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“The Modern”

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

nd when the guy to her left excused himself, she moved in on the guy to her right. We were wondering what was going to happen between the two guys when she got up, but she never did. A table that appeared to be a father and daughter turned out to be a father and his date (very disturbing), and while my date and I certainly were cozy, sitting side by side on the banquette, the loving couple at the table next to us were in serious need of a hotel room. Shuttling between the tables were many, many frowning waiters and managers in suits looking very serious and very concerned. Facing the room, watching all these interactions, I felt like a voyeur in a very fancy airport lounge.

Soon we were starting in on our appetizers, which were stunning—they could have been photographed and featured upstairs on the museums walls they were so precise and supremely modern in style. The Potato Gateau with Escargots was a gorgeous dish—golden slivered potatoes wrapped into a circular tart that resembled a Nautilus shell, filled up with plump escargot and set in a shallow pool of zippy gingered parsely jus. The Chilled Lobster Salad, set over a fine julienne of black radish and topped with Thai long pepper sorbet, was not for me though. The flavors were bitter and bracing and seemed to be fighting with eachother on the plate. The Tartare of Yellowfin Tuna and Diver Scallops was a beautiful dish of absolutely perfect cubes of fish (God bless those fish cooks), scattered like jewels across the plate with Yellowstone River Caviar. While it was stunning to look at, sadly, it fell flat on flavor. It was drab and dreary, with no bright notes to pick it up. And I was confused by the Salad of Celeriac with Minced Oysters, Almond Cream and Yellowstone River Caviar. It was quite strange—it looked like a miniature wailing wall, a wide domino standing up on its side, built from little pellets of diced celeriac folded in with the almond cream. The celeriac was raw, and diced fine so it had the texture of something from a BB gun. Honestly, I don’t know what was going on there. The dish was lost on me.

The Long Island Crescent Duck Breast was spectacular though—a lovely ode to Daffy—impossibly tender slices of duck topped with a heavenly mop of black truffle marmalade, served in a Banylus jus with luscious hunks of foie gras sandwiched between sliced turnips. Well, it could have been turnips, or it could have been rhubarb. We weren’t ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 3, 2005

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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