Landmarc

[slkinsey]

As bergerka says, we found our way down to Landmarc Wednesday evening, along with Eric Malson. I think it's safe to say that I am even more fond of this place now than I was following my initial visit.

Now... I'd only been to Landmarc once before, almost exactly one month ago. Yet, the minute I walked into the front door the FOH manager recognized me immediately and said, "oh, we have a special tonight I know you're going to like" (more on that later). Okay, for the record, we did communicate with the restaurant before we showed up for our offal tour last month, and it is a bit unusual for people to run around the city gobbling down organ meats, but there are places at a similar price point on the UWS I've been visiting for years that don't make me feel this welcome. This level of personal attention and warmth was typical of our entire evening there.

Since it was still a bit early in the evening for us (6:30) we decided to have a drink at the bar. Very nice. As reported, it is a small bar (although there is another little area over to the side where people with drinks can congregate). Visually, it is very impressive. You can get a good idea of the style here. We chose from their list of house cocktails. bergerka had a "pomegranate negroni" (tanqueray, campari, pomegranate juice, soda) that was very nice. Eric and I had what they call a "French gimlet." This is a "new style gimlet" made with both sweet and (mostly) fresh lime juice. The "French" part is that the glass is rinsed with Ricard. They're usually made with Grey Goose vodka, but we had ours with Bombay Sapphire instead. Delicious. The sourness of the fresh lime juice makes it very refreshing, and a slight whisper of Pernod is always there in the background. I'll be trying this one out at home for sure.

After that, bergerka and I split an "Ice Wine Martini" (which the bartender graciously offered to split into two glasses for us). This drink has got to be their signature cocktail at this point. It's similar in conception to the Per Se Cocktail, which is to say that it is a simple, austere drink where good vodka serves as a canvas for a high quality secondary ingredient. At Landnarc, it's Ketel One vodka and Hunt Country ice wine with a fresh blueberry garnish. We loved it and, interestingly, by the time I got to the bottom of my half-sized cocktail, the blueberry had really started to flavor the drink. Landmarc's cocktails are all very competitively priced (especially compared to the Per Se Cocktail) at ten or eleven dollars. The bartender, Dan Lerner, is a fan of the classics, has mad skills with a Boston shaker and pours from the glass half using a julep strainer -- all things I like. Interestingly, he's also the son of a well-known classical singer and voice teacher. Continuing the theme of friendly hospitality, both owners and the beverage director dropped by for a chat while we were at the bar. When it came time to eat, they even gave me the same table I had last time (which is a nice one, IMO, with a good view of the entire restaurant). My only substantial criticism of the bar is that it is quite close to the open fire/grill at the back of the room, and it can get a little warm on that side of your body.

The special turned out to me a pig's trotter appetizer, which of course I had to have. It turned out to be a small cross-section of cold boneless pig's trotter with some mustard and a nice little salad of frisee and parsley. It was cool. I've never had trotters cold before, and the gelatin gave it an interesting texture. bergerka had the foie gras terrine with pickled red onions. I'm not sure I have much to add to what others have said on this thread. It is extremely tasty (how couldn't it be?) and an amazing deal at 12 dollars. Plenty or places could charge 20 for this and people wouldn't bat an eye. Eric had roasted marrow bones with onion marmalade and grilled country bread. Three huge marrow bones, which arrived at the table still sizzling and contained an unusually large amount of marrow. Hard to go wrong there. I don't know why every restaurant in the city isn't offering roaster marrow bones. We started with the 9 dollar half-bottle of Rioja which, as tommy says, one can hardly afford to not order.

For mains, Eric had the sweetbreads I described in a previous post. They were great. bergerka had a small order of mussles with pesto and cherry tomatoes and a side order of frites. The frites could have been a bit crisper for our taste, but the mussles were wonderful and a small order was enough to feed an army! Fat Guy is right on the money about the pesto/tomato/mussel broth. At this point, I think they just know to start bringing over extra baskets of bread whenever anyone orders mussels. On pnapoli's recommendation, I had the grilled quail with sautéed mushrooms, bacon and cherry tomatoes. Some of the best grilled quail I've had. Quail is often dry, but not this one. Cooked just through, but moist and flavorful throughout. With the mains we split a half bottle of Jed Steele 2002 Carneros Pinot Noir (12 dollars!) that was very nice... just the right amount of richer and deeper.

