For this little foodie piggy, New York Restaurant week is this twice a year a magical event that could be equated with the choice Indiana Jones had to make once he found the location the holy grail; you must choose wisely.
When I was first introduced to restaurant week in 2012, I went crazy. Within a 3-week period, I ate at approximately 10 restaurants, 8 of them attended with the same person. At $25 for lunch and $38 for dinner, excluding tax and tip, I spent a small fortune on food during this time.
This round, I was wiser. I am only going to 3: Butter – Midtown (dinner), Craftbar near Union Square in New York City (lunch), and David Burke Kitchen in Soho (dinner). This summer restaurant week go around only favorites will be revisited, starting with Butter – Midtown.
Restaurant Week Summer 2014: Butter – Midtown
Butter – Midtown, chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s second location, opened at the end of 2013. This restaurant is beautifully decorated. The cavernous dining room is underground and seats 175 people inside, 60 in the garden area and 20 in the private dinning room. These images don’t do it justice.
But, enough about decor. This post is about the delicious food consumed with a friend, Nia, at Butter. Here’s where it gets interesting.
Pre-Course: The Bread Basket
You can tell the caliber of a restaurant by how their bread basket is presented and by how it taste. As you can see from these photos, the night was just getting interesting. The herb butter was outstanding and coupled with the brioche roll, it very well may have been the best bread I’ve ever eaten.
First Course: The Beginning
The house made veal bacon was the star in this competition. Veal has never tasted as good as this piece of meat. The bacon part performed as expected, i.e. bacon makes everything taste better.
Second Course: The Main Event
The winner this round was the braised and grilled Creekstone Farms beef short ribs. The thinly sliced peppers atop this immaculately cooked piece of beef was a perfect complement to the rich bbq-style brown sauce; they provide just the right amount of heat and contrast to the flavor of the sauce.
Third Course: The Finale
The winner this round was the dark chocolate cake. It was very light and wasn’t too sweet, or as described by my mother: my kind of sweet.
Overall, this meal was flawless and exemplary as I’ve come to expect from both Butter locations, having now visited them both. Kudos to chef Alex Guarnaschelli.
Next up, Craftbar.
Enjoy,
Savory Sweet Neat 