GRAMERCY TAVERN

Between following FCI alum Le Anne Wong on Tom Colicchio's (go ahead, try and tell me it's Katie Lee Joel's), Top Chef (which is being renewed for a second season) seeing the queues line up in Bryant Park at 'wichcraft, the opening of craftsteak and a friend getting a job at one of his restaurants was overdue.

For a special birthday dinner (friends with 30th May birthdays) I accomplished two feats in one, continuing on the Danny Meyer tour (despite my experience at the Union Square Hospitality Group's Indian-fusion restaurant, Tabla) by joining friends at Gramercy Tavern.

Our party of six had a 7 p.m. reservation Sunday in the dining room. While the last member of our party was 10 minutes late, we were seated without her sans issue (Frank Bruni recently wrote about seating issues on his blog, Diner's Journal). It wasn't exactly 8 p.m., Friday but it bode well. So did the smell we were greeted with; no, not the food, Fall-- the smell of burning wood, strongest by the oven near the entrace in front of which chef's were working.

A note on the menu said, "Tasting Menu requires the participation of the entire table." When we asked, the waitress repeated that it was strongly suggested that all diners at a table participate in the tasting menu but with four of six members of the table going the distance we pressed ahead. It didn't seem to be a problem. We settled in for Executive Chef John Schaefer's preparations.

We were brought a bite-sized pastry puff which quickly disappeared and my friend ordered a bottle of Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino 2003 ($42) which was lovely, but not poored perfectly (I'll have to improve my wine-notes), a few drops slipped down along the outside of at least two glasses and found their way to the tablecloth.

Celebrating the fact that we live in New York and not Chicago where the City Council voted to ban the sale of foie gras our first dish was the Torchon of Foie Gras with Quince, Hazelnuts and Mint. There are many ways, I'm sure, to do Foie Gras which I will want to learn, and this was certainly one of them. While the decrusted, triangled, toasted brioche wasn't anything special, having lost most of its warmth (I would have liked to see how the Foie Gras spread when slightly melted), and I was confused by the foam which accompanied the dish, the buttery Foie Gras was something special. While the taste was delicious it was the texture that was most remarkable. Very creamy and smoother than I knew possible. Now, to figure out how to replicate it...

The two non-7-coursers members of our party ate a Salad of Young Greenmarket Lettuces with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette and (I think) the Roasted Sweetbreads with Bacon, Honey-Glazed Onions, Pickled Jerusalem Artichokes and Sherry Vinegar.

The next dish was a Spiced Langostino With Green Tomato Chutney and Dandelion Greens. This "mini-lobster" was tender and tasty but it left me looking forward to the next dish-- fortunately, I didn't have to look far as it was followed by Sturgeon with Swiss Chard, Meyer Lemon and Crème Fraîche. I can't remember having had sturgeon before but I won't soon forget it. It was light and smelled fresh and completely unfishy but was at the same time more steak-flakey than mealy-flakey. It was served in a bowl of an extremely light crème fraîche (to the point of almost being like a warm, creamy milk) with a foam, lemon rinds and lemon essence. The bitterness of the swiss chard on which the fish sat was a nice contrast to subtle sweetness of the milk and the fresh fish. I started to forget there had been any other dishes.

Having eaten three of the seven courses but with several savory dishes yet to come, one of our party, Gobind Sethi, my good friend from college also known as the inimitable G-Man, adjusted his shirt around his growing tid (Sikh for belly) and said more than asked, "How much longer until the sweets?" Had we misconstrued the happy noises he'd been making about the dishes so far? Then Gob explained that he was in wonderment-- if this was how many savory dishes we'd be tasting, imagine the number of sweets to come.

Gob ordered another bottle of wine and suddenly a passing waiter accidentally clipped our friend, Erin's head with a tray. It smarted but it wasn't a serious bump. Still, as we were sitting with Gob, a prosecutor for New York City in the Bronx, we made a few jokes among ourselves about suing.

But dessert was still a ways away. Next came the Four Story Hill Farm Poussin with Cannelloni, Ramps, Peas and Sherry Vinegar. The chicken itself was moist and decently flavored but there wasn't anything terribly special about the dish beyond the cannelloni pasta itself which was thin and soft where it mattered, the middle and crisp in the right places, the very ends.

Our two friends not participating in the tasting menu were served their main courses, Organic Chicken with Roasted Greenmarket Vegetables and Roasted Sirloin of Beef with Cranberry Beans, Salsify, Wild Mushrooms and Bacon. I tasted both and enjoyed the beef.

Our last entree was the Rack of Lamb with Fava Beans, Morels and Ricotta Salata. It was a small but tender lamb leg which I'll be honest, I was having more and more difficulty appreciating due to the grwoing fullness in my stomach.

And with that, the table was cleared and our waitress returned to speak with us about our desserts. She was somewhat confusing until she finally simplified our options to: apple or chocolate. I went with chocolate and was a little disappointed that I couldn't choose dessert which I believe the menu proclaimed to be tapioca, pistachio and passion fruit. Luckily, we were brought it as a dessert amuse bouche. Between the creaminess, the bubbly tapioca pearls and the tang of the passion fruit, I didn't need the following chocolate dish, the details of which, I'm sorry to say, I can't remember. I tasted the apple dessert which was better, a small cake of sorts with baked apple ring on top.

But the meal wasn't over. A plate of cookies was brought out, including biscotti, a chocolate meringue cookie, a peanut butter cookie and another long biscuit cookie. We were also served a complementary sweet peach desert wine, the waiters having been told by Gobind that this was a birthday celebration. Dark, aromatic coffee was served from elegant silver pots and what we assumed had to be the last of the food arrived-- a plate of petit fours: chocolate ganache squares with cocoa powder, vanilla creme chocolates and my two favorites of the plate, lychee gumdrops and peanut butter chocolates. Mark, who didn't have the Spring Tasting menu, had a Macallan 12 year Whiskey ($12)-- I was tempted to join him.

But this wasn't the last of the food, it was just the last of the food we were expected to eat tonight. After settling the tab, we were given parting gifts, blueberry muffins (left) for the next day's breakfast, I suppose. I don't know when else we were supposed to eat them but it certainly wasn't going to be for at least another 12 hours.

TOTAL SPENT: $699.02 (tip not included)
4 Spring Tasting Menus: $392
2 Dinner Menus: $152
2 Bottles of Wine: $89
Tax: $54.02

20 WORDS OR LESS: Large, fancy and upscale but unpretentious and cozy, Gramercy Tavern is generous with flavors and food. Now that's a restaurant.

ADDENDA: Top Chef is looking for applicants (application here) and while I'm not ready for prime time and I know he didn't cook our meal, if this is the kind of food he puts his stamp of approval on I'd be tempted to fill out the application to go get a chance to work with him. For the time being maybe I'll just see if I can get an externship at Craft...