We had the "works" for dessert again. The chocolate mousse had seriously improved since last time, and is lighter with good bitter undertones. They now offer a very nice nougat glacee instead of the apple tart, which is an improvement. The granitas are also improved, and are actually now sorbets (coconut, strawberry and orange). The blueberry crumble, creme brulee and lemon tart remained as the high points, but everything else definitely took a step closer to that level.

[Pan]

Great report!

One perhaps silly question: Are pig's trotters the same as pigfeet?

[slkinsey]

Yes.

[herbacidal]

Great report!

One perhaps silly question: Are pig's trotters the same as pigfeet?

Is there any distinction in English between the front feet and the back feet?

[slkinsey]

Nope. "Trotter" just means the food of a pig (or sheep) -- especially when used as food.

[Suzanne F]

After reading this thread, I was panting, drooling, champing at the bit, ready to try out Landmarc. So last night we strolled over, and . . . closed for the holiday weekend!!!!!

It's a good thing Landmarc is close. While we are technically not considered to be living in Tribeca (we're east of Broadway), I still think of it as a neighborhood place.

(We ended up at Arqua, a true gem.)

[ewindels]

In a nutshell: run, do not walk, to Landmarc, and order anything, and accompany it with a half-bottle of the Turkey Flat 2002 Shiraz, which seemed to me to have been created solely to put a smile on your face -- or for that matter order a half-bottle of anything on Landmarc's wine list, cuz for these prices you cannot go wrong, and bask in the warm amiability of the just-attentive-enough staff, and let your cares go.

[Bux]

(We ended up at Arqua, a true gem.)

I liked Arqua until I made the mistake of ordering calves' liver there some time ago. I made the same mistake in Bianca the other night. It's been a long time since I've had decent liver in a moderately or inexpensively priced Italian restaurant. For 18 euros in a bistro in Paris I had superb calves' liver. A thick slab cooked pink as it should be. I've never had liver that good. I should probably refrain from ordering liver again until I get to Paris. When I tried to explain how I wanted it, the waiter looked at me and said "rosé." I nodded and it was perfect. I seem to recall having good calves liver, actually very good liver, in Le Zinc, downtown. How's the calves' liver at Landmarc? They promote it as a speciality.

Years ago, it seemed to be a standard refrain of old time restaurant reviews. You can tell how good (or bad) a restaurant is just by ordering the calves' liver (or the roast chicken, take your choice). It's probably still a truism for me.

[slkinsey]

How's the calves' liver at Landmarc? They promote it as a speciality.

Oustanding. See remarks above from Artichoke and myself.

[bergerka]

Sadly, it's pretty rare that a restaurant makes as good an impression on me the second time as it did the first.

Landmarc did it.

I can't wait to go back. If I thought my wallet and my waistline could take it, I'd be there tonight, sipping a raspberry lemonade (raspberry stoli and house-made lemonade - DELICIOUS), ordering the totally fantastic asparagus appetizer and maybe -MAYBE ordering something besides the mussels for a main dish. MAYBE.

Also, it's very nice to know that sitting upstairs is as pleasant an experience (with the exception of the screaming baby whose mother was gabbing on her CELL PHONE, RUDE RUDE RUDE unless she was being informed that a family member/her best friend/the president was sick/severely injured/dead/in jail ) as sitting downstairs. They open the big window up there and the breeze comes in. LOVELY.

K

[Artichoke]

I went back to Landmarc last week and had another memorable meal. I ordered items that have been discused here previously, the roasted bone marrow, sweetbreads and the foie gras terrine. I had not previously had the foie gras, which was very good. The marrow and the sweetbreads I am happy to report are still excellent.

I was less happy with what my guest had ordered, the warm goat cheese profiteroles and a roasted bass with fennel, tomatoes and black olives. I found the combination of the profiteroles and the dry goat cheese to be, well, too dry. The bass was too salty.

I had my favorite for dessert, the blueberry crumble, the ramekin size is perfect. I think that the best thing about this dessert is that the blueberry is not overly sweet which matches very well with the sweet crumble on top.

