2 Puligny-Montrachet, Sauzet 1999 ($55)

The meal began well. My dining companion and I shared an a la carte order of the Chicken, Foie Gras and Morel Mushroom Terrine, haricots verts, green lentil salad, pickled onion and port glaze ($16.50). The restaurant split the dish in advance, offering each diner a generous slice of the terrine. The terrine tasted good. I tend to like chicken/foie gras combinations in terrine, and the morels, while limited in quantity, were integrated into the terrine nicely (with the patterns on the exterior of the mushrooms evident in the terrine). I did not like the even limited utilization of crunchy pistacchios in the terrine, but that is a subjective assessment.  The port reduction, placed in dots surrounding the slice of terrine, was appropriate. The contrast in the two very types of beans was nice too, even though both were accompanied by acidityl. The haricots vert were much more "vegetable"-like, than the lentils, which had a nuttiness as well as very slight meat-like connotations.  The mauve-stained pickled onions were presented in a swirl-like disc (rolled up).

My soup from the $20.02 menu was fairly good. That day of visit, it was braised chicken with tomatoes concasse and cous cous in chicken broth. While the strands of chicken included were limited, this was appropriate. The soup tasted nicely of vegetables as well as chicken, and had connotations of home cooking and comfort food. I had been surprised by the dining room team member's mention of cous cous being included in the soup, but the individual grains were larger than those of any cous cous I have sampled. They tasted, and visually resembled, a grain that the Chinese called "yee mai" (a bit gelatinous and starchy in the mouth, not unlike tapioca, although more attractive than tapioca). Perhaps it is a cous cous relative (?).

Unfortunately, the ensuing dishes were so-so. I chose the salmon, which I have taken at the restaurant previously more than five times over time (not because I like it particularly, but because other dishes might be less attractive at the point of odering). I asked that the salmon be cooked rare instead of medium rare, as the restaurant tends to do. The fish was not particularly tasty. The potato puree was appropriate, with significant butter tastes. A white-wine and butter based saucing was utilized.

The flourless chocolate cake included in the $20.02 menu was not sufficiently rich-tasting. It was also slightly too sweet, with no offsetting bitterness or intensity from the chocolate showing through. The small scoop of Tahitian vanilla ice cream, with black dots from the vanilla pods, was appropriate.

Overalll, an average meal, with some items that were good and others that were not. Nonethless, a good value if one adheres to the $20.02 prix fixe lunch. Note the $20.02 prix fixe lunch is served Monday through Friday, 12:00-2:30 pm year-round.  

-- 2002 Prix Fixe Lunch Wine Menu (Not taken)

Unlike certain other restaurants with $20.02 lunches, Gotham also has a less expensive wine list. It is unclear to me whether diners not taking the $20.02 lunch may opt for the $20.02 wine list, however.

(1) Sample Three Wines by the Glass for Another $20.02 (3 oz Pour)

Whites

NV Alfred Gratien "Brut Classique", Epernay, France

2000 Kistler "Les Noisetiers" Chardonnay, Sonoma, CA

1997 Gravner "Breg", Colllio, Italy

Reds

1997 Voge "Vielles Fontaines" Cornas, Rhone, France

1998 Arietta Merlot, Napa, CA

1997 Ratti "Rocche" Barolo, Piedmont, Italy

Dessert Wines

NV Yalumba "Galway Pipe", Tawny Porto, Australia

1997 Alaiin Brumont "Brumaire", Pacherenc du Vic Bilh, France

(2) Half Bottles (Still $20.02)

White

2000 Gini Soave Classico, Soave, Itally

2000 Willakenzie Pinot Blanc, Willamette Valley, Oregon

200 Tempier Bandol Rose, Southwest France

Reds

1999 Domaine Roger Perrin Chateauneuf du Pape, Southern Rhone

1995 La Rioja Alta "Vina Ardanza" Reserva Rioja, Rioja, Spain

1998 Domaine Paul Bernard Fleurie, Beaujolais, France

(3) Full Bottles (Still $20.02)

Whites

2000 Lang Gruner Veltliner, Burgenland, Austria

1999 Echeverria Sauvignon Blanc, Molina, Chile

200 Macon-Prisse, Burgundy, France

Reds

2000 Capezzana Barco Reale di Carmignano, Tuscany, Italy

2000 Avinyo Merlot, Penedes, Spain

1999 Pissano Tannat, Uruguay

-- Decor, Service

As members may know, the service at Gotham is friendly and efficient. The regular wine list is not inexpensive.

