winter restaurant week

[trav]

Any info on dates and participants?

[City Kid]

We had a terrific RW meal at Perilla two nights ago. Started with mussels with ham & chervil in a light riesling cream sauce; followed by braised goat neck atop quinoa with eggplant purée & greek-style yogurt; dessert was apple crisp with bourbon ice cream. Inventive, delicious cuisine, generous portions, and warm, friendly service. A hit!

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Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014

[ellenost]

The biggest surprise to me was how pleased I was with my RW dinner tonight at Le Cirque. While I adore Le Cirque in Las Vegas, I've never been a fan of Le Cirque in NYC which is very disappointing since it's so close to my office. I've always liked the food, but had always felt the service was very robotic.

Tonight 5 women from my office went out for a celebration, and I was somewhat surprised that one of the celebrants selected Le Cirque (the selection criteria was a restaurant near the office participating in RW). I was pleased that we were seated at a nicely located table (other than my chair kept getting bumped by the serving staff). Our captain was very nice and helpful. I started with the soft cooked egg with sweetbreads--very tasty (and I don't care for sweetbreads). The main course (for all of us) was the hake with sauce Grenobloise and olive oil smashed potatoes. The fish was perfectly cooked and the lemon and capers truly enhanced the fish. Dessert was the signature creme brûlée and was delicious. I have had their creme brûlée many times, and consider it to be the finest anywhere.

Bottom line: very happy and delicious celebration. Very nice RW dinner.

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Le Cirque
151 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022

[City Kid]

So funny, ellenost, I think I was sitting at the table next to you at Le Cirque last night with my husband and father-in-law!! I also found it very enjoyable with warm service and very good food. (Did you notice the identical twin young women who were bussing tables?) My grilled chicken with mushroom and tomato and the whispiest, crispiest fries was terrific, as was the chocolate fondant, hazelnut ice cream. Very enjoyable!

[janethepain]

Interesting, no Danny Meyer restaurants apart from Maialino, not even Blue Smoke! Snagged a Maialino lunch reservation for MLK day. Lincoln was booked for lunch that day :(

Maybe will try out SHO Shaun for dinner one day.

[deepfry7]

Lucky you didn't get the Lincoln reservation. Looks like they are only participating Wed to Fridays for "Restaurant Month".

http://www.lincolnristorante.com/rest...

[loratliff]

Had a nice Maialino RW lunch last year. It's one of the few good ones remaining on the RW list.

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Maialino
2 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10010

[kosmose7]

It seems to be from Jan. 16 to Feb. 10 and reservations will open on Jan. 4 .

http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2011/12/2012_restaurant.php
http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek

[Cheeryvisage]

Wow, it's longer this year. That's awesome.

[kosmose7]

Isn't it though! I am thrilled. :)

[deepfry7]

I wonder if some restaurants that usually participate will not participate this winter. For example, most people here agree that the Bar Room at the Modern is one of the top (if not the top) restaurants for RW. It may not make monetary sense for them to do it for 4 weeks. 2 weeks is more feasible.

[deepfry7]

Yep, the list is out and the best ones from years past aren't doing it anymore or are only doing it for lunch. So no more Bar Room at the Modern, Riverpark (no dinner), or Park Avenue Winter (no dinner).

[Cheeryvisage]

For dinner, I think SHO Shaun Hergatt may be the only good one left on this year's list?

Nougatine's also doing dinner. But given the service inconsistencies of this restaurant, I don't want to bother.

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SHO Shaun Hergatt
40 Broad St, New York, NY 10004

Nougatine
1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023

[culprit]

Wow, they have a $7000 bottle of wine. Think I'll go there!

[deepfry7]

Owners and chefs should really read Meyer's "Setting the Table". If you participate in Restaurant Week, do it right. That means more than 3 choices per course, and not your boring salad for appetizer and then salmon, chicken, or skirt steak entree choices. If you go with a group of 4 or more, it's really lame if 50-75% of your group orders the same dishes.

Plus, you get great publicity when the people of CH recommend you on RW threads. Or Yelp.

[daffyduck]

SHO Shaun Hergatt is fully booked until after restaurant week =\. any other recs for dinner besides Nougatine? I'm thinking about Tulsi.

[Cheeryvisage]

Had a great RW lunch at Toloache. Recommended! They also do dinner.

Photos: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjykWUji

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Toloache
251 West 50th Street, New York, NY 10019

[roze]

So far I've done RW at Cafe Boulud, Strip House and Maze and while I enjoyed all of them Cafe Boulud was far and away my favorite. I'm going to try and return for one more lunch before it ends.

http://www.nyctastes.com/

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Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th St., New York, NY 10021

[Cheeryvisage]

No official information yet. However, the dates will likely be January 23 - February 5, 2012.