Caviar Russe in NYC: the best meal I have had this year.

A friend and I had lunch there. Definitely not cheap, but great ambience, excellent service and the food, well it was superb. Wines: a couple of glasses of Billecart Salmon Rose to wet the palate, then a Bonneau Celestins 2004 which I brought, and seemed to work with everything except the caviar.

Amuse
Two pieces of tuna, one toro one normal, a vodka yoghourt cream and micro greens. Very simple, but absolutely perfect.

First Course.
Quite simply the best Steak tartare I have ever tasted. Two contrasting textures, the perfect addition of seasoning and aromatics, a quail egg, a small scoop of caviar, and a “crouton” of dried and deep fried calf tendon for textural contrast.

Second course
An utterly profound corn cream with slices of crab leg, micro greens, and pieces of melon at a perfect level of ripeness adding crunch and a little sweetness. Perhaps the only fault in the meal was that the crab was slightly over seasoned, but I have low salt tolerance, so it may have just been me.

Third Course
Duck breast. Beautiful preparation, a superb reduction of wine and duck juice. Crisp skin, a beautiful medium rare. Served with a micro leek.

Fourth course.

This was another magnificent course, but unlikely to be on the menu. We brought in a superb American “Vacherin” which was warmed slowly so melted slightly and served with a smoky toast. The cheese was soft, ripe and addictive; the toast was a perfect accompaniment, and the wine, which had been happily doing its thing went up several gears, and just began to croon with the fat, the smoke and the rich flavors of the cheese.

The madelines are a Daniel Boulud signature; I have to say these small versions were every bit as good, and actually preferred by my companion.

When I first read this…I thought you were talking about “Russe and Daughters” restaurant.

Sounds like you really enjoyed this.

Wish there were a source in my city (Philadelphia) for the good duck breast (Hudson Valley) available at most NYC farmers markets. That is always a great treat…even when I cook it.

I have never been to Russ and daughter, I hear it’s wonderful.

I do recommend Caviar Russe, but as it is expensive (3 courses $95, 5 courses $145) it is not a great value, but a great meal. Certainly as good as most 2 star Michelins, with the same attention to detail and ambience, and the ingredients are absolutely first rate. I didn’t mention the caviar butter with the small baguettes, but another highlight reflecting how everything has to be “perfect”.

I went to Caviar Russe for lunch on Saturday and it was the best meal I’ve had in NYC all year, by a rather comfortable margin at that. It is BREATHTAKINGLY expensive, even to my jaded wallet, but worth every penny. Impeccable service, creative, well-prepared food. What fine dining should be. FWIW, we also had caviar service and it was magnificent and fair value for the quality. We got the lowest-tier of Osetra and the big eggs popped delightfully against the top of your mouth; it was my wife’s first experience with good caviar and it was a revelation for her.

The best dish we had was a cold dish, a “crudo” (never has the word been used more inaccurately)- uni set atop a dashi gelee, covered in shredded shisho leaf and with a healthy dollop of caviar. Best thing I’ve eaten since a foie gras dish by Kreuther at the Modern back at its peak.

So, so, so good. So good. Go, ASAP.

Cannot recommend more highly.

I was invited on a corporate jolly there two years ago. Fortunately for me few seemed to like caviar so I did my best with the 500g or so of the good stuff on the table.

Folks, I cleaned up this thread. I would strongly suggest keeping your personal attacks at bay.

Based upon these posts, I suggested Gael Greene and I go there recently for a dinner. She wrote up her thoughts here:

http://www.insatiable-critic.com/Article.aspx?ID=3046&keyword=Pardon+My+Caviar

thanks wilfred
the meal at caviar russe looks amazing
unfortunately ($), i guess i’ll find myself there sooner than later

Thanks for the link.

A new addition to my bucket list. I’d love to replicate the shared dinner described above