Sidecar in New York City for Dinner

Sticking with the subtitle theme, the subtitle for this post is You can't go home again. Sidecar occupies a special place in our lives: My wife and I had our first Valentine's Day date there, as well as our wedding reception. One of the last meals that we had in Manhattan before moving to Connecticut was at Sidecar. In addition, we had the opportunity to meet some really incredible people that used to work at Sidecar, like him, him and her (Meg, not the other woman). Many of them will be famous one day and we will be those annoying people that say "I knew them when."

Sidecar is a New York City steakhouse that is on the second floor of the original P.J. Clarke's in Manhattan. P.J. Clarke's has been around for literally over 100 years, however, Sidecar is a relatively new restaurant.

After having not visited the restaurant in over a year, we went back a few Saturdays ago for dinner with friends. As I said, you can't go home again. To start with, all of the waitstaff that we knew are no longer around. In addition, the menu has changed entirely. Sidecar was a steakhouse with an excellent raw bar. That was what differentiated it from the rest. Now, it is trying to be something more casual like P.J. Clarke's and it doesn't work. Also, P.J. Clarke's has its trademark red and white checkered tablecloths. Sidecar was always more formal and had white linen tablecloths. It looked like this:

Not any more -- the red and white checkered tablecloths from P.J. Clarke's have found their way upstairs to Sidecar. Why? This cheapens the whole Sidecar experience. Sidecar has also decided that mirroring the P.J. Clarke's menu is a good thing. (In essence, Sidecar has become a second dining room of P.J. Clarke's). I would not be as upset about this if the new menu at Sidecar was as good as the food at P.J. Clarke's. It isn't. Not even close. To add insult to injury, the prices at Sidecar have remained higher than the prices at P.J. Clarke's despite having THE SAME ITEMS ON BOTH MENUS.

I fear that I am coming across sounding like a cranky old man and I guess I am. I am generally okay with change provided that the change improves something. The changes to Sidecar have not improved a thing. In fact, they have ruined what made Sidecar so great. It is sad to see a once great restaurant lose its luster.

But, let's talk about the food. Let me say this again: Sidecar is a steakhouse. I ordered my steak medium-rare. I guess they changed the chef along with the menu and decor because this chef does not know what medium rare is. The steak was way over done. I admit that I share some blame for not sending the steak back and asking for it to be re-cooked. However, when you are at dinner with 5 other people, sending something back is a little too pretentious for me. Also, Sidecar used to have the best creamed spinach I had ever tasted. Not sure what happened to the recipe, but the creamed spinach that we were served was watery and gross. We could not eat it. Finally, I thought one of the things that they teach you in Restaurant Cooking 101 is that all the food for a table should come out of the kitchen at the same time. Well, the new chef at Sidecar should get a refund from his culinary school: Four entrees came out and everyone at the table waited a good three to five minutes before the last two entrees came to the table. (Another reason why I didn't send the steak back).

There is one bright spot -- the raw bar. Sidecar still has an excellent selection of fresh oysters.

If you find yourself in New York, I highly recommend a burger, a beer and fries at P.J. Clarke's -- the original on 55th and 3rd, not one of the new locations. I wish that I could also highly recommend Sidecar (like I used to), but I just can't.

At our wedding, we included a brief history of P.J. Clarke's and Sidecar on the menu. Johnny Mercer wrote One for My Baby at P.J. Clarke's bar on the back of a napkin. I leave you with the definitive version of this song.



Sidecar
205 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022-4001
(212) 317-2044
www.pjclarkes.com


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Harvest Supper in New Caanan for Dinner

Walking into Harvest Supper in New Canaan makes you feel as if you’re walking back in time to Colonial New England: dark stained wood paneling, ancestral Early American portraits, copper pots as decoration…everything seems, well, Old American. Or should I say --- Olde American.

The food, however, is very New American. And very good.

Harvest Supper has an intimate setting with about 40 seats. It felt as if we were invited to someone’s home for a dinner party. So intimate, in fact, we learned much more than we ever would have wanted to know about our neighboring diners (my wife and I were convinced it had to be a first date, and that there might not be a second date in their future).

