Perry Street

[Nathan]

the best lunch deal in the city has arrived.

for $24...pick two courses from a list of 8 or so.

dessert is gratis.

I'm taking my dad for lunch tomorrow.

although I couldn't envision eating dinner this early...they also have a $35 prix fixe dinner from 5:30 to 6

Edited November 29, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[BryanZ]

Dessert like petits fours or real dessert?

What are some of the entree choices?

[Nathan]

real desserts.

I'm going tomorrow.

oops, I see that cchen already posted about this up the thread.

[cchen]

Dessert like petits fours or real dessert?

What are some of the entree choices?

←

Real dessert, as I had already posted above.

For the entree choices, they have a variety of dishes from the a la carte dinner menu - Carolina spiced shrimp, rice flaked tuna, grilled artic char, beef tenderloin, bluefin tuna burger, veal payard, etc. The beef tenderloin is very similar to the dish at JG

[Nathan]

I had an absolutely fabulous lunch here yesterday.

Its too bad that its near no one's work (unless you're part of the 50% of the WV that either works from home or doesn't work at all) because this is the best lunch bargain in NY. If you do have a free weekday afternoon there is no excuse not to eat here.

Started with the borscht amuse they've been serving for a couple months. It's fine but nothing more.

2 plates and dessert for $24. additional plates are $12.

Bring your appetite. Both of my plates were entrees. Literally.

Began by splitting an additional plate of king oyster mushroom carpaccio with avacado and some sort of chili oil and thyme. Quite good. This was the only portion that was appetizer sized.

Had grilled gulf shrimp in a lemongrass broth with ramen. Served with chopsticks. Six large, perfectly seasoned, perfectly grilled shrimp. The not-too-robust lemongrass broth and simple noodles were perfect accompaniments. I guess this could have been pushed up with one more ingredient, but sometimes simplicity is bliss.

Followed with the beef tenderloin. A good six or seven ounce filet. Excellent quality. Cooked perfectly to my medium rare spec. A beef broth was poured over it at the table. Not really necessary but it didn't detract (which I guess is the point of using beef broth). Accompanied by mushrooms and some sort of root vegetable. Both were delicious in the broth.

Dessert was chocolate pudding with candied violets (a riff on pop rocks). I'm not a dessert person but this seemed to be quite good.

My dad had the rice-cracker crusted tuna in a sriracha emulsion (this has been on the menu at Perry Street from its inception) followed by the chicken. What looked like a full half chicken, one part roasted and one part poached. Looked pretty good actually.

The room was 80% empty the entire time. I don't get it.

[Noodlebot]

The prix fixe is actually available 7 days a week--I'm going to try Perry Street on a couple of weeks from now on a Saturday. I believe that the restaurant advertises brunch on Saturday and Sunday, but when I called, I was told that the brunch menu is the lunch menu with a few brunch-y additions. I can't wait to go!

[Nathan]

I had brunch at Perry Street a month ago and it was emphatically not the full lunch menu then. Nor did they offer a prix fixe. If they've changed that -- I'll be stumbling out of bed at one a lot on Saturdays.

[Noodlebot]

Looks like they've changed it. Opentable says they offer the prix-fixe lunch menu 7 days a week. I just called again and was told that on Sat and Sun they serve their standard lunch menu with about 2 breakfast choices.

[cchen]

The room was 80% empty the entire time.  I don't get it.

←

I concur. I've been twice since the menu change and its been empty both times (weekday).

[Todd36]

I have a friend who keeps going there for lunch and she considers it a steal. She works in the World Fincial Center and considers taxi fare split 4 ways to be very well spent.

[emsny]

I've never been there for lunch, but last Wednesday it was entirely full at dinner time.

[Nathan]

dinner's not the issue

[emsny]

I did notice that lunch was under discussion. None the less, it seemed worthwhile to indicate that, while the restaurant may be underpopulated at lunch, it is doing just fine in the evening.

Edited December 5, 2006 by emsny (log)

[Noodlebot]

Just wanted to note that I went to brunch on Sunday, and the $24 lunch menu was being served, along w/I believe one brunch entree (pancakes). I had the mushroom and avocado carpaccio (a little lackluster), sea bass in a truffle and potato broth (great), and apple profiteroles for dessert (very good). My boyfriend had the mozarella salad (excellent), tuna burger (great, perfectly cooked), and chocolate pudding (again, very good). Dining room was empty (about 4 other tables at any given time), as has been reported.

