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“Cafe Gray”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Midtown	Break the Bank	Off the Charts

lle, sumac, lamb, and beef ($8)—are served. The waiters, decked out in handsome bistro aprons, looked delighted as well. Indeed, in the 15 minutes since we had arrived at Café Gray I did not spy one frown, one frantic hostess, one sideways glance, or one ounce of attitude. At Café Gray, there is nothing but pleasure from the moment you pass through those doors. This is a place of joy and wonder. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet.

The dining room, while vast, feels intimate and small, even. It is filled with chocolate brown banquettes, and has relatively low ceilings and that same lovely amber light reflecting off mirrored pillars; the open kitchen lines the entire back wall of windows overlooking the Park. Indeed, while Per Se feels serene, serious and quite spacious, Café Gray feels alive with an almost jolly energy that makes it feel even a bit crowded, but crowded with life. You could sit at your table and just absorb the energy of the room and the brilliance of the flavors in your mouth and you really would never need to speak, though if you were able to keep your mouth shut after experiencing some of Gray’s food, you are far more restrained than me.

There is one menu and one menu only at Café Gray. There are no tasting menus, no prix fixe options, no vegetable journeys or seasonal medleys. The current Indian Summer Menu offers a choice of nine appetizers ($11-19) and 10 entrees ($22-34). We were six at the table—a chef, two food writers, two publicists and a foodie (I know it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke). We ordered all but three items.

Dinner starts with fresh hot loaves of flax seed bread that arrive tucked snugly into wooden baskets on silver platters. (The crusty outside/soft inside loaves are baked for Café Gray by Blue Ribbon Bakery.) While one use for the bread is as a platform for the heavenly butter (it is cultured, European-style, from Vermont Butter and Cheese Company) on the table, another is as a sponge for the sauce surrounding the sweet corn and truffle ravioli ($17)— miraculously delicate corn-filled pouches, set in a silky sauce of butter that embraces its fresh corn flavor so dearly that it almost brought me to tears. Risotto with mushroom fricasee ($19), was served in two parts—a bowl of perectly al dente risotto—creamy but not overly so—and a stunning silver pot of wildly earthy mushroom fricassee to s ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 10, 2004

Other restaurants in Midtown :
+ Lever House   + Aquavit   + RM   + Joseph's (formerly Citarella The Restaurant)   + Town   + Artisanal   + The Oyster Bar   + Geisha   + David Burke and Donatella Restaurant   + Riingo   + Amma   + Cafe Sabarsky   + The Stone Rose Lounge   + BLT Steak   + V, The Steakhouse-- Closed   + Bar Masa   + Cafe Gray   + The Bar Room at The Modern   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + Bistro du Vent-- Closed   + Shaburi   + Xing   + The Modern   + Bar Americain   + Alto   + Park Blue   + Mainland-- Closed   + Nobu 57   + Quality Meats   + Dona-- CLOSED   + Daisy May's   + 7Square-- CLOSED   + Amalia   + Fireside   + Anthos   + Patroon   + BLT Market   + Toloache   + Mia Dona   + Park Avenue Summer   + Convivio   + The Oak Room by guest reviewer Julie Besonen   + At Vermilion by guest reviewer Elaine Weiner   + Lunching at Inakaya, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Marea, by Guest Reviewer Susan Kane Walkush   + Le Bernardin   + New York Central -- A Reason To Eat at the Grand Hyatt Again   + Pampano Botaneria by Dara Pollak   

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