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“Geisha”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Midtown	Break the Bank	Great

My first visit to Geisha, shortly after it opened in December 2003, did not go well. Quite frankly, I was horrified by the service and the nightmarish logistics of the narrow, yet beautifully decorated, second floor dining room. Coat check, bathrooms, bus and waiter stations were all located in one tiny hallway meaning that no one (including food runners) could get through, and the main dining room, a slim space with little room for passing diners and waiters, was just an invitation for collisions of plates, glasses and people.

Aside from the cramped quarters, our server got our order wrong about three times and we never get our cocktails (a BIG problem). While the food we were eventually served was fine, I could not begin to evaluate it because I felt like I was dining in a blender. I was desperate to get out of there and get myself a sedative. However, I had a hunch that the chef, Michael Vernon, who had cooked with Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin for seven years—three as a line cook, and four as his sous chef—was a talent, and I vowed to go back. Last week I did, and found a changed restaurant. I was treated to some seriously inspired cooking and to service that was completely at odds with that of my first night—it was quite knowledgeable, very gracious, and every dish we ordered got to our table efficiently and correctly. It’s amazing what a little time can do.

The menu at Geisha—a sexy, Zen-styled two-story town house just across the way from Aureole—is a love letter to the sea from an adoring (and adorable) chef who is clearly smitten with all the ocean’s critters. Fish tartars have become so ubiquitous at this point that they are like the iPod of menus, but at Geisha these iPods have fiercely cool playlists. A Spanish Mackerel Tartar ($14) was an exquisite combination of texture and flavor—a medium dice of beautiful silky fish tossed with finely diced scallions and ginger, dressed in a wasabi and citrus vinaigrette, and topped with a shimmering layer of wasabi tobiko—firm tiny pale green eggs that burst in your mouth giving your tongue a fun pop-rocks ride.

The Yellowfin Tuna Tartar ($15) was also a surprising smash. What’s to get excited about a tuna tartare, you might ask? Well, a lot when it is a fat pink dice of yellowfin resting on a chunky platform of Japanese potato salad—diced potatoes folded in with a creamy Kewpie mayo (this is the stuff with the Red Rooste ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 13, 2005

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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