[Nathan]

went here for lunch on Saturday.

now that they're serving the $25 prix fixe on the weekends as well (they weren't a couple months ago), I'm absolutely perplexed as to why this place isn't packed.

the amuse is now a celeriac soup with truffle. This is amazingly good (really, how could it not be?). Much better than the borscht amuse they were serving all fall.

Had the sea bass in a truffled broth with mashed potatoes and french fries (!!). the fish had been perfectly cooked. the broth was stupendously good and the mashed potates were rich...not as good as those at L'Atelier Robuchon...but not that far off.

Finished with the beef tenderloin in a beef broth with thyme, along with roasted chanterelles and butternut squash ravioli.

I've written this up before. IMHO it is as good as any beef dish that anyone is serving in NY right now.

People should be lining up down the street to eat lunch here. It just makes no sense. I'm gonna go every Saturday.

btw, as far as I can determine to be Rich's definition of a "four-star" restaurant -- this is it. (in my opinion it doesn't fit the four-star paradigm - but it is the best three-star restaurant in the city -- the food isn't quite as good as L'Atelier overall -- though pretty close -- but L'Atelier's dinner prices are two-three times as much as Perry Street's dinner prices....and the difference on lunch is at the planetary level).

Edited December 24, 2006 by Nathan (log)

[banquo]

I also had lunch there yesterday. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I basically ordered what Nathan did with the addition of a risotto with sour cherries, walnuts and pesto. The balance of the dish was off for me: it was almost searingly spicy. I like spicy food, and this dish was for the most part delicious, but the sour cherries did not do enough to balance the red pepper that was put in.

The celeriac amuse is indeed good. We didn't hear the description from our server, so we didn't know, and couldn't guess, what it was. There was no evident celeriac taste. I think there should have been less stock added.

The sea bass was cooked perfectly, and the french fries w/black pepper provided a nice textural and flavor accent. Although the truffled sauce was inoffensive, I would have preferred something less heavy especially given the mashed potatoes, which mashed potatoes were simply incredible. Why can't I make them that good?

The tenderloin is, as Nathan suggested, very good. I wouldn't call its accompaniment a broth (like what Annisa serves with their beef duo); it was more like a sauce. The butternut squash ravioli were incredible. I would order an entree sized dish of those if they had it. The chanterelles, I thought, added nothing to the dish. I think mine were overcooked, for they were quite dry.

Overall, this place is serving great food at a great bargain. I like the setting more than at Jean-Georges, which seems overly tense. I'll definitely be coming back again and again, although perhaps not every Saturday.

The place was more or less empty when we arrived at 12:30, but the front of the room filled up nicely by the time we left. It is indeed puzzling, but it seems obvious to me that the restaurant would be doing much better business (at lunch) if it were more centrally located and accessible. The walk from the subway seemed like forever.

[Nathan]

I think it was celeriac anyway.

its good to hear that it was busier earlier. I arrived at around 2:30 and there were only a couple occupied tables.

its only a few blocks from my apartment but I imagine that it wouldn't be more than a ten minute walk from the the W. 4th subway station?

[banquo]

Yeah, it was probably 10 or so minutes. I didn't mean to suggest that it was unmanageably far or anything. But the walk seemed like forever, especially once you turn onto Perry St. itself, which struck me as belonging in no-man's land. At any rate, the distance will not at all be a deterrent for me. My point was only that a more central location would easily attract many more customers. If it didn't, then that would be truly inexplicable.

The service, incidentally, was outstanding.

[Nathan]

a quick piece of advice for people coming to PS by way of the subway.

get off at W. 4th and walk a couple blocks up 7th ave to Perry Street (the famous Czech coffee shop Doma is on the corner of Perry and 7th). its a very charming walk down Perry Street (at least until after Hudson when it starts to get spare).

as well, a great spot for beer or wine after dinner at PS is a block away on Perry -- The Other Room. about 50 beers (mainly Belgian) and 20 wines by the glass.

[Sneakeater]

It seems far to people cuz they don't know where they're going. Once you know, it's just a typical walk.

I remember the first time my wife and I walked down to Wallse on 11th St. from 14th St. We didn't know how far it would be and it seemed like the longest walk in the world. Of course, it isn't.

[Nathan]

ah...the WV paradox.

the W.4th station is closer to Wallse than the 14th street station...

(I suppose to non-NY'ers none of this makes any sense)

[tan319]

Question...

Does anyone know when Johnny Iuzzini' "Dessert 4 Play" is coming out?