The service was very good as it has been on my previous two visits and I got seated right away at 8:30 PM on a Thursday evening.

I went back to a wine that I first had at Landmarc, the Quintessa 2000 from Napa. It is expensive at $95, yet remarkebly there is no mark up on this bottle and I have actualy seen it sold at retail for slightly higher. If you are in the mood to splurge and like a big California red with incredibly deep berry flavors, this is the one.

[jauster]

Landmarc was more casual than I anticipated, although patron’s dress ranged from shorts to sport coats. We sat downstairs, so I can’t comment on the second floor. The main floor is anchored with a small bar in the back that overlooks the flame flickering grill. The exposed brick walls, mild lighting, and simple metallic artwork give it a softened industrial look.

Initially, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I wanted, arguably, the two heaviest items on the menu, roasted marrow bones ($12) and sautéed calf's liver ($21). (Marty, my husband, rolled his eyes because this is not an uncommon mistake for me) Luckily, it took some time for our wine to come (a very tasty Bordeaux at an extremely low markup). I stayed with the roasted marrow bones and went with the grilled quail sautéed mushrooms, bacon and cherry tomatoes ($22). Marrow was essentially new to me. It tastes like the fat from the edge of a rib roast, but with a much smoother, strangely delicate texture. I loved it. I first piled my grilled bread with only marrow. Later bites included the delicious onion marmalade and sea salt. Everyone tried it and enjoyed. Although, Marty said he had enjoyed marrow more elsewhere. Marty had the cucumber soup special and liked it, but wanted more flavor. I tried a spoonful of the French onion soup ($7) and was impressed. A gooey glob of gruyere with a rich beef broth that wasn’t too salty for a change. By the time I got to the grilled quail, I knew I had ate too much marrow. I forced myself to down the dish, which was excellent. The flavors are still dancing in my mouth. Next time, I will order this on a much emptier stomach. Marty got the rib eye with the shallot bordelaise ($28), and was pleased with his choice.

Far too full for dessert, we all passed. By the time I got home, I knew I had eaten way too much. The marrow, the presumed culprit, did not sit well. In fact, it did not sit at all (need I say more). Unless you have a huge appetite or stomach of steel, I would recommend sharing the roasted marrow bones with several people.

I had no issues with service, as some have mentioned. Overall, I can’t wait to head back to my new neighborhood spot…

[ewindels]

I did want to mention my one tiny disappointment since mussles were brought up...i got them provencal since someone at the table was already getting the basic white wine/parsley sauce and i have to say, i wasn't that pleased.  maybe i just dont like big chunks of vegetables (i think eggplant, tomoto, zuchinni, all of which i love) in with my mussles but i also found it to be a bit bland; i wish had had been into them enough to sop the sauce up with 2 baskets worth of bread, but such was not the case...didn't hold a candle to my partner's tradionally done bucket (and i mean bucket...the large was gigantic) of mussles; those were excellent.

My companion last Friday had the provencal mussels as well, and I have to agree with brohnik here: kinda bland, lots of vegetables tumbling around and not adding much, and the broth not nearly as kick-a-- as the other sauces, as proof of which we only went through one basket of bread between the two of us instead of one each.

I also have to say that having had the frisee aux lardons twice, the dressing to my taste could use a little more punch, mostly in the way of vinegar. It sort of tasted undressed. Either that or after two pomegranate negronis my tongue had gone comatose (highly possible).

This, however, is nitpicking: the place is so terrific all around that trivial issues like these don't really matter.

[SobaAddict70]

Kathleen/Sam: the next time you go to Landmarc, I WANT TO GO WITH YOU.

Wanna see how their roasted marrow compares to Prune's roasted marrow, among other things.

