Gramercy Tavern

For Ms. Pastry Chef's birthday (which was a while ago), we went to Gramercy Tavern to celebrate. I've been to this establishment before with one experience being not so wonderful and the other very enlightening. I welcomed this third visit with open arms. I wanted to finally seal my opinion of the place. I've been on the fence about liking it or not. And so, I went with an open mind and a ready stomach.

We started the extravagant 3-course meal ($88) with an amuse bouche of puff pastry with goat cheese. These were extremely light and buttery with a slight tang from the goat cheese. It was a really nice way to start off the meal.

For our appetizers, Mr. M&P had the open beef ravioli served with seasonal vegetables and a rich sauce. He really enjoyed this and lapped up every single bite.

Mr. Pastry Chef had the squash custard with shitake mushrooms and peppers that was very light and creamy. The squash flavor was prominent without making the custard leaden. A great start as well.

I started with the beef tartare with crispy potatoes on top.

Inside was a very loose egg yolk that was so creamy and decadent. I mixed the egg yolk with the raw beef and enjoyed every single bite. It was rich yet light from being raw. The creaminess was delicious. I very much enjoyed the contrast in textures with the crispy potatoes with the soft meat. The dish was very fresh and a perfect way to start off dinner on a cold night. It's a meat based dish that's light enough to start with.

For his entree, Mr. M&P had the pork loin and belly with chiccaron on top. The meat of the pork loin was tender, juicy, and very flavorful while the pork belly was richer yet enough fat was rendered for it to be enjoyable. The fried skin on top added much needed crunch to the soft meats. The sweet corn on the bottom added the contrast in flavor to the rich meats of the dish. It was very well composed.

Ms. Pastry Chef had the roasted and braised lamb with squash and bok choy. The meat was beautifully cooked. Tender, juicy, well seasoned, and of course delicious. The little lamb sausages were really good as well and definitely worked well as a "separate" meat on the dish. The boy choy and squash added the fresh taste and texture that was necessary with the heavy dish.

I had the duck breast and confit with sunchokes, brussels sprouts, and maitake mushrooms. I really liked how this seemingly heavy dish was actually light. The fat from the duck was rendered nicely and the breast was very tender. The duck confit added an element of richness was very much appreciated. The copious amounts of vegetables helped balance out the richness of the duck meat. Overall, I really enjoyed the dish. It was complicated in flavors and textures and tasted very good.

As we looked over our dessert menus, everything seemed very elaborate and sounded delicious. After we ordered, we were all served an amuse to cleanse the palate before the sweets came. The mandarin orange gelee and meringue was refreshing and definitely nice after the richness of our dishes.

Then our desserts rolled out. Mr. M&P had the huckleberry tart which looked amazing. Sweet, trart, buttery, and just delicious. It tasted really fresh.

Ms. Pastry had the peanut butter semifreddo with chocolate macaron. It definitely was rich in peanut butter flavor without being heavy at all. The semifreddo worked really nicely.

I had the carrot cake with butter pecan ice cream. It was really good. It wasn't like any other carrot cake that I've had before. It was very rich in flavor but again, light in texture. The ice cream was actually the heaviest thing on the plate. It added a very nice creaminess.

Before the end of the night, the waitress brought over a 4th dessert: sweet cream ice cream sundae with pear butterscotch, and meringues. We had previously asked about classic ice cream sundaes which we knew they didn't serve. So the pastry chef and the staff created their own special sundae for us. The sweet cream ice cream was so good. It reminded me of vanilla but much better. The natural rich creaminess of the dairy was really good. The pear butterscotch was nothing I've tasted before but was very nice. And the meringue was light and airy.

To end the night, they offered us a plate of mignardises with patefruit, hazelnut macaron, and maple chocolate. A really nice touch to end the night.

Overall, we all very much enjoyed the food at Gramercy Tavern. We thought it was very delicious and expertly prepared. The flavors were familiar but complex. The plating and execution was spot on. And the service was top notch. We would absolutely go back again.

Gramercy Tavern
42 E 20th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 477-0777
gramercytavern.com