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“Patroon”


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

A waiter approached. He was quite tall and thin, but broad, with gray hair combed sensibly into a side part. He wore a crisp white shirt, a dark tie, and a long waist to ankle apron. He pushed a long silver-wheeled rectangular cart, topped with a smooth white cloth, a wide wooden bowl, and a tray containing a half a lemon, anchovy paste, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. He stopped at our table, put on his reading glasses, and got to work. And as the five of us—Craig and I were having dinner with his brother Adam, their Cousin (well, he’s kinda their cousin) Mike, and Josh—sipped our cocktails in the lean, cool light of Patroon, this silent, focused gentlemen (he barely looked up) proceeded to mash and chop, grate and drizzle, whisk and season, possibly the greatest Caesar salad of my life. It filled the air with the sharp fragrance of garlic and a pungent whiff of cheese and was the perfect beginning of my first meal at Patroon in many years, almost since it opened 10 years ago under the care of Franck Deletrain (who was followed by Geoffrey Zakarian, and John Villa).

Today, the restaurant has evolved, unbeknownst to many, from a heavy, testosterone steakhouse, to a gentler, softer classic New York restaurant serving American fare, a flawless Caesar, and yes, steaks too.

In early 2007, Ken Aretsky bought out his partners, renaming it Aretsky’s Patroon. He renovated the space, spiffing up the dining room, and adding The Gibson Room—a second floor club and lounge decorated with black and white stills of legendary sports figures and starlets of the ‘30s and ‘40s. On the wide open top floor roofdeck, he installed a burger chef who turns out sliders and pressed sandwiches, lobster kabobs, spiced wonton chips with guacamole, and platters of canapés, to a heavily lubricated crowd of suits—lawyers, ad execs, publicists, accountants—assorted mini titans of industry—who gather at the stroke of six to revel (with cigars, beer, wine, and cocktails sweating in the sticky summer heat) under the glow of office buildings and paper lantern lighting.

Downstairs, in the kitchen of the main dining room, he brought in executive chef Bill Peet, a veteran of this city’s finest kitchens who honed his skills for 15 years under Andre Soltner at Lutece, rising to sous chef, and then moved on as execut ... [more, click below]

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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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