Soba

[Bux]

My first impression of Landmarc is that it was okay, but definitely a neighborhood restaurant. We'll probably return because it's a walkable distance from where we live, but I have trouble thinking of it as a destination. The deep fried squid and a cucumber and white anchovy salad were both good appetizers. Mrs. B seemed happy enough with her sweetbreads. While not the best she's ever had, she thought they were well priced and enjoyable. I can almost swear I've had great liver in NY. Maybe I haven't. Maybe the foie de veau persillé I had last fall at Aux Lyonnais in Paris for 18 euros [less than $22 at today's terrible exchange rates] a la carte, and on the 28 euro Menu du Jour three course dinner, just spoiled me for life. The meat itself, although cooked well enough, at Landmarc just didn't hold a candle to it and at $22 plus tax and service made me wonder why people say Paris is expensive. The liver was mushy. In Paris it had a much firmer texture and was served quite a bit rarer. Here I went with the waiter's suggestion of medium rare and the meat couldn't have been served any rarer.

Three dollar desserts are almost as great an idea as low wine markups. I really enjoy a bit of dessert, but often don't have room after a filling meal and Landmark's portions are not small. Three bucks for a small taste of sweets is terrific and if you want more, order two or three desserts. Mix them; match them; eat them in series or parallel. Low wine markup presents a small problem. Do I pocket the savings or drink better? We probably ordered a bottle at about what I might have spent at any place in the price range, but drank a bit better wine. I didn't much care for their clunky glasses and that might stop me from ordering a really expensive bottle, but I appreciated the temperature of the red wine. At too many little restaurants, the wines have been too warm lately. A couple of weeks ago, I asked a waiter at another neighborhood restaurant to put the red wine in an ice bucket, it was so warm.

The service was good, but I wish they could train runners not to ask if we're finished until we're obviously finished. It strikes me that with wine in the bottle and food on my plate it wouldn't look as if I had finished eating, but I suppose so few people know how to place a knife and fork to signal the staff when they are finished that it's not easy for runners to second guess.

Sorry to odd man out here, it's a nice place, but others seem to enjoy it more than I did. For what it's worth, I was far less pleased with Prune. As much as I was disappointed by my liver at Landmarc, I could see myself being a regular once I got to know the menu, although I didn't like the music and it was too loud for music I didn't like.

[Varmint]

Had lunch at Landmarc on Monday and would be pleased to have such a place nearby. The gazpacho was pureed, which is usually a strike against it in my book, but served with rock shrimp, it made for a delightfully simple summer soup (with clean, biting flavors, however). I wish they had added some form of crunch to the soup, just for textural variety, but it was very, very good.

I had the burger with gruyere, and it was an excellent burger -- nicely charred on the exterior, but medium rare in the center. I'd eat one of these a day if I could. As others have noted, the bun was way too large for the burger itself. Why can't they get this annoying little problem fixed?? The fries were perfect.

I tried the blueberry crumble for dessert. It was fine, but as is often the case with blueberry desserts, overly simple in flavor. They need to throw some blackberries and raspberries in with the blues as they come into season.

[Bux]

Is the bun of some special quality that it can't easily be replaced? Somebody had a burger near us and I strained to see what it looked like, but I couldn't really get a good view. A burger place within walking distance is always worth knowing. We really like the burgers at Balthazar, but it's not serviceable as a walk in place most nights until very late. I had almost the reverse problem last night at Balthazar (twenty minute wait for a table at 9:00pm without a reservation, by the way). They use an English muffin which is too small.

[slkinsey]

Is the bun of some special quality that it can't easily be replaced?

It's definitely not a generic "hamburger roll." It may be brioche or something like that. Perhaps they get them from Sullivan Street Bakery, which is where I'd guess they get their (excellent) bread. The issue, more or less, is that the bread is around an inch larger in diameter than the burger. It's very good bread, but it's too big -- which is not to say that the burger is too small. Really, these rolls would be too big for any hamburger of reasonable size.

Anyway, I was at lunch with Dean. Had the gazpacho as well, plus a croque madame (ham, melted gruyere & grilled country bread topped with a fried egg). Both were excellent. We also got to try some of the porchetta (boneless roasted pig) special, which was also very tasty, nicely moist and came with some pieces of crispy skin. No sooner did Dean say, "they definitely brined this pork" than Valerie Serrao, the FOH manager, came by and told us about going into the walk-in and being startled by a whole pig soaking in brine. The man knows his pork.

[Bux]

I thought the bread basket bread was Sullivan Street Bakery bread. I don't recall seeing anything like a brioche roll at Sullivan Street, or anything that looked as if it would work for a hamburger. My guess is that they have another source.

