NEW YORK’S QUINTESSENTIAL RESTAURANT CELEBRATES 25 YEARS
WITH CLASSIC CUISINE AND HIGH SPIRITS
Gotham Bar and Grill
Cuisine Modern American
Address 12 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
Telephone 212.620.4020
Date Established 1984
Executive Chef/Owner Alfred Portale
General Manager Bret Csencsitz
Chef de Cuisine Jacinto Guadarrama
Adam Longworth
Pastry Chef Deborah Racicot
Wine Director Michael Nelson
Hours Lunch: Monday through Friday, 12:00-2:15 p.m.
Dinner: Monday through Thursday, 5:30-10:00 p.m.
Friday 5:30-11:00 p.m.
Saturday 5:00-11:00 p.m.
Sunday 5:00-10:00 p.m.
Prices Lunch: Apps $10-18
Main Course $23-28
Dessert $12
Prix Fixe: Three-course Lunch $31
Prix Fixe: Three-course Lunch Wine $31
Dinner: Apps $18-28
Main Course $32-48
Dessert $12
The Space Designed by James Biber, Pentagon
Seating Dining Room: 150
Lounge: 28
Bar: 18
Private Events Dining room seats up to 140 seated guests and 200 plus for a cocktail reception.
Website www.gothambarandgrill.com
House Policies Reservations recommended. All major credit cards accepted. Wheelchair accessible.
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“The Gotham,” Is Better Than Ever
Review by Nancy Walman
In honor of its 25th anniversary on March 22, Manhattan’s iconic Gotham Bar and Grill offers celebratory menus throughout the month of March and special beverage promotions throughout the calendar year.
“The Gotham,” as it is affectionately known, has helped define modern American cuisine. In the mid-1980s, Executive Chef Alfred Portale bonded French technique to an American sensibility, setting a new casual-but-crisp tone that became a standard for New York restaurants. The Gotham experience offers simple yet elegant dining whether the occasion calls for black tie or blue jeans.
Gotham Bar and Grill has had an unquestionable impact on dining in New York City and throughout the country. New York magazine’s Gael Greene named Gotham Bar and Grill one of the most important New York City restaurants of the past forty years, and Gourmet magazine’s Jonathan Gold asserted that, “There is not a large city in America without a restaurant operating in a Gothamesque mode.”
To mark its silver anniversary, the restaurant presents the following celebratory menus and promotions:
• $25 THREE-COURSE LUNCH MENU: The weekly changing three-course menu offers guests a choice from among three appetizers, three entrées and three desserts. All of the dishes featured will be classic Gotham dishes, including Grilled Lamb Sausage with eggplant caviar, chickpea salad (circa 1996); and Roasted Haddock with leeks and shitake mushrooms in a vintage port reduction (circa 1985).
• $75 FIVE-COURSE CLASSIC DINNER MENU: Guests can enjoy a bit of Gotham Bar and Grill history with the $75 five-course classic dinner menu. The prix fixe menu will change each week in March, featuring dishes such as Duck Carpaccio with artichoke salad, lemon oil and parmesan (circa 1987); Goat Cheese Ravioli with tomato, shallot and pancetta broth (circa 1985); and Fennel Cured Salmon with blood orange, radishes and cracked wheat salad (circa 1998).
• 25TH ANNIVERSARY COCKTAIL: Toast 25 years of great American dining with Gotham’s special cocktail inspired by the classic Manhattan. The “25” incorporates both the old (Bulleit Bourbon, blanc and rouge Dolin Vermouth de Chambery) and the new (Domaine de Canton, house-made ginger syrup), garnished with a lemon twist and served in a classic Nick and Nora glass. This new classic will be available throughout the year.
• 25TH ANNIVERSARY CUVEE: Gotham Bar and Grill has selected Bernard Tornay to create a 25th Anniversary Cuvee. The Brut Champagne is a favorite of Executive Chef Alfred Portale’s, and is available by both the glass and the bottle until the end of 2009.
Gotham Bar and Grill is located at 12 East 12th Street (between Fifth Avenue and University Place) in New York City. For reservations, call 212-620-4020 or visit www.gothambarandgrill.com. Hear is classic New American food at its best. That’s A Major on The Walman Report.
Recipes and Menu follow
Copyright 2009 By Punchin International. All Rights reserved
To commemorate
GOTHAM BAR AND GRILL’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Chef Alfred Portale
designed a series of special menus
featuring dishes from our past.
