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Wolfgang's Steakhouse
Appetizers: $7.95-$16.95. Entrees: $28.95-$73.90 (Steak for 2). Sides ($4.95-$10.95) Desserts: $7.95. Wines By The Bottle: $29-$275 (Expect to Spend $50+). Excellent Bar & Cocktails.
Hours
• Mon.-Fri.
11:45AM-10:45PM; Sat. 5-11PM; closed Sun.
Accepted Payment
• American Express
• Cash
• MasterCard
• Visa
Transit Info
• 6 to 33rd St.
Wheelchair Accessible
When the Vanderbilt hotel bowed in 1910, it was one of the most glamorous gathering spots in the last years of the Gilded Age. Featuring Rafael Guastavino's largest and most elaborate installation using Rookwood Pottery terra cotta, the Della Robbia Bar catered to such as Enrico Caruso, (who lived in the hotel penthouse) Diamond Jim Brady, Rudolf Valentino and Theodore Roosevelt. Today the eleven remaining Guastavino vaults are designated a New York City interior landmark.
Restored, with a complete redesign of all but the Guastavino vaulted ceilings, the venue provides an elegant setting for this new, already-mobbed steak restaurant. There is a long, masculine bar and even the two tables are roomy. Before he decided to open his own place, Wolfgang Zwiener, the eponymous owner, was headwaiter at the world-renowned steakhouse Peter Luger for over 40 years. Indeed, here the USDA prime beef is aged for four weeks and comes from the same source. The sensibly short menu also features lobster, tuna, salmon, swordfish and crab-cakes. There’s a three page wine list of mostly of Californian wines. The few from Spain and Italy are worth considering.
Whether pristine appetizers such as crabmeat cocktail (with the best cocktail sauce I have ever tasted, cold baby lobster or perfect jumbo shrimp, all products are top of the line. You needn’t schlep to Peter Luger for that fabled steak. It’s equally good (dare I say a notch better) at Wolfgang’s. You certainly won’t find a better lamb chop at any other New York steak house and vegetables such as creamed spinach and hash brown potatoes are sublime. Even desserts, key lime pie for example, are terrific. And service, by a mostly European staff, is well trained, pleasant and highly efficient. One of the young waiters on our visit happened to be Wolfgang’s son (he was working the bar the previous week). Now that shows integrity. The friendly greeting at the door from Arnie and Teddy add to the experience. Wolfgang’s also gets our award for the noisiest steak restaurant in town, but I’ll take Mr. Guastavino’s visual masterpiece to acoustical ceilings any day.
An urban myth persists that Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, the playboy scion of the railroad magnate, Commodore Vanderbilt, used the space to board his private railcar, The Wayfarer, when the New York Central Railway ran south of 42nd Street. On my next visit, I plan to search for that secret entrance to the train tracks.
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