I like the decor at the restaurant less now that significant parts of the walls have been painted a medium, muted pink. Before I boycotted the restaurant, I believe the walls had been predominantly white or a similar color, and had had a more "cool" (meaning less warm, in a positive way) feel. I continue to like the pleated, draped fabric around the lighting and above the bar area.   And the white-colored statue of liberty-based artwork is nice in today's climate.

-- Other Items on Lunch A La Carte Menu (Note Dinner Menu Differs)

Appetizers ($9.50-16.50)

Goat cheese ravioli, morel mushroom broth and parmigiano reggiano

Gotham pasta, composed and priced daily

Gotham salad, mixed lettuces, aged sherry vinegar and EVOO

Goat cheese salad, beets, braised fennel, hazelnuts, orange and EVOO

Gotham soup, composed daily

Chicken, foie gras and morel mushroom terrinel, haricots verts, green lentil salad, pickled onion and port glaze

Fennel cured atlantic salmon, lettuces, sunchokes, radish and cracked wheat salad

Yellow fin tuna tartare, herb salad, cucumber, lime, scallion and ginger

Asparagus Salad, organic greens, quail eggs and baby beets

Entrees ($17.00 - 21.50)

Grilled Atlantic salmon, roasted fennel, confit tomatoes, spinach and lemon oil

Roast Chatham line caught cod, Manila clams, steamed spinach, potatoes and pancetta

Seared tuna, roasted portabellos, white runners, mixed lettuces and mushroom vinaigrette

Soft shell crabs, fingerling potato salad, ratatouille, shell beans and lemon vinaigrette

Roast halibut, morel mushrooms, potato, ramps, English peas and chevril

Sweet prawn and baby artichoke risotto, proscuitto di Parma, lemon and chevril butter

Grilled duck sausage, green runner beans, watercress and eggplant caviar

Moroccan spiced rack of lamb, couse cous, chick peas and preserved lemon

Roast chicken breast, wild mushrooms, creamy polenta and white truffle oil

Grilled hanger stake, crisp potatoes and "creamed" spinach and roasted garlic custard

[Sandra Levine]

I had been surprised by the dining room team member's mention of cous cous being included in the soup, but the individual grains were larger than those of any cous cous I have sampled.

Sounds like Israeli couscous, which is made with a  larger grain than others.

[Damian]

Had dinner at Gotham Bar and Grill last night on the spur of the moment after finding out that an old friend was in town.  We stopped by GT around 8:15 hoping they might have space in the front room, no such luck - the place was packed out.  We then passed up Patria which looked like it had some empty tables and sauntered over to GB&G.  Hostess said 15 min. for a table with no reservations - we said great.  40 min. later, we were seated, beggars can't be choosers and things can be unpredictable, but argh.  The meal was simple but absolutely delicious.

I started with tuna tartare an assemblage over a ring of thin baby cucumber slices each with a dot of a spicy sauce (seemed like wasabi and balsamico, but I couldn't be sure) three crostini spikes imprisoned a crown of frisee on top.  This dish was almost too beautiful to eat - like a work of art (don't start!), but was better in the eating than the viewing.  Silky smooth fatty tuna, melted like butter.  

My companion had the linguine special to start served with chunks of lobster tail in what appeared to be a tomato sauce.  He was very happy with it, and it looked great.

He then had a NY Strip and I had a Niman Ranch pork chop served on the bone with polenta, wilted spinach, and braised vegetables and plums all surrounded by a thin gravy of plums and red wine (not sticky sweet as one would imagine, more savory and "au jus" in appearance and texture).  This was a terrific cut of meat - thick, nicely crusted on the outside and juicy and firm on the inside.  It was not served pink or underdone, but was not at all dry.  The benefits of nicely marbled pork to be sure.  I'd go back just for this.  The accompaniments didn't do too much for me, plums and pork are a nice combo, but how exciting can polenta and wilted spinach be?  I'd go back for that chop though, just delicious.

