Restaurant Week at Tribeca Grill

As part of Winter Restaurant Week 2006 I had the pleasure of dining at both Tribeca Grill and Aquavit two New York City establishments that have been serving up quality meals to New Yorkers for years.

Here is my rundown of my night at Tribeca Grill (Aquavit to come when I have some more time):

Tribeca Grill:

I had read that the food at Tribeca Grill is not what it used to be but can still be outstanding at times. As a result, I went in with relatively low expectations.I have to say that the food though not amazing, was better than I thought it would be. The lively dining room was packed with young faces giving the restaurant a buzz that can help make any dining experience more fun (one of the positive aspects of restaurant week.)

All five of the people sitting at our table ordered off of the $35 dollar prix fixe menu and I think most people enjoyed their food. I had the chicken apple sausage with spiced butternut squash and maple gastrique. The sausage was pretty good, but its flavor cancelled out the accompanying squash and maple. I was actually jealous of the people who ordered the heirloom beet and goat cheese salad. The sweetness of the beets proved to be a great foil to the saltiness of the goat cheese while the toasted pine nuts added a nice crunch that complemented the texture of everything else on the plate.

Everyone at our table ordered either the roasted grouper or the lamb shank. The braised lamb shank was fine in terms of the taste and texture and with little prodding the meat fell right off the bone. The accompanying butternut squash kraut added nothing and could barely be seen after being stained by the braising juices from the lamb. The grouper although a tad overcooked had a nice crispy crust that went well with the lemon coriander vinaigrette and the sweet spinach nestled beneath it.

Desserts were largely forgettable. The Toffee bread pudding was like a dryish lightly flavored sliver of cake. It could have used more toffee flavor, more caramel or more ice cream. The crème caramel tasted the way that crème caramel always tastes although this one looked particularly nice, topped with a tangle of hardened caramelized sugar. The girl sitting to my left was nice enough to give me a few bites although my heart broke a little when she called it CREAM caramel.(Note: My mother read that last line and told me that I was being tremendously obnoxious. I harbor no ill will, but the whole experience did make me feel more sad.)

Service was great and the highlight of the dinner for me was the bottle of 2005 Boekenhoutskloof ‘The Chocolate Block’ from the Western Cape of South Africa. A delicious blend of syrah, Grenache, Cabernet, Cinsault and Viognier. The wine was extremely fragrant, with tastes of dark berries, smooth tannins and a hint of chocolate (although that could be my mind playing tricks on me due to the name on the bottle). I went out the next day and bought two bottles from Union Square Wines.

Overall, I would give the experience a solid B rating, taking into account the fact that we ordered off of the $35 dollar menu, which by the way, happens to be extended through February.

If I had to bring guests to Tribeca Grill I would bring: Friends that like food and dining but are not particularly adventurous, friends who really love wine and have some money to burn (the wine list is expansive and has some nice hard to find selections such as the ’04 Aubert Chardonnays that I have been reading about), and friends who are looking to eat at a restaurant that is ‘truly New York’.