Telepan

[Bond Girl]

The pea cabonara was to die for, although my artichoke and palm hearts were pretty good at holding my attention, I kept on reaching for the pea carbonara at the middle of the tableand when that was finished I wanted some bread to mop up the sauce. My dining pals' Perogie was really tasty too, even for a beet hater like me. But by that time, I was already very happy with my food. The soft shell crab poppers really got me into a great mood, I love eating apps like that: simple, honest and good, and I was stealing bits of things off my dining pals' plates. The yellow tail tebbouleh went missing very fast and there was the mysterious disappearance of a large section the smoke trout on blini. Hey, what good is going to kick boxing if I can't get to eat? And, I enjoyed every bit of the food I ate last night. The salmon with artichokes and white soldier beans (hi Steve!) went on to delight me after the peas, although the peas now have a tough competitor in the form of the chickpea pancakes. Rancho Gordo should be happy to know that no one did nore justice to those beans than Mr. Telepan. As for the pancakes, they were surprisingly spicy with complex blend of flavors that works beautifully. My friends' helibut was pretty nice too with very delicious chanterelle mushrooms, and since I had the soft shellcrab poppers, I didn't try to pillage the crab entree with zucchinis on my other friend's plate.

When dessert arrived, I announced that no one is touching my strawberry with prosecco. I know that it's nice to share, but a girl has to protect her interest too. But, that didn't stop me from sticking my fork into my friends' buttermilk flan and chocolate cherry tart. Well, my friends weren't as selfish as me.

As far as the food is concerned, every dish I had at Telepan is the sort of thing I can eat over and over again and love every bite.

Service was more than decent with constant attention to the level of water in our glasses and refilling my ice tea, so whatever issues that were previously there must have been ironed out.

If I live on the upper west side, Telepan would be the place I get together with my girlfriends for brunch and a place I stop by after work when I don't feel like cooking. It's just was one those nice warm places, that you just can't help loving.

[Jason Perlow]

eGullet Society's Bond Girl, Ya-Roo Yang, interviews Bill Telepan in an Off The Broiler podcast (click)

Edited July 9, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[Sneakeater]

Finally made it to Telepan.

Had a four-course menu. I thought the food was absolutely unexeptionable. So why can't I think of a single thing to say about it?

[Fat Guy]

Different people are excited by different styles of food. Keeps things interesting.

[Sneakeater]

In case anyone misread, I want to emphasize that I said "unexceptionable" (as in not subject to any criticism) and not "unexceptional" (as in not exceptional).

I think you (meaning I) just run out of things to say about simple market-and-ingredient-driven cooking, no matter how much you might like to eat it.

Edited September 27, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Bond Girl]

Took my diabetic vegetariam friend to Telepan last night....not only did she find plenty to eat, she was having trouble choosing between a number of menu items. Bill Telepan's Pierogi with Beets is truely exceptional, and that is comes from two avid beet haters. In fact, we almost got a second order of the dish, if she were so limited by her dietary restrictions. Other highlight of the menu includes a very dreamy squash gnocchi. Dessert is a glass of quice puree served with cream and presecco and an apple spiced cake, both extremely delicious. The place is definitely worth the trek from downtown.

[Daniel]

Wow.. Sounds rather exceptional as in pretty tastey, not untastey, or tasteless... Haha.. Just kidding.. I still dont understand what sneakeater wrote, however I cant stop laughing about it..

Seriously though, I am ready for some Fall eating and am really look forward to Bill's Menu.. Glad you liked it Bond Girl..

[daisy17]

Early dinner at Telepan last night before Die Zauberflote at the Met . . . with one exception (artichoke frittata, it just didn't do it for us) we thought everything was very well prepared. One of the amuses was a beautifully earthy, fragrant mushroom soup, and I would have been happy to make a meal of a giant bowl of it. My yellowtail & faro starter was full of flavor, and the butternut squash gnocchi seriously rocked. That's a dish I could dream about. Thought the service was knowledgeable and attentive. Bread pudding was pretty damned good too.

[SaltySnack]

I haven't eaten at Telepan yet, but my boyfriend and I are already disappointed. I made reservations there for later this week as a special meal to celebrate my brother's, my sister-in-law and my niece's birthday while they are in New York. My brother is very into nice wines, so I dispatched my boyfriend to check out the wine list as he is knowledgeable about wines.

Turns out Telepan doesn't list their wines on their website. Instead you need to email the sommelier for the wine list. So he does that, 4 days later, still no email, so he call the restaurant gets some woman on the phone who is very rude about the whole situation when he calls to inquire about the wine list. Refers him to the website, then says she can't help him and can't do anything until the sommelier comes in at 4 p.m. Obviously no one ever passed on the message to the sommelier that 'em needs to check 'em's emails, because days have passed and my boyfriend has still not received the wine list.

So guess whose reservations are getting canceled today?

[hshiau]

So guess whose reservations are getting canceled today?

←

Sorry to hear that. I think you will miss a very nice meal. Don't throw that away based on a bad phone call.

