Brasserie 8 1/2
9 W. 57th Street (Betwn. 5th & 6th Aves.)
212-829-0812
8 1/2 is so named because the restaurant lives under 9 West 57th Street, the magnificent Gordon Bunshaft Building distinguished by its stunning outward “ski-jump” flair and the gigantic red “9” sculpture in the middle of the wide sidewalk. Inside, you can see everything you need to in the sleek, spacious and endlessly sophisticated bar/lounge and dining area. A wide floating staircase is the same one that was made for Auntie Mame’s first plunging entrance. And if you look around closely, you’ll notice that those are real Matisse lithographs hung around the space. The vast, 230-seat dining room ends with a stunning backlit Ferdinand Léger stained glass mural.
Chef Julian Alonzo spent four years traveling and cooking in various Club Med locations around the globe—Martinique, Turquoise, Florida, Cancun and Ixtapa—before he returned to his home in Manhattan. Thus you’ll find intriguing international touches in many of his dishes.
Our friendly and valiant server, Gram, knew every last item on the menu inside and out, and his lavish praises for certain preparations turned out to be completely justified.
It’s finally autumn, and clams (six pieces for $9) and oysters ($3.50 each) have lost their summer molt and flabby flavor, resuming their oceanic tang. There’s no more refreshing beginning to a dinner.
Steak tartare ($15/$27) is fashioned into three ruddy oval mounds, which are arranged on a firm pool of oxtail gelée. The tartare is unusually flavorful and rough-textured, very lightly capered for a change, and the gelée makes a pleasantly smooth and rubbery palate cleanser between beefy bites. Two finger-sized foie gras spring rolls are somehow delicate.
A generous slab of sinfully rich foie gras is seared and parked on roasted corn kernels in a sherry reduction. On an adjoining partition of the plate is an artful stack of yellow and red heirloom tomato slices dressed with 12-year-old balsamic and finished with a triangle of watermelon and a sprig of mint.
Chef Alonzo spent a chunk of time cooking at the Sea Grill under master chef Ed Brown, so you can expect his seafood entrées to be pretty enthralling. Thin, quarter-sized slices of fingerling potatoes are fashioned into scales for luscious rouget fillets. More fingerling potato slices are lightly roasted and tossed with a vinaigrette, diced tomatoes, olives and capers. The fish is in a large white serving bowl with a dome; the chef pipes applewood smoke under the dome so that when your server lifts it, a deliciously smoky fragrance wafts to your nostrils.
Veal cheeks ($27) are braised to a pleasing and deeply flavored sponginess and plated with a soft-boiled crusted duck egg and spears of tender-crisp sautéed white asparagus. Sautéed morel mushrooms are the perfect earthy mate for that lush veal. Morels have gotten so expensive that you rarely encounter them (or veal cheeks, for that matter), so this entrée is truly special.
Alonzo’s side dishes are hardly afterthoughts. Creamy goat cheese croquettes ($6) are not to be missed. Four wooden skewers bear three croquettes each—plenty for sharing. And macaroni and cheese ($11) luxuriates shamelessly in a cast iron tureen, swimming in truffle butter.
Pastry chef Martin Howard is certainly up to the task of providing a coda to such culinary brilliance, but first enjoy a Chocolate Cherry Charmer: vanilla vodka is blended with Godiva and cherry liqueur and served straight up in a martini glass dusted with cocoa powder. My dining companion, a born chocoholic, asked Gram if he could arrange to mainline the beverage into her arm. A feeling that’s easily felt about the entire sensuous Brasserie 8 1/2 experience, a place that manages to get everything right.
9 W. 57th Street (Betwn. 5th & 6th Aves.)
212-829-0812
8 1/2 is so named because the restaurant lives under 9 West 57th Street, the magnificent Gordon Bunshaft Building distinguished by its stunning outward “ski-jump” flair and the gigantic red “9” sculpture in the middle of the wide sidewalk. Inside, you can see everything you need to in the sleek, spacious and endlessly sophisticated bar/lounge and dining area. A wide floating staircase is the same one that was made for Auntie Mame’s first plunging entrance. And if you look around closely, you’ll notice that those are real Matisse lithographs hung around the space. The vast, 230-seat dining room ends with a stunning backlit Ferdinand Léger stained glass mural.
Chef Julian Alonzo spent four years traveling and cooking in various Club Med locations around the globe—Martinique, Turquoise, Florida, Cancun and Ixtapa—before he returned to his home in Manhattan. Thus you’ll find intriguing international touches in many of his dishes.
Our friendly and valiant server, Gram, knew every last item on the menu inside and out, and his lavish praises for certain preparations turned out to be completely justified.
It’s finally autumn, and clams (six pieces for $9) and oysters ($3.50 each) have lost their summer molt and flabby flavor, resuming their oceanic tang. There’s no more refreshing beginning to a dinner.
Steak tartare ($15/$27) is fashioned into three ruddy oval mounds, which are arranged on a firm pool of oxtail gelée. The tartare is unusually flavorful and rough-textured, very lightly capered for a change, and the gelée makes a pleasantly smooth and rubbery palate cleanser between beefy bites. Two finger-sized foie gras spring rolls are somehow delicate.
A generous slab of sinfully rich foie gras is seared and parked on roasted corn kernels in a sherry reduction. On an adjoining partition of the plate is an artful stack of yellow and red heirloom tomato slices dressed with 12-year-old balsamic and finished with a triangle of watermelon and a sprig of mint.
Chef Alonzo spent a chunk of time cooking at the Sea Grill under master chef Ed Brown, so you can expect his seafood entrées to be pretty enthralling. Thin, quarter-sized slices of fingerling potatoes are fashioned into scales for luscious rouget fillets. More fingerling potato slices are lightly roasted and tossed with a vinaigrette, diced tomatoes, olives and capers. The fish is in a large white serving bowl with a dome; the chef pipes applewood smoke under the dome so that when your server lifts it, a deliciously smoky fragrance wafts to your nostrils.
Veal cheeks ($27) are braised to a pleasing and deeply flavored sponginess and plated with a soft-boiled crusted duck egg and spears of tender-crisp sautéed white asparagus. Sautéed morel mushrooms are the perfect earthy mate for that lush veal. Morels have gotten so expensive that you rarely encounter them (or veal cheeks, for that matter), so this entrée is truly special.
Alonzo’s side dishes are hardly afterthoughts. Creamy goat cheese croquettes ($6) are not to be missed. Four wooden skewers bear three croquettes each—plenty for sharing. And macaroni and cheese ($11) luxuriates shamelessly in a cast iron tureen, swimming in truffle butter.
Pastry chef Martin Howard is certainly up to the task of providing a coda to such culinary brilliance, but first enjoy a Chocolate Cherry Charmer: vanilla vodka is blended with Godiva and cherry liqueur and served straight up in a martini glass dusted with cocoa powder. My dining companion, a born chocoholic, asked Gram if he could arrange to mainline the beverage into her arm. A feeling that’s easily felt about the entire sensuous Brasserie 8 1/2 experience, a place that manages to get everything right.
