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“Country (Upstairs)”


  Occasion: Cuisine: Area: Cost: Rating:
  Night Out New American Murray Hill Break the Bank Great


MY DINNER (UPSTAIRS) AT COUNTRY
“How long do you think that bone is?” my dinner companion asked me as we took our seats in the upstairs dining room at Country, Geoffrey Zakarian’s supremely civilized eating salon. I looked at it. It was long. “Maybe 13 inches?” I replied, taking a stab in the dark. He shook his head. “No darling. I think it’s more like 18 inches.” He smiled. I smiled. Our wine was poured. Things were off to a rare start.

Yes, you might say it is unusual for a dinner to begin with a discussion of bone size but so things went the other night at Country, when Scott, a friend and a fellow Brooklyn Law alumnus and I met for dinner. But we honestly couldn’t help it. The bone was massive, and elegantly Frenched so it was ivory and bare, and it was protruding from a large cut of cote de boeuf—a sizzling thick slab of beef that was being shown off, like the steak version of Best in Show. It inspired more than a few conversations, you can be sure of that. After our waiter offered to measure the bone for us (he was only half joking), an offer we politely refused (measuring is so gauche), we did agree that we had to have the beef attached to said bone. And when we found out that it was part of the chef’s seasonal tasting menu ($135 per person), we had no choice but to sign on for hedonism in six movements.

That is the way things go at upstairs at Country, the more elegant half of Zakarian’s two-part dining equation that opened last year at the David Rockwell renovated Carlton Hotel. While I have eaten in the café, and had many cocktails at the marble champagne bar in the mezzanine space (the grapefruit-infused Lunch in Marseilles is one of my favorite cocktails), I had not eaten upstairs. When Scott suggested we try it, he wanted to take me out to thank me for referring some business his way, I was only too glad to accept his invitation. I would like to thank him here again for taking me. It was a divine dinner.

Country is truly a fine dining experience. It is elegant without feeling too stuffy, and it is a place that begs for celebrations and special occasions. I have rarely experienced such attentive, warm and certain service. And service aside, I would have been happy just sitting in the dining room by myself. It is a ... [more, click below]

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Other restaurants in Murray Hill :
+ Breakfast at The Cafe at Country   + A Voce   + Country (Upstairs)   + Darna   + Penelope   


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