The Sexy Main Dining Room
Brasserie
Seagram Building
100 East 53rd St.
New York, NY 10022
T 212 751 4840
F 212 751 8777
Special Events
T 212 751 4840
F 212 751 8777
See virtual tours, menus and more
at www.rapatina.com
Main Dining Room: Standing Capacity: 150-300
Seating Capacity: 160
PRIVATE DINING ROOM
A haunt of famous and notorious New Yorkers, many
schedule first class seating in our side room, made private
by a hidden pivoting wall. With sleek floor-level lighting
and surrealistic décor, step beyond the velvet rope for your
next wine tasting, intimate reception or cocktail party.
Standing Capacity: 60
Seating Capacity: 45
SEMI-PRIVATE, FULL SIDE ROOM
Standing Capacity: 100
Seating Capacity: 75
Conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan, the main dining room makes a statement of style, whether for a product launch, cocktail reception or corporate party.
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The mere mention of Brasserie evokes a fascinating tableau of
New York’s elite, mingling into the wee hours of the night. A favorite
since 1959, today’s Brasserie is a redefined legend. With its ultramodern design, this genuine New York icon presents alluring French fare. From corporate power lunches to late night cocktail parties, Brasserie provides a sophisticated, cool backdrop for table-hopping.
Guests make an entrance into Brasserie’s sunken dining room
by a long, dramatic staircase that extends into the center of
the restaurant. With its main revolving doors, Brasserie is
truly a “seen and be seen” destination as blurred snapshots
of entrants are viewed on a strip of 15 video monitors, suspended over a long, modern bar.
But let’s not neglect the food, which is better than ever, thanks to the return of Executive Chef Luc Dimnet, who brings more than ten years of classic French culinary experience to the Brasserie, Patina Restaurant Group’s beloved New York institution. He is known for his modern French style of cooking.
A native of Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France, Dimnet hails from an area known as the birthplace of the brasserie. At Brasserie, Dimnet combines his curiosity for exotic, international influences with a deep-rooted, traditional education in French cuisine and his European training in classic techniques. His respect for the finest, freshest ingredients brings out their essential aromas and flavors.
Nothing is a more dramatic starter than chef Dimmet’s “Plateau,” a layered confection of the freshest mussels, oysters, clams, lobster, shrimp, crayfish, crabmeat and the “scene stealer,” the best Civiche in town. Served in a salt-rimmed Margarita glass, with salmon as the star, it is breathtaking.
While all entrees are outstanding, we always go for any dish offered only for two or more, since it’s a true test of the kitchen. The “Porterhouse for two” arrived sliced, cooked à point, tender and juicy. The Pommes Frites were perfect, as was the Truffled Creamed Spinach and Hollandaise.
Don’t over do it on the terrific baguette and butter. Ken Larsen’s desserts are haunting, especially a perky Lemon Tarte, Chocolate Sorbet and outrageously delicious Cookies.
The cocktails, wine, and beer list are outstanding as is the relaxed and benevolent service. There is only one Brasserie. And it rules!
The Fabulous Bar
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For the Dinner Menu, Click on The Following Link: http://www.rapatina.com/cgi-bin/menu.cgi?url=http://www.rapatina.com/menu/brasserie/dinner.swf&LinkName=Brasserie
Chef’s BIO
Luc Dimnet
Executive Chef, Brasserie
Luc Dimnet brings more than ten years of classic French culinary experience to the Brasserie, Patina Restaurant Group’s beloved New York institution. He is known for his modern French style of cooking.
A native of Strasbourg in the Alsace region of France, Dimnet hails from an area known as the birthplace of the brasserie. His interest in food began as a young boy when his Cambodian-born mother and French father introduced him to a wide range of French and Asian inspired foods. He studied for two years at Lyceé Hotelier d’Enseignement Professional before starting his culinary career in his hometown.
At the three star Michelin restaurants Le Crocodile and Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg, Dimnet honed his skills in classic French cuisine. In 1995 he became sous chef at Hotellerie du Rosenmeer in Rosheim, France, where his specialties included game dishes - particularly pheasant, duck and venison.
