NYC Restaurant Review - Gramercy Tavern - Dining Room

Hi foodies! Yesterday I ate at Danny Meyer's restaurant, Gramercy Tavern, for lunch. I had a spectacular meal along with great service which I find a pattern with all  Danny Meyer restaurants. Check out my review below.

Gramercy Tavern - Dining Room                   42 East 20th Street,  New York, NY 10003

(Lunch -  July 2011)

Gramercy Tavern was AMAZING! The service was incredible. My waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable. I had asked her if Danny Meyer was at the restaurant but he wasn't. She had told the Assistant General Manager, Scott Reinhardt. Scott came over to my table and greeted me and the rest of my table. We spoke for a while and he then offered to give me a tour of the kitchen when the meal was over. Shortly after he left, the Executive Chef, Michael Anthony came over and spoke to us for a while. He told some stories and explained how so many chefs in other Danny Meyer restaurants originally had their start in Gramercy Tavern. At the end of the meal, Scott came over to give the tour. I visited the kitchen at the very end of lunch service so all the lunch service chefs were leaving and the dinner service chefs were finishing up prep. The kitchen was very big and very cool. After Scott showed us the kitchen, we got to see the private dining room which was really beautiful. Next, we went downstairs to all the offices and prep area. Scott told us that when Danny Meyer opened Union Square Cafe he didn't have a lot of office space. Because of the little office space, they made sure to have a lot of office space when they opened Gramercy Tavern. Overtime, Danny Meyer moved out of this office space to another location. Scott gave a great tour and made this meal an unforgettable one. Now moving on to the food! Gramercy Tavern is split into two restaurants. The tavern is more casual and the dining room is more upscale. I ate in the dining room. For the first course my favorite dish was a special. It was a fettuccine dish with duck confit and corn. It is one of the best things I ever ate. The duck was delicious and the whole dish was perfect. I also loved the Smoked Trout which came with a cipollini puree and pickled onions. It was irresistible. This dish was smokey and also went well with the acidity from the raspberry vinaigrette. Another appetizer that was delicious was the Open Ravioli of Duck and Carrots. It was sweet and very flavorful. I thought this dish was very good. For the second course, the best dish was the Pasture Raised Chicken. The chicken was sous vide (sous vide means to seal food in an airtight plastic bag and then cook it in a water bath) and then the skin was crisped. This chicken was so moist and it was sitting on sugar snap peas, pickled ramps and almonds. This nutty mixture went amazing with the chicken.  A unique and scrumptious dish, was the Pork Croquette. The croquette itself was delicious. Accompanying the croquette was red cabbage, aji dulce peppers and a spiced port sauce. On the lighter side, the Striped Bass was amazing. The striped bass was in a great beet broth also with turnips, radish, and bacon. For dessert my favorite dish was the Lemon Pudding Cake. It was refreshing and delicious. It came with fresh raspberries, raspberry ice cream, and toffee crumbs. It was fantastic. My second favorite was the Apricot Upside Down Cake. Beside it was sour cream ice cream which was so good with the apricot cake. One more dessert that was good was the Roasted Almond Panna Cotta. It didn't stand out to me but was still good. For a more decadent dessert, my favorite was the Peanut Butter Semifreddo. It came sandwiched in between two scrumptious chocolate macaroons. Another delicious, decadent dessert was the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with cocoa nib ice cream. The ice cream was amazing and very unique. My only complaint was the bread pudding was too soft for me. Gramercy Tavern was the complete experience. I definitely recommend that the next time you go out to eat make your reservations at Gramercy Tavern.

• Sevice was great. The Assitant General Manager, Scott Reinhardt, gave me an unforgettable tour of the restaurant.
• Food was fantastic.
• Incredible fettuccine appetizer special.
• Delicious Pasture Raised Chicken
• Unique Pork Croquette
• The best dessert ever: Lemon Pudding Cake

Gramercy Tavern was great. Check back soon for some more restaurant reviews as well as more foodie events in New York City and Long Island. Bon Appetit!

-Mike