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“Tocqueville”

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

h fine china, and tall stemware. It's a room that feels luxurious, like a boutique dining room at a Relais & Chateau, but without the pretense.

Dinner should by all means begin as ours did with a parade of bar snacks. The selection of hors d'oeurves made us feel as though we were having own private little cocktail party at our table. There were hot and peppery gougeres made from Cato Corner Farms cheese ($7), garnet-colored dried beets rolled up like cigarettes and filled with creamy Montrachet goat cheese ($6), a smoky quenelle of salt cod brandade on a deep purple chip made from squid ink risotto of all things ($7.50), fluffy little golden fritters of celery root and potato served with a truffle mayonnaise ($7.50).

With its proximity to the Greenmarket, chef-owner Marco Moreira and his chef de cuisine David Coleman (Union Pacific) have turned local seasonal ingredients into their de facto religion. Their bible (uh, menu) reads like Genesis for spring, with ramps, snap peas, zucchini flowers, fava beans, morels, spring garlic, and sweet spring peas showing up in various roles on the menu. Fava beans, artichokes, and cepes float in a cider vinaigrette gastrique that buoys a pair of caramelized scallops and lobe of seared foie gras ($34). Spring garlic is pureed with shallot, onion, celery root and potatoes for a velvety verdant green vichyssoise ($14) that was magical-like edible spring. To accent the soup, which is served warm, Marco adds a cool dollop of spiced ricotta and a fried zucchini blossom stuffed with zucchini marmalade. We were all in awe. When was the last time you had a bowl of soup that made you stop and pay attention?

The spring garlic also showed up in an appetizer special that Craig ordered-a beautiful mound of buttery braised shortribs fashioned into a crepinette, served with snap peas and a roulade of spring garlic. We couldn't figure out what was inside the spring onion roll-ups, and when Craig's Mom got around to trying it she decided it didn't matter. "I don't know what it is, and I don't care. I love it."

Meanwhile, Craig's Dad was quietly devouring his calf's tongue salad, served both smoked and confited over mustard greens with a small shot of house-made celery soda ($18). "How's the tongue salad, Roy?" I asked. "It's wonderful," he said, smiling. "My Dad used to order tongue and chopped liver sandwiches all the time with a can of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda," I ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 14, 2007

Other restaurants in Gramercy :
+ Casa Mono/Bar Jamon   + Pure Food & Wine   + Parea   + Gramercy Tavern (Lunch)   + 15 East   + Tocqueville   + Irving Mill   + Bar Milano   + Irving Mill   + Maialino   + Asellina   + Corkbuzz Wine Studio   + Breads, by guest reviewer Tracy Weiss   

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