I looked on the Clarkson Potter Publishing 'site, who is supposed to be publishing the book ( available Jan 07?) and came up a blank.

If JI is reading this, can you tell us?

Looking forward to it!

'Doc?

Thanks!

[BryanZ]

Joined eatmywords and Nathan at Perry St. for lunch today. This was my second time at Perry St. and first visit since they implemented the three-course $24 lunch. It is indeed a great deal, but I'm not necessarily sure if it's a better deal that Jean-Georges, the flagship. Perry St. is more casual, easier to eat at, you don't need a reservation, and more "chill," but I think I still prefer the fine dining feel. In terms of perceived value, they're very close; it really comes down to preference.

As others have reported, the amuse right now is sunchoke soup with a bit of truffle puree. Not exactly all that technically exciting but it was smooth, tasty, and ill-fitting for the bizzare 65 degree day we had today. Other than that, you can't really go wrong; I don't blame Perry St. for not predicting the weather.

Anyway, I had the chicken poached, roasted, with crispy skin and brussel sprouts for my first course. A very solid dish with bold but simple flavors. This isn't really haute cuisine, nor is it trying to be. I have certainly had individual poached and roasted chicken dishes that were better than this, but on the whole, the dish the really worked. I like to think of this as the type of food JG might cook for friends.

I also was able to sample the crusted tuna and the barley risotto with dried cherries. The crusted tuna is better than it should be and actually surpassed my expectations. The risotto was nice and comforting in a modern kind of way--I especially liked the dried cherries--but was only risotto. I've not been blown away by a risotto yet.

For mains, four out of five diners had the tenderloin, probably because Nathan talked it up so much. While I won't say it's one of the best beef dishes in the city right now--I don't eat enough beef in places like this to know--I will say it is an incredibly complex one. The tenderloin it self is merely a grilled tenderloin but the broth that is poured atop it is incredibly rich and salty. By salty, I don't mean overly-salted but rather dark and complex, as if salt could be caramelized. The butternut squash ravioli is also incredibly complex, picking up super-caramelized flavors, taking it way beyond sweet into salty pleasantly bitter. The chanterelles were actually the lightest aspect of the dish. In the end, this is a beef dish for adults (not that very many children eat here, but you get my drift).

I had one bite of the black bass in a truffle broth with mashed potatoes and frites. After the beef dish, this creamy, starchy, truffley fish dish seemed light. Anyway, it was delicious, especially the broth. Similarly to many of the fish dishes at JG proper, the sauce really elevated it.

I thought the desserts were a little bit underwhelming, perhaps because there were only two real options, in addition to a collection of sorbets. The pear crumble was effectively a freestanding pear tart and while fine, was overpowered by rosemary. I'm not a huge rosemary fan and if I was pairing pear with an herb somewhat similar, I would've turned to thyme. I really enjoyed Nathan's apple glace, as it really blended the line between clean sorbet and rich ice cream, exactly as it should have.

eatmywords' lovely girlfriend, whom I've now had the pleasure to meet twice, noted that some of the food might have been too salty. While I can see this as a valid complaint, I had no problems with the seasoning. While I'd imagine my mother would have agreed on the seasoning front--my roasted chicken was literally coated in coarse black pepper, the skin component with visible flakes of salt--I see this as JG's take on modern bistro cooking. Although JoJo may have been his baby, it is Perry St. where his current food takes on simpler form. In doing so, JG's tendency to rely heavily on spices comes through in an assertive fashion, perhaps bordering on unpleasant for some. With that said, none of us tried any of the lighter dishes such as the sashimi or lighter fish courses, so perhaps this is only present in the lower-half of the menu.

Regardless, a very enjoyable meal for a fair price. If I lived in the city, I'd go a lot, probably more than JG proper. Since I commute and have to plan my meals anyway, I might still prefer the Columbus Circle restaurant. To each his own, both a great bets.

Edited January 7, 2007 by BryanZ (log)

[Sneakeater]

I too always find myself thinking of the ways in which eatmywords's girlfriend is like my mother.

(To give this post some substance, I should add that one of the things I like about Perry Street is the assertive seasoning. I've certainly dragged people there -- none of whom I can think about in the same thought as my mother without smoke starting to come out of my ears -- who opined that they go overboard with the spices. Some of these non-maternal people have learned that the kitchen is willing to moderate -- or even leave things out -- if you ask them.) (WIMPS.)

Edited January 7, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Nathan]

the seasoning is indeed aggressive. I happen to like it.

some of the lighter dishes should please anyone though (the madai sashimi, the mozzerella)