[jauster]

My second trip to Landmarc was a mess. Four of us went last night on my recommendation, and I was embarrassed. We had two big and one small problem with the evening. The appetizers went fine, nothing standout, nothing bad. Then our entrees arrived, one burger (without the cheese that had been ordered), one pork chop, and two livers. Problem is, only one liver was ordered, and the salmon was missing. We immediately sent it back with the runner. A few minutes later, our seemingly hearing impaired server (he kept asking what?…what? all evening) came over and apologized and said the salmon would be out shortly. When my friend ordered the salmon, the server noted that the chef prepares it medium rare. My friend, not really comfortable with this idea, requested it to be medium. Well, when the missing salmon arrived, it was raw in the most of the middle. It looked like the seared rare tuna that was so the craze a few years back, no where near medium. At this point, I am feeling terrible. My friend opts out of the salmon and goes for a burger. It came to the table prepared as requested well after everyone else was done eating.

The liver was mushy. In Paris it had a much firmer texture and was served quite a bit rarer. Here I went with the waiter's suggestion of medium rare and the meat couldn't have been served any rarer.

Now to big problem #2, I have to agree with Bux on the liver. It was SO rare. The center was a mushy, gelatinous mess, really gross. We asked our waiter about it. He said, “I don’t know about liver. I haven’t had it before.” You’ve got to be kidding, ask someone son. It’s supposed to be one of their specialties. I think some of you who went in the beginning got a better dish. Marty’s was not nearly as charred looking on the exterior as it looks in slkinsey’s picture. He ate around the edges and was full by the time he could ask our waiter about it.

We finished with desserts that were on the house, one lemon tart, one blueberry crumble, and two chocolate mousses. All were tasty. Luckily, we were all in good moods, and didn’t let all the problems bring us down. However, outside the restaurant, I asked my friends who hadn’t been there before if they would come back. They answered with a resounding, “no.” I don’t feel as strongly, mainly because it’s in my neighborhood, so I am willing to cut it more slack. There aren’t too many decent relatively inexpensive places that I know of in TriBeCa. Plus, there are things I’ve had there that I really like (burger, steak, quail), and the wine prices are great.

Jennie

[oakapple]

A friend and I went to Landmarc for lunch today. We both ordered the Landmarc burger with gruyère cheese. Sure enough, as others have reported, the bun was too large for the patty. I also ordered a gazpacho soup with shrimp, which was just fine.

My friend asked for her burger without the bun, and she also asked if the kitchen would give extra salad in lieu of french fries, which they happily did (notwithstanding the "no substitutions" policy).

[tommy]

My friend asked for her burger without the bun, and she also asked if the kitchen would give extra salad in lieu of french fries, which they happily did (notwithstanding the "no substitutions" policy).

was the salad dressed to your (well, her) liking?

[Suzanne F]

We finally made it back to Landmarc last night, and had an excellent dinner. They must read the comments here -- and elsewhere -- because some of the earlier problems were fixed. To whit: the goat cheese profiteroles, and the sorbets. But a few other problems popped up, which I hope they fix.

We arrived a little after 9:00pm -- the downstairs was full, upstairs (where we sat) about half-full, including the little balcony off the front of the place. Even with the exposed brick walls, not too loud -- there WAS music which went off sometime during our meal but returned loudly as we were finishing about 11:00pm: 1940s pop/big band from XM Radio. HWOE thought perhaps it was a signal that it was time for everyone to finish up and leave.

I started with the Ice Wine Martini -- and everthing Sam said about it is correct: big enough to share, and the blueberry garnish was a great touch. Yum.

For apps, we shared the profiteroles and a half-portion of the linguine con vongole. The cheese is now smooth, moist, and creamy, just goat-y enough, and the red pepper salad was a terrific complement. HWOE said he didn't miss the chocolate sauce at all. The linguine was perfect: pasta cooked just right, flavor of clam/oil/garlic/hot pepper/herb in perfect balance. With these we had a half-bottle of a Premier Cru Chablis (Christian something) for $16.

