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“Tocqueville”

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

offered. Roy's smile got bigger. "Those are my favorite sandwiches too," he said, his mind clearly going back to the time when he lived in Brooklyn. Then he turned to Marjorie-"I think I know what we're having for lunch tomorrow." Katz's it was. Now, while the memory analogy was right, you can be sure that two slices of rye bread have never seen tongue like this-so delicate with smoke. Calf's tongue salad. Fabulous. Who knew? 

As for me, I am ashamed to admit that I chose an appetizer of tuna tartar. I'm almost embarrassed to admit my selection, because it's become so mundane and pedestrian at this point, but I do love it, so I let myself be boring for the night. But this was far from a snooze. What you get is so much more than just tartar-it's actually a layer of tuna carpaccio-thin as a potato chip-that gets topped with a raw quail egg, a dose of caviar, a sprinkle of chives, and a spoonful of luscious pink toro tuna tartar ($19). It's all finished off with a drizzle of dill oil. How terrific! But it was not as exciting as the appetizer my mom went with-the seared rouget. This firm, meaty, slightly oily fish has a rosy skin and was served over sweet and sour greens, with toasted Marcona almonds, and a sheer veil of house-cured lardo.

The strong spring theme carried through to main courses, which uniformly hit the mark. Since I was being boring that night, I decided to continue along in my dull manner, and so I ordered the chicken. Marco gets his all natural birds from Four-Story Hill Farms in Pennsylvania, and marinates the breast in lemon and thyme so the meat is perfumed with citrus and herbs. The chicken breast, which is the closest I've seen any breast come to such juicy perfection, is coated in a tight crunchy crust of golden breadcrumbs. It's almost like schnitzel, actually. It came with a few herb gnocchi, a large roulade filled with dark meat and chicken liver (hello, cardiac arrest, calling), and a natural lemony poultry jus that brightened up its bedding of fluffy parsnip puree. I'd gladly be called boring if I could eat that chicken once a week.

Craig went for Marco's signature 60-second seared sirloin, which comes with a serving of 24-hour rib pot roast ($35). Talk about Bogie and Bacall-what a pair. The sirloin is rubbed with sea salt and seared on one side only, so you get a killer char but also a nice medium rare piece of meat, and that pot roast, well, let me just say that if wives around the c ... [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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