Dimnet came to the United States in 1997 as a saucier at the renowned Les Célébrités at the Essex House Hotel. As chef de cuisine, he created all menu items and daily specials, working with Christian Delouvrier, formerly the executive chef at the four-star Lespinasse. Luc next moved to Tropica, a Patina Restaurant Group-owned establishment. As sous chef, Luc was inspired by the guidance of Franck Deletrain - a master at combining classic techniques with eclectic, contemporary influences.
At Brasserie, Dimnet combines his curiosity for exotic, international influences with a deep-rooted, traditional education in French cuisine and his European training in classic techniques. His respect for the finest, freshest ingredients brings out their essential aromas and flavors.
Chef de Cuisine: Matt Jaffe
Pastry Chef: Ken Larsen
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BRASSERIE HISTORY
The only thing more difficult than creating a legend is redefining one. A genuine New York icon since it opened in the basement of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram building in 1959, Brasserie presented the ultimate challenge to Patina Restaurant Group’s CEO Nick Valenti, one he met with a bold combination of futuristic design and classic French cuisine.
A mere mention of the Brasserie evokes a tableau of New York’s elite, from bankers to rock stars, mingling with each other in the wee hours of the night. Thanks to the avant-garde hand of architectural firm Diller + Scofidio, it is still a see and be seen kind of place, with design features cleverly referencing our fame-obsessed age, the one that former Brasserie habitué Andy Warhol foresaw with his “15 minutes” remark. Now the revolving door entrance, the single remaining element from Philip Johnson’s modernist design, is equipped with cameras transmitting blurred snapshots of entrants onto a strip of 15 video monitors suspended over the long, Jetson-esque bar flanked by stools upholstered with medical gel.
Patrons remain on display once inside, the precarious descent that once marked disco denizens’ wobbly 3AM arrivals into the sunken dining room now smoothed into a long but no less dramatic glass stairway extending to the center of the space. Brasserie’s interior was completely gutted and reconfigured - one could say irreverence to its past look was the mother of its reinvention. Now sheathed in pearwood, glass, tile and terrazzo, rife with curves and slanting surfaces, it feels like an aerodynamic terminal for the terminally hip.
Above, dramatically overlaid pear-wood ceiling panels extend down the wall to form a banquette in the rear. Along another wall, first class seating is offered through a row of cell-like booths separated by giant slanting upholstered dividers and tabled with slabs of lime-green acrylic. Across the room is the coolest wine rack in Manhattan: a frosted, floor-to-ceiling expanse of floating bottles.
Despite the sweeping aesthetic departure and new private dining room seating 70, there is a democracy about the new Brasserie that hearkens back to its days as an all-hours haunt of famous and notorious New Yorkers. Then, it was rumored no one, not even the manager, had a key, since it was open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Now still open seven days a week at saner hours, Brasserie still packs a chic milieu of young and hip newcomers alongside proper and prosperous veterans. It’s a rare mix of downtown and uptown, and everyone is on display for everyone else - even in the bathrooms, which are joined by a communal cast resin sink.
Architecturally, Brasserie may have pushed far ahead to return to the spirit of its past, but Chef Luc Dimnet’s contemporary French menu smartly aims higher than the omelets-and-burgers comfort fare that once warmed revelers. Desserts offer delicious traditional French favorites as well as a selection of cutting-edge confections.
By combining ultramodern design with traditional French cuisine, Patina Restaurant Group’s CEO Nick Valenti has overseen the successful transformation of Brasserie from past icon to contemporary classic. “Brasserie has always held a special place in the heart of New Yorkers,” he said. “In redesigning the restaurant, we wanted to preserve the spirit of Brasserie while giving it an urban, chic look.” By forging fearlessly ahead with his collaborators, Valenti has indeed brought Brasserie back to its own future.
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For the Dinner Menu, Click on The Following Link: http://www.rapatina.com/cgi-bin/menu.cgi?url=http://www.rapatina.com/menu/brasserie/dinner.swf&LinkName=Brasserie
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