Gotham Bar and Grill

Day 49 (5/4) of the T-90 Project:

My mom bought my dad "TASCHEN'S New York" for Christmas. It's a beautiful brick of a book from Anthropologie on New York City restaurants, hotels and shops. The photography is stunning and Angelika Taschen's write-ups are concise and spot-on. The restaurants she showcases may not make New York Magazine's list of "Where to Eat 2010" or Time Out New York's "Best New Restaurants of the Year," but they are New York City dining icons. I don't want to leave Manhattan without having eaten my way through the classics portrayed in this book. Sure most New Yorkers and Changoholics may be killing themselves to get into Ma Peche, but Taschen's list inspired me to visit old souls who have aged gracefully with a few wrinkles under their belts. Though not on her list, Gotham Bar and Grill fit this new M.O.

The dinner club I created with the help of TheDude, Fat Tuesday Dinner Club, is just over two years old. We've gone on 25 dining adventures and they've all been wonderful. I have a list of our spots archived and I will post that at some point because it's a great blueprint of New York's finest spots. The club will replace me when I move (I think I have a pretty good idea of who it will be) and if they don't mind, I may create my own sister club in Los Angeles. This month marked the last time I'd get to pick the spot and I think I chose wisely.

Gotham Bar and Grill has been around for over two decades and when you experience it, it's no wonder why. My fellow FTDC-ers love to check out menus ahead of time and it's common for them to know what they're going to order before they even sit down. I prefer to be surprised, but this time I took a sneak peek. I was alarmed at Gotham's prices and sent out a frantic e-mail apologizing for my expensive choice about an hour before we were supposed to meet. Luckily none of us are frugal when it comes to food.

TheDude and I showed up first, which made us both laugh since we're usually the tardy ones. He was sipping a gin martini at the bar and I was about to order my own when TheRookie and Fashionista came in and we were seated. The table was right at the front window, kissing the bar, and I had to squeeze into my seat behind a man standing and drinking with his friends. Immediately I was uncomfortable. The window was beautiful, but I wasn't there to be at a sidewalk cafe.

"Are you all OK with this table?" I asked cringing to my friends. I felt like we'd been banished to the kiddie table, away from everyone else so we wouldn't disturb the grownups in the dining room.

"Yeah, it's fine," TheDude responded. "I mean, there's a huge dining room back there, and it'd be kinda nice to be where everyone else is, but this is totally cool," he added.

"I'm looking at it as though they think we're good looking and they want people outside to see cool people eating at their restaurant," said Fashionista.

"Ha! OK!" She made a great point.

I wouldn't have minded had I not felt like the guy behind me was going to deck me with his elbow every time he gesticulated, but I pushed my chair in as close as I could to the table and got over it.

We sat for a few minutes without menus. I liked this. It gave us time to unwind, decide on cocktails and enjoy them for a moment before we felt rushed into picking our food for the evening.

"Oh man, I love our server's accent," said Fashionista.

We are both suckers for accents.

"Yeah, but I bet it gets old after a while," said TheDude.

"Uh-uh, mister," I said, shaking my head with a devilish grin.

There was a short debate about where our server John was from. I knew he was British, while TheDude and Fashionista thought he was Aussie or Kiwi. One of us would ask him before the end of the night.

After enjoying our cocktails we ordered a tuna tartare dish which was exquisite in taste and presentation. The yellowfin tuna was served with Japanese cucumber, shiso leaf and a sweet miso-ginger vinaigrette. We each dabbed our tuna in the spicy droplets on the cucumbers and scooped up a piece or two with the crostini. It was a fight to the finish.

After they cleared our plates we talked to John for a few minutes. He was indeed from south London and had been in the U.S. for several years. I was jealous of his expat life. I will always fantasize of living in London.

A server came to the table a few times with a basket filled with four different types of bread. I think I tried all four and each was soft, warm and delicious.

The more we drank and ate, the more comfy I was at our special table. The place had huge ceilings that seemed to go up and up forever. The space was simple and elegant, if not bordering on the side of too fancy for me. The white table cloths would have scared my dad away in a hot second. It reminded me of Eleven Madison Park and Craftbar and was sort of a cross between the two. My favorite part of the decor were the huge white cloth chandeliers. They were like giant upside-down cloth lampshades.

We glanced at the wine menu and were intimidated by some steep wine prices. We usually go with one round of cocktails and then switch over to wine, but at Gotham the consensus was stick to the drinks rather than spend a fortune on wine. There were a few under $50, but none that tempted us. This would be my one note for the suggestion box, in addition to making sure guests don't mind sitting at the lone star table in the front.

For my entree I ordered the miso-marinated black cod with bok choy, shiitake mushrooms and sticky rice in a soy-lemongrass-ginger sauce. I couldn't remember where I'd been turned onto cod, but TheDude remembered it was at Fashionista's last FTDC pick, Yerba Buena.

"Yup, I think you're right. Damn, it's so good."

I was worried it would taste too much like a boring plate of sushi, but man, I was in heaven. Even the sticky rice was delectable. The soft white meat with the crisp black skin on top gets me every time.

TheRookie next to me ordered the Atlantic halibut. It was served with Oregon morels, ramps, fava beans and fingerling potatoes in a white wine emulsion. He generously shared some with everyone and we all loved it. Look at that foam!

Fashionista and TheDude ordered the pork and duck, respectively. The Berkshire pork was served with wild onions, petit pois, horseradish and fresh bacon confit in a dry sherry reduction. Fashionista seemed very pleased with her choice.

TheDude got Muscovy duck -- a type of duck I'd never heard of before -- and one TheDude told us he loved. It was served "curry spiced" with seared foie gras and basmati rice in a toasted cashew and apricot chutney. A server came to the table to specially pour the garam masala sauce on top. I stared in awe as I was secretly envious that I couldn't sink my teeth into that plate. Duck used to be one of my favorite carnivorous meals.

We were entirely too stuffed for dessert, but to our surprise, John brought us out a neat array of bite-size dessert nibbles (two of each kind). From a chocolate souffle the size of a nickel to a cubed jello-like substance, to a fruit crumble the size of my thumbnail to truffles I swear were spiked with some sort of alcohol. Props to the pastry chef Deborah Racicot. What a finale to a great meal.

I read that Gotham is the only restaurant in New York City to have received four three-star reviews from The New York Times. This is an incredible, mind-blowing feat. It may have put a decent dent in our wallets, but it was a night and meal to remember. As a dog has its life measured in dog years, restaurants in New York with their fast-as-lightning lifespans should have something similar. One year to a restaurant's life in Manhattan should be equal to at least four years in a human's life. That puts Gotham at just over 100 and let me tell you, it still has it after all these years.

12 E. 12th St., near Fifth Ave.
212-620-4020