With dinner, a decent bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape (not sure of the label or vintage, sorry my friend picked it out) and couple of capuccinos rounded things out.  Service was friendly and informal (no touching, don't get me wrong.).  All in all, a pretty good excursion for a last-minute Monday night.

[yvonne johnson]

Dinner on Friday at GB&G. After being regulars for around 8 years, we haven't been for dinner in around two years following a couple of lackluster dinners. We've continued to have lunch there now and then as it remains pretty consistent.

I had fresh grilled mackerel to begin. This was on a bed of tiny cubes of avocado and mango. This worked very well--the dish was colorful, and the fish was fresh with crispy fish skin. The cubed fruit looked retro though. G. had fried sweetbreads. These were two large, thick pieces that looked battered and deep-fried. Nice enough, but it could have been chicken. Came with parsnip puree that seemed redundant. My cousin and his wife were pleased with their salad and slow baked (I think) salmon--appearance-wise no different than smoked salmon.

Next I had lobster tails (three small ones) that had a cream sauce and this was accompanied by fingerling potatoes and wilted lettuces and little white beans. The accompaniment was tepid, soggy, and bordering on the not so nice.

Very good reports from those who had the line caught cod (we didn't enquire whether this caught by a small boat or huge commerial fishing vessel!), duck, and squab. Most main courses are $30+.

Two bottles of Cote du Rhone, a red and a rose (complemented the appetizers), both good. Service fine, waitress a little aloof, but no complaints. Room has ben spruced up and looks good. But all in all nothing special. We've had better meals at home using Portale's cookery books.

[Cabrales' report on lunch there

]http://forums.egullet.org/ibf/index.php?s=...6943&hl=gotham]

[johnjohn]

I have had dinner at GB&G probably 8 - 10 times in the past 3 years, and have always had excellent meals. It's always surprised me that this restaurant is not mentioned more often on this site. I always recommend it to out of towners.

I was introduced to the lunch special a few months back, and if in the area will have it at the bar. $20.02 for three courses - usually a choice of soup or salad - pasta, fish or chicken - sorbet or cake - portions are small, but hey it's lunch!!! Think it is a really good deal, plus service at the bar is very nice. I do think wine by the glass is expensive compared to other places.

johnjohn

[Lreda]

Dined at the bar last month and had a very enjoyable meal. Gone were the vertical dishes that made Portale's GB&G famous. I had eaten here 2 years ago and was disapointed but have made two visits since and enjoyed both times though the wine list is VERY expensive now. Nothing decent under $80. Had Patz & Hall Chardonnay & Flowers Pinot Noir, both $80.

Apps on memory: Sweetbreads, Pasta with Wild mushrooms, Foie Gras

Entrees: Duck Breast, Squab, Venison

Bartender remembered me from past visits and knew I was in the business but don't think that had much to do with the fine meal. We ate the bar which I enjoy more than the dining room at GB&G. My only complant is that the menu doesn't change much as you would think with Portale selling his 12 Seasons cookbook from behind the bar. Portale was also in whites that night and the time before so I would assume he was working in the kitchen.

I own both cookbooks and find them very workable both in my restaurant and at home in my kitchen. His style of cooking also inspired me to open a american style restaurant in Morris County N.J. where Italian restaurants are the norm.

[jeunefilleparis]

when I moved to NY five years ago, Gotham was one of my first NY dining experiences, It was Xmas time and Gotham looked as beautiful as ever with the decorations. I remember hearing about the "vertical" presntation. Since that meal, i ve been about 5 times, a couple for the $20 prix fixe lunch and for dinner. My last meal there was about a year and a half ago and I regret though the meal was fabulous,but, I only remember having a really incredible warm lobster salad, the rest of the meal escapes me.