These menus,
which will change weekly throughout March,
invite you to experience some of the compositions that
shaped Gotham’s style and sensibility. Over the past 25
years at Gotham, Portale has helped define
contemporary American cuisine with his devotion to
seasonality, impeccable sourcing, and the mingling of
creativity and classicism.
The selections that comprise these menus
were also among the first to popularize myriad flavors
and ingredients that today make up our collective palate.
We hope you’ll avail yourself of this opportunity
to savor a bit of culinary history as we celebrate this
milestone moment.
March 1984 – March 2009
GOTHAM 25TH ANNIVERSARY TASTING
CLASSIC DISHES
$75
CHEF’S AMUSE
CAULIFLOWER SOUP
2000
seared sea scallops, osetra caviar
lemon oil
ROASTED HADDOCK
1985
leeks, shitake mushrooms
vintage port reduction
ROAST LOIN OF RABBIT
1994
braised baby fennel, creamy white beans
natural rabbit jus
DUO OF CLASSIC GOTHAM DESSERTS
MAPLE CRÈME BRULEE
1988
poached kumquats
&
GOTHAM CHOCOLATE CAKE
1985
served warm with seasonal ice cream
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Recipes
Cauliflower Soup, Seared Diver Scallops, Osetra Caviar, Leek and Lemon Oil
Alfred Portale, Gotham Bar and Grill
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons canola oil
2 medium leeks – sliced (white part only – about 1 ½ cups)
1 medium onion – diced
1 large head cauliflower – cut into florets
4 cups white chicken stock
coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely minced chives
Sautéed Scallops:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large sea scallops
coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper
lemon oil – for drizzling
4 chervil sprigs
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 ounce Osetra caviar
M E T H O D
In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over a medium heat. Reserve ½ cup of the leeks for garnish. Cook the remaining leeks and onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cook the reserved leeks for garnish and set aside. Continue to simmer the soup for about 18 minutes (until the cauliflower is tender). Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the soup to a blender and purée until smooth. Return the soup to the pot to keep warm.
Scallops:
In a sauté pan, heat the oil over high heat. Season scallops with salt and pepper. Cook the scallops until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Turn the scallops and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the other side is browned and the scallops are rare on the inside (about 2 minutes).
Assembly:
Reheat the leek garnish. Spoon a mound of leek in the center of a soup plate. Ladle the soup around the garnish and place scallop atop the leeks. Garnish with caviar, a drizzle of lemon oil, chives and chervil sprig.
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Maple Crème Bruleé
Gotham Bar and Grill
Bruleé Sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
Preheat the oven to 250°. Combine sugars, mixing to integrate evenly. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and dry it in the oven for about 1 hour. Transfer to a blender and process it to a fine powder. Set aside, covered, and store in a cool dry place at room temperature.
Custards
3 ¾ cups heavy cream
1 ¼ cups pure maple syrup
10 large egg yolks – lightly beaten
Pre-heat the oven to 350°. In a bowl, combine the cream, maple syrup and egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Pour into eight 5 ounce ramekins. Set the ramekins in a shallow roasting pan (or baking pan) and place in the oven. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the custards are set around the edges, but still a little shaky in the center.
Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Let the custards cool in the water bath to room temperature. Remove from water bath, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
Assembly
Preheat the broiler, or better yet, use a small propane torch (designed for kitchen use). Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle each custard with the bruleé sugar. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds, until the sugar caramelizes. Or, hold the torch over the sugar to caramelize it. Serve at once.
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![Cognac Chef FLorian Hugo[1]](http://punchin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/cognacchefflorianhugo1.jpg)
![Cognac Leeks Vinaigrette[1]](http://punchin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/cognacleeksvinaigrette1.jpg)
![Cognac Black Cod w Caviar[1]](http://punchin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/cognacblackcodwcaviar1.jpg)
![Cognac Lobster on the Grill 3[1]](http://punchin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/cognaclobsteronthegrill31.jpg)
flambéd with cognac, accompanied by truffled celery purée that is a masterpiece. (above). Not everything is perfect: TARTARE DE FILET DE BOEUF lacked a vibrant red color and BLANQUETTE DE VEAU was not up to the preceding dishes. Still, Brasserie Cognac is a work in progress and like any restaurant that strives for excellence, will improve in the weeks to come.