We started off with a fantastic Cremant d’Alsace Rose from Lucien Albrecht – Pinot Noir made in the same method as Champagne, great as an aperitif but also ridiculously food-friendly. It went remarkably well with all of the small plates we ordered. The beets with whipped bleu cheese and pistachios was an earthy and savory starter. Then we had crispy quail with olives, creamy polenta, and thinly-sliced pork with bok choy and cipollini onions. Very delicious. We finished the evening as we do quite often; instead of choosing a sweet dessert, we like to finish our wine with a cheese plate. On this evening, we had Raclette, a triple-crème Explorateur and a Bayley Hazen Vermont Blue with nuts and fruit. Perfect.



Harvest Supper
15 Elm Street
New Canaan, CT 06840-5502
(203) 966-5595
(The restaurant does not have a Web site)


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Dressing Room in Wesport for Dinner

Today is Wednesday and that brings us to the Dressing Room in Westport. Every Wednesday, the Dressing Room has an oyster special -- for $15.00 you get 12 oysters and a beer. Last Wednesday was our first dinner at the Dressing Room. I am sure that it won't be our last.

Much like Le Farm, The Dressing Room believes in using locally grown foods in their menu items. This philosophy was the brainchild of its founder, Paul Newman. Yes, that Paul Newman.



Mr. Newman's philosophy continues at The Dressing Room and his presence is still felt, even though he is no longer with us.

The Dressing Room's oysters are from Connecticut. They were unlike any oysters that I had tasted before. They did not taste fishy or briney at all. The oysters were creamy and smooth. I could swear that they had been harvested from the ocean that day -- THAT'S HOW FRESH THEY WERE.

My wife and I started with the radicchio salad. The radicchio was grilled and served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. For dinner, my wife had the chicken pot pie. It was incredible. Usually, chicken pot pie is very soupy and heavy. The gravy used in The Dressing Room's is not made with cream but roasted sunchokes. As a result, the pot pie does not leave with you feeling full.

The restaurant is decorated with posters of shows that had played at the Westport Playhouse, which is housed in the same building as The Dressing Room. It makes for some fun dinner conversation to see posters showing Bob Denver and Jeff Conaway in their Westport playhouse debuts. For people interested in more current events, The Dressing Room has information about the upcoming season of shows at the Westport Playhouse. My wife and I are thinking about getting tickets to a few of the shows.



Dressing Room
25 Powers Court
Westport, CT 06880-3621
(203) 226-1114
www.dressingroomhomegrown.com


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116 Crown in New Haven for Dinner

Let me apologize for not posting for a while. Keeping up a blog takes a lot of commitment. Sorry I have let my two faithful readers down. Now, onto the reviews.

The nearest Ikea to Stamford is in New Haven. Anyone that knows my wife and I knows that we like Ikea. Heck, we've even been to an Ikea in Finland -- and yes, Ikea's Swedish meatballs are exactly the same in Finland as they are here. Also, all the items have the same crazy names, except in Finland the names don't sound so crazy.

After our shopping trip to Ikea we drove into downtown New Haven to find a place to grab some dinner. This led to our discovery of 116 Crown.

116 Crown is a beautiful space. The decor of the restaurant is very modern. There are white birch branches everywhere. Also, the bar is made of white onyx and is lit from below. It runs two-thirds the length of the restaurant and has seating on both sides. It looks like this:

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116 Crown's bar is put to good use with the excellent cocktails. My wife had the Glitterati, which is made with Plymouth Gin, creme de cassis, lemon juice, simple syrup and brut champagne. I think that Fairfield County lacks a good cocktail bar. I find this kind of depressing because there was an awesome cocktail bar, called The Flatiron Lounge, very close to our old apartment in Manhattan. The cocktail menu at The Flatiron Lounge mostly consists of cocktails from the 20's, 30's and 40's. 116 Crown had similar cocktails on its list, as well as cocktails which were inspired by their classic forefathers. Since moving to Connecticut, 116 Crown is the closest thing that we have found to a real cocktail bar. So close, in fact, that I seriously thought about renting a hotel room in New Haven and having a few instead of being the "designated driver."

116 Crown's cocktail list can be a little overwhelming. DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP! The bartending staff is very nice and will ask you a few questions and bring you exactly what you could have wished for -- at least that is what they did for my wife.