Gotham still remains one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The style of food, presenation and service has always been outstanding

Lauren

[jeunefilleparis]

Just had to post that I had a wonderful experience at Gotham Bar and Grill. Honestly i have always loved GB&G.

I sometimes go there just to get a dessert. Not all of them sounded too interesting, they had a passion fruit souffle, stolen from Blue HIll? i wonder!!

I had a pineapple financier with brown sugar icecream and pineapple semifreddo. The financier was a regular one with a nice roasted pineapple on top, paired with the cool creamy brown sugar icecream was a prefect match. I didnt love the semifreddo, i dont know why, just didnt hit my taste buds the right way,,,,

they had some great aps of the menu and i tasted my neighbors bone marrow custard which was quite nice

ok back to work

L

[sabg]

that marrow custard has been there since the 80's and still one of favorite all time things

[flinflon28]

I was just there for drinks with a friend last week and had a great time. We arrived around 6:15 and the restaurant was 25% full. By the time we left the bar at 8:45 it was roaring just like the ol' days. Drinks were well mixed but I still find the service to be a little aloof there. The servers are always very professional but there is something a little odd about their demeanor. We each had three drinks and split a mushroom salad which was so good that we were fighting over the lat forkful. I wish I'd taken better notice of the ingredients so I could go into more detail....damn all that Makers Mark! The salads certainly don't reach the heights they used to back in the day. It was also nice to see Chef Portale out and saying hi to a couple of diners (probably friends of his) at the table nearest the window.

All in all a good experience but I feel people treat Gotham like a local dining establishment/bistro more than a destination spot so that is perhaps why it doesn't get the buzz it used to. It looked to me like alot of the patrons that evening were regulars (it was a Tuesday night) and the vibe was that of a golf club dining room. Very casual with a moneyed dishelveled look on some of the diners.

[oakapple]

Last night, I paid my first visit to this iconic New York restaurant. You could eat for a month at restaurants helmed by chefs who trained under Gotham's Alfred Portale. After twenty years, Portale still delivers one of the most satisfying dining experiences you can have in this city. On a Wednesday night, Gotham was packed.

I started with the Gingerbread Crusted Foie Gras ($24), which was probably the best foie gras dish I've had. Who else would have thought of putting such a humble ingredient as gingerbread on foie gras? It was ingenious.

It was really tough to choose an entrée, as every item on the menu sounded good. I chose the Rack of Lamb ($39), which I suppose is a boring choice, but when in doubt the lamb will never disappoint. It came with two generous double-cut chops, mind-blowingly tender, and a potato puree that was a bit underwhelming. Portale's trademark is that he plates dishes vertically, so it was no surprise to have the chops delivered with the bones pointed upward, leaning against a potato tower.

Service was impeccable. This struck me right at the beginning, when I took the plastic stirring stick out of my vodka & tonic, and laid it on the table. It can't have taken more than 30 seconds for someone to notice this, and come take the little stick off the table.

My only complaint is the bread—a fist-sized wad of dough that seemed to have been baked many hours before. The crust had long since turned to concrete. If Kentucky Fried Chicken can turn out fresh, warm bread, why can't a three-star restaurant?

Gotham Bar & Grill is at 12 E. 12th St, between 5th Avenue and University Place. The current menu is available at their website.

[emilymarie]

How were the desserts?

[oakapple]

How were the desserts?

←

We skipped dessert, although there's a strong selection of single-malt whiskies, from which we sampled.

[gaf]

Gumption New York City Entry #59

Some culinary artists are social butterflies. Any trendy breeze that musses their locks changes their aesthetic. They zig, then they zag. Whatever criticism one might make of Alfred Portale, the long-time chef at Gotham Bar and Grill, inconstancy is not among them. Portale was one of the key figure in the movement that reached its zenith in the 1980s to treat food as architecture: a form of vertical cuisine. In the history culinary fads and fashions, vertical cuisine seems a bit like a hiccup, but it was a moment that provoked astonishment and it literally provided chefs with a new dimension. It gave cooks air rights. One of the greatest meals of my life was a tribute to this architectural cuisine at 24 Miramar in Jacksonville, Florida (now, apparently, closed - the restaurant, not the city.) The man behind this design was Alfred Portale, and his Gotham Bar and Grill has impressed New Yorkers for two decades, a culinary philosophy for a city always looking up.