We went back in December and had a great time. We both had the 4 course prix fixe and my wife also had wine pairings. Unfortunately, while I do have the menus and info on what we ate, my memory is kinda fuzzy on the details. Suffice to say, it was unexceptionable.

Amuse: Swiss chard, ricotta cheese pizza

Appetizers:

Roast Quail: duck and dried fruit sausage, autumn panzanella & dried-fruit vinaigrette

Hen of woods mushrooms: poached egg, mustard & frisee paired with Tablas Creek Vineyard 2004 cotes de tablas blanc

White shellbean puree on cristini

Mid-course:

Buttercup squash gnocchi: sage, wild mushrooms & pine nuts

Lobster Bolognese: shallot-garlic-tomato broth & light herbs paired with Monte Fondo Casette Foscarin 2003 Soave

Puree of Mushroom soup

Entrees:

Seared Duck Breast: pomegranates, black & gold rice, duck confit & baby turnips

Heritage Pork: house cured sauerkraut, potato pierogi, celery root & apple compote paired with La Posta 2005 Malbec

Dessert:

Red wine pear & chestnut cream, crisp fillo cup & red wine sauce

Brandy bread pudding, brandied cherry ice cream, brandy sauce

While I don't remember the details of the meal all that well...and I'm actually guessing at what we had, the thing I do remember is that they didn't have the pineapple rice pudding dessert that we LOVED the previous time we went. We plan on being back.

Howard

[Felonius]

Had my first visit to Telepan today for lunch. I was a fan of Chef Telepan's food at Judson grill and had high expectations for this new venture.

I had the quail, the hanger steak, and the chocolate almond cake. I won't bother describing the food in detail, as others have already done a superb job on this thread. Everything was excellent, with a good balance flavors and textures. I look forward to going back for dinner.

One major gripe however concerns the wine service. I ordered a Malbec, which was nice, but nothing particularly special and the price was $15.00 a glass. I can't imagine this bottle wholesales for much more than $15 a bottle. What really bothered me was the pour. Telepan is serving wine by the glass in very small Schott white wine goblets. The pour was a customary "less than half full", but due to the tiny glasses I'd estimate it was about 4oz. Barely enough wine to get even a little old lady through a course. They must be getting at least 6 glasses to the bottle, which equates to $90 per bottle for this Malbec! The same wine is only $45.00 a bottle on the list. As a solo diner who can't order a full bottle, I felt like I was getting fleeced. I searched the very extensive wine list for some half-bottle options, but there were only two reds on offer at $60 and $190 per. I know that NYC restaurants have to charge high prices to pay the rent, but IMHOP, wine prices by the glass are now bordering on the ridiculous.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Felonius (log)

[markk]

Would anybody be kind enough to bring me up to speed on this restaurant? I know I've read "buzz" about it and Bill Telepan recently, but I can't remember what it was. Many thanks.

[Nathan]

The "buzz" appears to reflect two factors:

a. a somewhat innovative menu format.

b. it's a decent restaurant in the culinary black hole of the UWS.

[deepyarn]

They have rectified the no wine list on the website problem, it can now be downloaded.

[juuceman]

Would anybody be kind enough to bring me up to speed on this restaurant?  I know I've read "buzz" about it and Bill Telepan recently, but I can't remember what it was.  Many thanks.

←

Bill Telepan is one of the more under rated chefs in NYC today, he cooks seasonally and locally.

[hshiau]

Just read on UrbanDaddy about the foie gras doughnut at Telepan. It's supposed to be an off-the-menu item that's served a couple of times a week. Does anyone know about this? I'd love to go try it out but which days?!?!?

[markk]

Well, having asked about this a few weeks ago and not heard (or found anything in the press to dissuade me) I ate at Telepan last night.

It's extremely convenient to Lincoln Center, and that's the strongest thing I can say. Our server was incredibly nice, so that's two things, but it ended there. The food was entirely and totally mediocre. Well, my companion's word was "ordinary" but we decided that mediocre was closer. We made a meal of full portions, each, of what would have been on the tasting menu, just so we could have larger portions (each) of three courses before dessert. The "amuses" (3 tiny things on a long plate) gave us an inkling that nothing great might be coming, for sure. Starters were Roast Quail, and the quail itself was pretty good, and the best thing of the evening. A frisee salad with egg and scrapple was not nearly as good as it sounded. The Foie Gras (hot and cold combination) was okay (I guess), but absolutely nothing special at all. Having decided against the duck breast (it was Pekin duck, my least favorite breed), we were steered towards the Heritage Pork medly (house-cured sauerkraut, potato pierogi celery root & apple compote) and the Roasted Dry Aged Sirloin (oxtail glaze, bone marrow potato cake & white winter vegetables). This was pretty much something I'd have expected if I had been flying in business class. Nothing was egregiously horrible, but nothing was in any way special. A carrot cake with cream-cheese ice cream ended the meal, and again, the very best part was that it was three short blocks to the Metropolitan Opera House.