Mains were the Rabbit Loin and the Boudin Noir. The rabbit consisted of three large chunks of on-the-bone loin, plus a large portion of frisee salad containing lots of slivers of rabbit confit, dressed with a summer truffle vinaigrette. To me, overdressed -- as others have already observed. Plus, I've never seen much point to summer truffles. However, taken as a whole it was a delicious dish. The boudin noir was fabulous -- intriguingly, gently spiced, and meltingly soft inside the casing. I almost didn't want to go halves on it. Does anyone know, are the onions and (wonderfully tart and crisp) apples cooked in duck fat? I got the mashed potatoes with the boudin -- but these had a bit of a problem: uneven salting. There were pockets of salt, which made some bites inedible -- a shame, because the potatoes themselves tasted so potato-y.

Salt distribution was an overarching problem for us: according to the waiter (more on him later), the little crock of butter supplied along with rosemary-infused olive oil for the excellent bread was plain butter with a sprinkling of salt on top. Which does not work for people like me who are used to the butter being too cold, so we scrape it off the top: in this process, I got all the salt in one "spread." Nice crunchy granules of coarse salt, but not all at once, please. I hope they do something about that practice.

With the mains we finished up the Chablis (great with the solid chunks of rabbit), and a half of Turkey Flat Shiraz, already mentioned back on the second page of this thread. We were both so thrilled at the number, quality, and price of the halves. A brilliant move on the Murphys' part!

Hardly any room for dessert, but at $3 how could we not? And found that another problem has been solved: the sorbets -- coconut, honeydew, and orange -- were delicious, each with its own strong character (I loved the tart edge of the orange, and HWOE was gaga over the coco) and proper texture.

The decaf espresso was rich, flavorful, and not the least bit bitter. And OH! the caramels given with the check!

Now, the waiter: as you can imagine, we hit him with a lot of questions. Even after -- especially! -- he said it was his first night. He did find out the answers to all our questions. Overall, he was, well, kind of hyper, but in a good way. Anyway, he seemed more hyper than any of the other staff. By the time we left, I had learned that this was only a temporary job for him, until he leaves in 3-1/2 weeks to go to Italy to get married (he is not Italian, but his fiancee is). Normally, I do not care to buddy-up to this degree, but somehow it was okay. In fact, his breeziness added to our evening.

But the main elements -- the food and wine -- were clear stars. How nice to know that we have another excellent neighborhood place to drop in.

Edited July 3, 2004 by Suzanne F (log)

[Suzanne F]

We were back there again tonight with Bond Girl, just for dessert. This time we had "one of each" (6 different desserts for $15), and there was not a loser in the bunch.

- The sorbets were the same three we had on Friday, still excellent.

- Lemon tart was a good balance of sweet, tart, and bitter (from lemon zest), and as Bond Girl pointed out, not too much of an egg flavor. Thick but very tasty pate brisee crust. Definitely one of the better lemon tarts I've had, and I seek it out whenever I can.

- Chocolate mousse: very deep chocolate, with a good slug of amaretto; quite firm, which we all agreed was much better than too airy.

- Creme brulee: your standard vanilla, with a perfectly smooth texture, and a good bitter edge to the sugar topping.

- Blueberry crisp: very buttery, very blueberry, very good.

- Praline semi-freddo. This may not be what it's called on the menu, but that's what it tasted like. Good contrast of crunchy chopped praline to soft whipped cream.

It's a great dessert to share, since almost all the items are rich and strongly flavored, so a few bites can be completely satisfying.

HWOE and I also shared a glass of the Hunt Country Ice Wine (as was used in the Martini I had on Friday), and one of a dessert wine from chenin blanc grapes (Bonnezeaux) that was mostly crisp and lightly sweet, not syrupy.

[rich]

We finally made it back to Landmarc last night, and had an excellent dinner.

We were there at the same time. I was in a party of four upstairs that was seated at 8:30 p.m.

Food was outstanding. The $17 cheese course, which can serve four is the second best value in NYC (after their $12 fois gras pate).

Had a 2000 Hanna Zinfandel ($24) - incredible value.

This place is getting better and better. Hard pressed to find a better meal at any price in NYC - great views and ambience upstairs.

Edited July 6, 2004 by rich (log)