Portale is a greater designer than chef, although this is not to denigrate his kitchen skills. His Village restaurant is one of the most stunningly elegant rooms in town, a room that demands examination from floor to ceiling. The floral arrangements are a tribute to the food or perhaps it is the reverse, but both are tributes to the transcending of gravity.

Having had a very satisfying meal at Gotham some years ago, I recently visited at lunch. I rarely dine out at lunch, but this could well have been the impressive lunch during my New York stay even had I a larger sample. It is true that the flavors did not equal the visual impact, but lunch was not mere packaging, although one might wish that the waiters uncovered the dishes with a flourish to stun one's eyes and take one's breath.

I began with the Warm Mushroom Salad with Frisée, Crisp Bacon, Aged Goat Cheese, and Sherry Vinaigrette. Portale presents a decolletage cuisine; one wonders what engineering feat holds it up. I was astonished. The grated Parmesan-like cheese covering the frisée hinted of snow on cedar. The problem was snow depth. The cheese overwhelmed the greens. If one shook the cheese off to the side (my eventual strategy), the dish was quite satisfying, but when Portale chooses between eye and tongue, the former always receives the nod.

As a main course I selected Moroccan Spiced Rack of Lamb with Couscous Salad, Roasted Eggplant and Lemon-Black Pepper Jus. If there is a single food stuff that God placed on earth for the pleasure of Alfred Portale, it is surely rack of lamb, and the chef did not fail this gift. The plate was a roller-coaster of heights and depths, colors and textures. The lamb was superb, as was its jus. I was less impressed by the couscous and eggplant, which to my taste, lacked the airy and mysterious spices of the Casbah. This was Bogart's Casablanca, not the Bey's.

While the Apple Pecan Tart is the stunner among desserts, a an impossible crown of baked cream, I ordered Vanilla Roasted Pears with White Chocolate Polenta and Orange Saffron Ice Cream. Desserts at Gotham may be a bit less startling than main courses, if only because Vertical Cuisine seems have had a greater impact on pastry chefs, who have the luxury of building plates without the insistent pressure of servers and diners. Like many desserts, mine was a fantasia of shape and color. The pears and polenta were sumptuous. The orange saffron ice cream lacked the acidity that makes dessert a cleansing ritual. The idea of combining orange and saffron must have seemed inspired, but as served this inspiration became insipid.

Gotham is one of the essential New York restaurants, and Portale an essential chef. As a diner I am grateful that he stokes the fire of the third dimension. Sometimes he forgets that taste is a fourth dimension - or the first dimension - but after twenty years he has persuaded many diners that cuisine can touch the heavens. Alfred Portale is Antoni Gaudi of the stove.

Gotham Bar and Grill

12 East 12th Street (at Fifth Avenue)

Manhattan (Greenwich Village)

212-620-7810

My Webpage: Vealcheeks

[Todd36]

Had lunch there on Friday. As bizzare as it sounds, somehow, I had never eaten there. Had the $27 prix fix. Squash soup, cod and chocolate cake. All very good, although portion size seemed a little small. A good deal for $27. Again, in the two to three star range. I like Perry Street better for lunch.

[Fat Guy]

There's an interview/profile piece on Alfred Portale in this month's New York Restaurant Insider magazine. One of the bits of information worth noting here, because it tends to be forgotten, is that Alfred Portale was not the original chef (or the founder) of Gotham Bar & Grill. As the article explains the background:

Gotham Bar and Grill had opened in March 1984, with a menu developed by well-known cookbook author Barbara Kafka. Owner Jerry Kretchmer initially had a restaurant that was a resounding success. But after returning from a European vacation, Kretchmer discovered that Gotham was not doing very well. New York Times reviewer Bryan Miller would later quip that “Like Hurricane Gloria, Gotham turned out to be 80 percent anticipation. The food wasn’t very good.” After several changes of chefs and with Gotham losing money every day that it remained open, Kretchmer was close to a decision to close the restaurant for good.