The drinks were not the only thing at 116 Crown worth mentioning; the food was also excellent. We started our dinner with the brussel sprouts. They were very simply prepared with a little olive oil and salt and the chef cooked them by placing them under the broiler for a few minutes. They were very simple, yet tasted incredible. In addition, we split the duck special. The duck was grilled medium rare and served on a bed of greens. It was perfectly cooked and likely the best duck we have ever tasted. Finally, we had roast beef bone marrow. I know, you probably think bone marrow is gross. Well, you'd be wrong. When it is cooked, bone marrow becomes gooey and spreadable. The marrow was served in the bones. You eat the marrow by scooping it out of the bones and spreading it on bread. The best thing to do was to spread it on the bread and wait about 30 seconds or so before eating it -- this allowed the marrow to soak into the bread. Yum.

'500 Days of Summer' Race You To the Bedroom @ Yahoo! Video

So, the next time you find yourself at the Ikea in New Haven or, just want a cocktail from days gone by, I highly suggest you eat at 116 Crown.

116 Crown
116 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 777-3116
www.116crown.com‎



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Le Farm in Westport for Dinner

Let me start out by saying that my wife and I are "those people." By that, I mean that we like to eat at the bar. We feel that it puts us close to the action. It is kind of like box seats at a Yankee game or ringside sides at a fight. So, last night we had "box seats" at LeFarm in Westport and I am glad we did.

Let me start with a little background about LeFarm. It is in an extremely intimate space; the restaurant was maybe 20 feet wide, but it was extremely long. Also, it was decorated to resemble a New England farmhouse. This type of decoration can border on kitschy. I believe that LeFarm successfully avoided this. Rather, it has a charming rustic feel, complete with an old butcher's scale on the counter and Mason jars galore. Also, LeFarm makes judicious use of chalk boards -- the specials and the cheeses are listed on boards. Instead of placemats, LeFarm uses pieces of cheese cloth to cover the tables. It was a simple touch that made a difference and a lasting impression -- I never saw that in another restaurant.

Okay, to the most important part -- THE FOOD. LeFarm, as its name suggests, aims to use locally grown foods. LeFarm's Web site has a list of some of the farmers where it sources its ingredients. Also, LeFarm shows it support for local farms and farmers in general by displaying stickers such as:

We started with the beet and lentil appetizer. It was excellent. It was served on a bed of frisee with prosciutto and slightly candied walnuts. Wow. I am not sure what it is about Connecticut or if it is just food trends in general, but we have eaten beets at a number of restaurants since moving to Connecticut. LeFarm's beet dish is by far the best that we have had.

For our entrees, my wife had the roasted squab and I had the rabbit leg. The squab was a mix of sweet and savory flavors served over a bed of farro. The farro was grown by Anson Mills in South Carolina -- okay not exactly local, but when you consider that farro is primarily grown in Italy then South Carolina is local. My rabbit was served over risotto with freshly grown mushrooms and fontina cheese and tarragon. I have had rabbit at several restaurants and have even made it at home. The rabbit at LeFarm is not only in my top 10, it is probably the first or the second best rabbit dish I have ever had -- if it is in second place it is beaten out by the rabbit that I had on Ischia during my honeymoon. (The Ischia rabbit was probably killed a few hours before I ate it. Sorry Thumper.) We finished our dinner with Cloud 9 and Brother Laurent cheeses from Vermont and some coffee. The coffee was from a local roaster and was served in a little coffee press. This began a small debate as to merits of making coffee in a press versus making coffee in a regular coffee maker. The debate was short since we both agreed that LeFarm's coffee was excellent.

The wait staff at LeFarm was very attentive and extremely funny. (One of the benefits of the box seats). In addition, while we were eating our entrees, the chef came out of the kitchen to talk to us. He also checked in the other tables in the restaurant to make sure that they too were enjoying their food. It was a nice touch and an opportunity for him to hear some immediate feedback on his food. If everyone there has a good a meal as we did, I am sure that the feedback that he received was all positive.

One last thing is LeFarm's wine list. It is short and simple yet still has good variety. My only complaint about it is the wine list does not state which wines are organic or biodynamic. I think that it would fit with LeFarm's style to do so.

I leave you with a clip from Disney's Ratatouille. I am not implying that the kitchen staff is comprised of rodents, rather I like the clip's message regarding the transformative power of food. We experienced something like that last night at LeFarm. Enjoy.



LeFarm
256 Post Rd. East
Westport, CT 06880
www.lefarmwestport.com‎


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