Entries Tagged 'upper East Side' ↓

Accademia di Vino is a dynamic 200-seat enoteca, restaurant and pizzeria, located at 1081 Third Avenue at 64th Street in New York City. Accademia di Vino is open seven days a week, from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Reservations: 212-888-6333. The restaurant’s bold, refreshing approach to Italian food, extensive and reasonable priced wine list and inviting, casual ambiance has made it a top dining destination on the Upper East Side.

DESCRIPTION: Accademia di Vino is a 200-seat informal enoteca, restaurant and pizzeria, serving traditional and contemporary Italian cuisine. “Accademia di Vino” or “Academy made of wine” – a deliberate pun, carries a collection of over 500 bottles of wines, representing every winemaking region of Italy.

Accademia di Vino will launch its signature wine programs in the fall of 2007. The program will include private and public wine tastings, food and wine pairings, and related classes.

ADDRESS 1081 Third Avenue at 64th Street, New York, New York

HOURS: Accademia di Vino is open seven days a week from 12 Noon to 12 Midnight.

RESERVATIONS: Tel: 212-888-6333
www.opentable.com

PRICING: Grilled Pizzas: $15-$18
Main Courses: $18-$30
Desserts: $7-$10
Wine by the Bottle: from $28 Up
Wine by the Glass: $8-$25

MANAGEMENT: Executive Chef: Kevin Garcia
General Manager: John Fanning
Managing Partner and Wine Director: Anthony Mazzola, Partner, Off The Menu
Restaurant Group, LLC (owners of ‘Cesca and San Luigi Restaurants)

DESIGN: Total Square Footage: 5,902
Interior Design: Jack Baum, Tree House Design, New York, NY
China: Fortessa
Flatware: Oneida
Glassware: Schott Zwiesel

PRIVATE PARTIES: Private Room: 40 seated
Private Areas: 12 – 20 seated
Second Floor Dining Room: 160 seated (200 standing)
Entire Restaurant: 200 seated
For more information, contact John Fanning at 212-888-6333.

Review Follows

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Tarabia

ADDRESS: 1071 First Avenue
(Between 58th and 59th Streets)
New York, NY 10022

WEB SITE: www.tarabianyc.com

TELEPHONE: (212) 888-0809

FAX: (212) 888-0209

HOURS: Lunch: 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Mon.-Sun. Dinner: 4:00 PM – 11:00 PM, Mon.-Sun.

CUISINE: Turkish

Award-winning website, Punchin-dot-com, features the Walman Report and reviews of restaurants, travel, wine and theater. Executive chef was formerly at Turkish Kitchen (Manhattan’s first great Turkish restaurant). At Tarabia, he prepares classic Istanbul dishes dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

A wide variety of daily Turkish appetizers are offered on a cart in the traditional style of Istanbul. They are all excellent, if a trifle too cold. The elegant dining room is enhanced by candlelit tables with handmade Turkish table-cloths and napkin holders, handsome mahogany and leather chairs and fabric-upholstered banquettes. Cream-colored walls support Turkish chandeliers. Lovely fresh flowers enhance the effect that care was given to every detail.

Outstanding starters include octopus or calamari salad and lightly pan fried phyllo, rolls, filled with feta cheese or pan fried zucchini pancakes served with garlic yoghurt sauce. Of entrees, go for lamb or chicken shish kebob, stuffed vine leaves, grilled lamb chops or whole fish. They are all prepared with care and finesse. Leave room for rich desserts baklava or almond pudding. There is also a selection of Turkish wines, from a shot wine list that should contain more options under $30. There is an excellent Turkish beer for $6. Service is warm and accommodating at Tarabia, 1071 First Avenue, which is the best Turkish restaurant to open this year and rates “B Major” on the Walman Report.

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NAME: Solace

ADDRESS: 406 East 64th Street
(Between First Avenue and York Avenue)
New York, NY 10021

WEB SITE: www.solacenyc.com

TELEPHONE: (212) 750-0434

FAX: (212) 750-0438

HOURS: Lunch: 12:00 Noon – 3:00 PM, Mon.-Fri. Dinner: 5:00 PM – 11:00 PM, Mon.-Sat.
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Sun.
Brunch: 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM, Sun.

CUISINE: New American

(Famed chef David Regueiro, formerly at
Aureole, Bouley, The Water Club, prepares
classic seasonal dishes combined with
market-driven, innovative new global ones.)

