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“Tocqueville”

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

ountry started making pot roast like this I think there would no longer be a need for couples counseling. "Yes, dear" would pretty much be the only words husbands would thereafter be capable of. The sirloin and happy roast are served with a super silky smoked Yukon gold potato puree that was so smooth, saucy, and creamy that was almost like a soup. The only thing missing from the dish was the fried egg that used to come on top of the steak at the old Tocqueville. Bummer. Bring back the egg!

And then there was the matter of the roasted trio of Colorado lamb, a masterpiece of texture and flavor. The lamb is lightly pounded and breaded with herbs and breadcrumbs and then pan-roasted in butter thyme and garlic, the tongue is pickled and the leg is braised and it comes with a potato-turnip puree, fried squash blossom, and a festival of spring veggies: yellow wax beans, sugar snaps, fava beans, cranberry beans and pickled ramps ($38). The snapper, which my Mom ordered was also a posterchild (rather posterfish) for how to layer flavor. It was crusted with toasted fennel seed, plated in a shamelessly bold puddle of Cara Cara orange juice, tiny briny Arbequina olives, over a spinach puree ($29). Marjorie went for the sea trout roulade ($31), another jewel-the bubble gum pink fish that was wrapped around a filling of sea trout, razor clams and sopressata, accompanied by with one large ravioli (really more like a perogi) filled with trout brandade swimming in a broth made from fish fume and dill.

We celebrated Marjorie's birthday with a toast and a few desserts by pastry chef Dan Martinez. There was a beautifully buttery caramelized apple pizza with whipped crème fraiche and caramel sauce ($12), a light and creamy graham cracker mousseline with sassafras ice cream ($10), and a precious little black walnut and brown butter financier with phenomenal armagnac-raisin ice cream ($12), which was my favorite of the lot. After the candles were blown out and the last plates were cleared, I thanked the makers of my jeans (AG) for the addition of Lycra and promised penance of two spin classes and one boot camp later in the week. Just when we thought we were done with our feast, a round of petit fours were brought over. Though we swore we couldn't eat another thing, somehow, scary as it may seem, we did. Little cookies and tiny chocolates can be very persuasive.

By now we were the only ones left in the restaurant and my mother, who had at thi ... [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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