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“The Oak Room by guest reviewer Julie Besonen”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Midtown	Moderate	Great

In 1907, the Plaza Hotel was built for $12.5 million, an astronomical price tag at the time. For decades it enjoyed a storied life -- Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald drunkenly cavorting in the fountain, the beloved Eloise at the Plaza series of books, Truman Capote's Black and White Ball, said to be the first true red carpet event. The hotel's history hit a snag in 2005. El-Ad Properties shut it down (after shelling out $675 million for the property) to convert it to condos.
New Yorkers mobilized and threw a collective fit.

After years of negotiations and a $400 million overhaul, the Plaza reopened last year as part residence and part hotel. Instead of fanfare it was greeted with a chorus of boos, deemed a botched job. Aside from condo owners' myriad complaints, The Palm Court, under the helm of Didier Virot, was doomed from the start and closed at the end of the year. The fabled Oak Room swiftly booted French chef Joël Antunès after Frank Bruni's withering Times review in February. The owners couldn't seem to do anything right and the situation seemed almost as bad as when Eloise's dipsomaniac nanny proclaimed of the Plaza:

"You cawn't, cawn't get a good cup of tea
they simply do not boil the water
so you have to have champagne with a peach in it instead."

Cue Eric Hara, 30, who can certainly boil water. He had been in the kitchen a mere three weeks the night of our visit and turned out dish after dish -- from big eye tuna to braised short ribs -- that was creative, accomplished, delicious and so New York.

What a relief. I want to see old school New York preserved but not embalmed. Hara's food is lively and whimsical, such as a pb&j-themed foie gras torchon (slow-cooked in a dish towel), served with a triangle of toasted brioche sandwiching strawberry-vanilla jam and macadamia nut butter ($19). His molded pillar of Dungeness crab and Belize shrimp cocktail ($17) collapsed into a pale green pool of avocado and green goddess dressing, light and refreshing and not cheap on the crab.

The prices were one of the things Bruni griped about (a $58 truffled lasagna appetizer, $44 for a pork chop). They have been tamed. On the international wine list are several choices for $40-$45. Appetizers are in the teens and main courses range from $22 for pasta with chickpeas, oven dried tomatoes and arugula to $48 for a Niman Ranch prime New ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 10, 2009

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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