Eating at the Gramercy Tavern

Those who watch Masterchef in the UK will know that in the finals this year the three contestants visited three New York restaurants. Two of them looked right up our street, so we made a note of them and planned a visit while we were here.

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The first of these was the Gramercy Tavern on East 20th Street which we had booked for last night (Sunday). Due to the amount of bookings, even though we booked over a month in advance we could only get a table at 6.00 p.m. so it was an early dinner. We decided to walk from the hotel to the tavern, twenty blocks, but though still humid it was a little cooler than earlier, so it proved a nice walk, and a nice preparation for an exceptional meal.
We arrived at 5.50 and were welcomed by three people on the door, one of whom checked our reservation and then another walked us to our table. The Gramercy is in two parts, an open bar area, which does food, and the quiet and refined environment of the dining room, which is the pre-bookable area. The dining room had lovely understated decor, and a quietness to it that is quite unusual for American eating places.
We were made welcome and introduced to our three wait staff. Each set of three waiters appear to cover three tables between them. A luxury not common even in fine-dining restaurants in Britain. There were two guys who were responsible for replacing cutlery (silverware in US English), topping up our drinks, providing bread and delivering, and announcing, the food. The third person was a young lady, called Aysiha, who took the orders and checked everything was fine.
We were pleased to see, given our non-drinking, that they had a range of non-alcoholic cocktails. Drew began with a Ginger Swizzle which was made up of Ginger Beer, Mint and Lime over ice, he described it as like a mojito without the rum. I opted for a Summer Tonic made of Basil, Cucumber, Lime and Fever Tree Tonic (Fever Tree are a UK company) this was like a G7T without the gin and with cucumber - an odd flavour in this context, but clearly the vegetable of choice for the Gramercy's summer menu.
We had the choice of a three course Prix Fixe Menu or a five course tasting menu. Naturally we opted for the latter.
We were offered a choice of sourdough or ciabatta and I had the first and Drew the second. This was offered again between each of the courses.
The meal started with an amuse bouche which was a cheesepuff filled with cottage cheese on a bed of pecorino - this had sharp intense flavours which boded well for what was to come.
There was a lovely space between each course, meaning the meal was as much about our conversation as about the food, a real pleasure when most American restaurants seem to provide themselves on the speed they produce food.
The first course was Marinated Cucumbers with Arctic Char and Radish, we were told they were English cucumbers, but I didn't know England was well known for its cucumber. The Char looked like salmon, but had a much more delicate flavour, the cucumbers were marinated in a light, sharp vinegar, with the radishes adding a little crunch - how such a simple dish, in a small bowl, could give immense flavour is astounding. The work of a real master of the kitchen.
This was followed by Chilled Zucchini (courgette in UK English) Soup with cherry tomatoes and the ubiquitous cucumbers and radishes. This was a real revelation the colour of the soap was a deep green, more like the colour I'd expect from a spinach soup, but the flavour was strongly of courgette with a hint of truffle oil in it. Though only three spoonfuls in size it filled the mouth with a real zing of delight.
Next came smoked trout with cippollini purée and pickled cippollini onions. The cippollini were coloured red and had a crisp flavour that matched the earthiness of the trout. The trout had a light smoking and was served on the purée with some sea salt and chopped chives on the top. I've often thought trout was a plain unexciting fish - but not today it was rich and vibrant, and the softness of the trout balanced the crispness of the pickled onions. I suspect my sister would have found it a little salty, but it was perfect for our palates.
The following course was for me the masterpiece of the meal; a green garlic broth with rabbit dumplings and rabbit meat. This was Drew's first time eating rabbit and he took to it well. For me rabbit is a robust meat associated in my mind with childhood days of large pots of rabbit stew, something my father still cooks for himself at every opportunity. This however was something different, a tender, delicate flavour pan cooked to perfection. The garlic broth was a lovely complement to the dark rabbit meat which had been puréed and wrapped in a pasta dumpling. The white meat clearly tasted like rabbit but like a rabbit that had been grown on a sweet patch of grass designed just for him, rather than the rabbits who had run for their lives and become a bit stringy, as they can do at home. The garlic flavour was just enough to enhance the rabbit, but distinct enough to have annoyed my brother in law if he had been with us this time :-)  I really didn't want to drink any more water after eating this, so I didn't lose the flavour from my mouth.
But we did have to move on to the Piedmontese beef with fava beans and fennel. I must admit that, though a foody, I'd not known about piedmontese beef, so I've been reading the webpage I just hyper-linked. The beef was cooked a little more than I would like, medium rather than rare, but had a distinct flavour, this was off-set well with the fava beans, a product I was already familiar with, which gave a little kick to the meat (fava are broad beans in UK English). The fennel was fine as an accompanying taste, but I'm not keen on it as a veg - I don't mind a hint of aniseed, but a huge mouthful of it, no thanks. Still this was the only item in the whole menu which didn't hit the right note for me. Drew eat off of his, so I guess this is just a personal thing.
So after our amuse and five courses, next came the dessert selection, I'd assumed (as usual) that Drew would be having mine and his, what a pleasure to find the Gramercy did a cheese plate as part of the tasting menu dessert. Before the desserts came we were offered a pre-dessert dessert of raspberry sorbet in a ginger beer float. Clearly to sweet for me, so Drew was delighted that he didn't miss out and was able to have both of these.
The desserts themselves were absolute masterpieces, Drew had Black Sesame ice-cream with a chocolate mousse quenelle over a raspberry colis. Was it good? I didn't get a chance to ask before it had disappeared, so I'm pretty certain it was. My delight was a selection of three cheeses, from a list of 18. I opted for the Monte Enebro a goat's cheese I have had previously from Avila in Spain - this, as expected, was a soft cheese with a sharp almost nutty after taste. I then went for a cheese that I hoped would be like Stilton the Dunbarten raw blue cow cheese from Shullsburg, Wisconsin; it was delicious being a hard cheese with light blue flecks and flavours, truly divine more like a blue cheddar than a Stilton, but still great. My final choice was based on a name the cheese was called Landaff and as Llandaff is only a few miles from me at home, I thought I had to try it. It was a raw cow cheese from Landaff, New Hampshire and as the website says was based on a Welsh recipe. A stronger flavour than cheddar and another real find. When we are in New Hampshire I might seek out some more.
Though the cheese was the star of this part of the meal, the bread that it was served with is worth a mention. I much prefer bread with cheese rather than biscuits, and that is what the Gramecy Tavern served. There were three breads, two slices of each they were cranberry and pecan, sourdough and malt; I eat them all.