CREDIT CARDS: All major

PRICE RANGE: Lunch (entrees): $14.00 – $21.00
Dinner (entrees): $21.00 – $29.00

DRESS: Casual Elegant

RESERVATIONS: Recommended

SEATING CAPACITY: Front Dining Room: 30
Rear Dining Room: 40
(Seasonal Garden seats 38)

NUMBER OF ROOMS: 2
(Seasonal Garden seats 38)

PARTY FACILITIES: Available upon request
(Rear dining room is frequently used for
private parties and special events.)

Review

Award-winning website, Punchin-dot-com, features the Walman Report and reviews of restaurants, travel, wine and theater. Solace (Soul-us) features two dining rooms and French doors o ening onto a charming seasonal garden. The rear dining room is enhanced by cream-colored leather banquettes and golden hued backlit walls.

Chef/Owner David Regueiro is formerly of such esteemed restaurants as Bouley. Food and service are miles above your average neighborhood restaurant and price points are surprisingly modest. Chef Regueiro loves Provençal flavors in appetizers like Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Tomato Terrine. But seasonal appetizers such as Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Maple and Spice Crème Fraiche are delightful, and nowhere will you sample a better Charred Yellowfin Tuna, here done with pickle relish, herb oil and peppercress.

His passion for classic cuisine is demonstrated in Bourbon and Honey Lacquered Duck Breast with Savory Date Puree. The Butter Braised Lobster may be the best in town. A special, Sauteed Monkfish with Truffle Butter and Cauliflower Puree, was indeed special and sides like creamed spinach, with a touch of Star Anis, are terrific.

There is a fine wine list (assembled by Mary, the chef’s wife, a former sommelier and wine consultant), with an emphasis on American wines and small producers. The list by the glass is also beautifully chosen and fairly priced. The meal completes with delicious desserts: Warm Glazed Corn Cake, the best Key Lime Tart I’ve ever tasted, and a Chocolate Terrene with Milk Chocolate Chantilly and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream that reminds one of the old Cafe Chauveron’s (are you old enough to remember) signature dessert.

Soon, you can come on Saturday and sample Chef Roemer’s Roast Suckling Pig, served in the garden, as a special, for $26. It pays homage to his Cuban heritage and is noteworthy. Solace 406 East 64th Street, is among the best small restaurants to open in 2008 and rates "A Major" on the Walman Report

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T-BAR STEAK & LOUNGE

Location: 1278 Third Avenue
NY, NY 1002
212-772-0404
www.tbarnyc.com

"We’re more than a steak house," said legendary owner of the uptake remake of his previous venue. May be, but those two steaks we devoured were some of the most perfect specimens in town. What I think Mr. Fortuna means is that T-Bar is so hip and miles above the stodgy steak house standard that he doesn’t want to be labeled.

And why should he be when appetizers, breads, sides, seafood and desserts are way out of the steak house league. What plump fried oysters and such an inventive crabmeat salad with just a touch of mayo and a garnish of avocado and pineapple.

There’s great branzino here and a potato-bacon-Gruyere cake that’s to die for. But save room for desserts that took Fortuna, who is a confessed addict, a month to create. The strawberry number (shown) is terrific, but eclipsed by a banana parfait that lies somewhere between a French coupe and an English Trifle. Trifle indeed. It’s worth the price of dinner. Cocktails, wines and service are all in tune and T-Bar is a delight from start to finish.

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L’Absinthe Brasserie-Restaurant
227 E 67th St
New York, NY 10021-6002
Phone: (212) 794-4950
Fax: (212) 794-1589
http://www.labsinthe.com

Hours
Lunch & Dinner daily, Brunch Sat.-Sun.

Award-winning website, Punchin-dot-com, features the Walman Report and reviews of restaurants, travel, wine and theater. L’Absinthe Brasserie-Restaurant is as authentic as it gets, says Walman.

Named after the famous aperitif, the ambiance is straight from Paris with its crystal-tulip chandeliers, captivating zinc bar, quaint lace curtains, polished brass rails, grand wood-rimmed mirrors, and posters celebrating the famed liqueur.

Chef-owner Jean-Michel Bergougnoux recreates the classics with a deft hand, while offering foodies a complete menu of some of the most modern and inventive creations in town. Witness such masterpieces as home made sausage wit pistachios and black truffles, black codfish with a subtle orange glaze, succulent rabbit with artichokes, lobster with peas and Spanish ham and a classic Tete de Veau with warm leek salad.

The house Champagne is a bargain at $12 the glass and desserts, whether chocolate-cream cigars or a dynamite crème brûlée end the perfect dinner at L’Absinthe, 227 E 67th St., NY’s best Brasserie, which rates A Major on the Walman Report.

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