Thursday afternoon, we had 2:15 tickets for a Tenement Museum tour on the Lower East Side, so we decided to lunch at a well known dining establishment in the area.
Katz's Delicatessen is the oldest delicatessen in New York City; it was established in 1888. It's large and bustling and amazingly efficient. We were each given a ticket as we entered a controlled access door and were told we couldn't exit without them — and without paying for our meal. We were given the choice of going through the cafeteria line or waiter service. We chose the latter and were seated in a section in the back.
As we perused the paper placemat menus, we were presented with an amuse bouche of pickled vegetables.
There didn't seem to be a wine list, but we ordered a satisfying beverage from the cocktail menu.
We planned on sharing one first course and two second courses, but all of the dishes we ordered came out at the same time.
Hot pastrami sandwich on rye, mustard
Cold corned beef sandwich on rye, mustard
Kasha knish We enjoyed our meal — the hot pastrami sandwich was better than the cold corned beef sandwich — but we weren't as satisfied as the woman at the table across from us. Next time, we'll have what she's having.
After lunch at Katz's, we walked up the block to Russ & Daughters to purchase nova and bagels for Sunday breakfast. If only Russ & Daughters were up the block at home!
We had an 8:45 dinner reservation at the NoMad restaurant, off the lobby of the NoMad hotel in the Flatiron District. Since our reservation was relatively late, we took a taxi down early for a drink in the elegant private bar, available only to hotel and restaurant guests.
Reposado highlands tequila, amontillado sherry, apricot liqueur, mezcal, lemon The NoMad is a Daniel Humm production; it's a more casual sister restaurant to his Eleven Madison Park. We were seated in an ornate glass-ceiling atrium at the center of the restaurant. It was noisy, in part due to an adjacent overpopulated public bar, with access from the street. We ordered a wonderful Burgundy from the extensive wine list, and after ordering our dinner, we ate too much of the addictive onion-fingerling potato loaf that appeared on our table.
We shared two first courses — the hamachi and the beef tartare. The marinated hamachi was hidden among the strawberry petals and beet slices, but the few bites we found were very good. The beef tartare was excellent; it was as good as any we've had.
Hamachi, marinated with kombu, beets & wasabi
Beef tartare, with quail egg, radish & rye The star of Daniel Humm's menu is his roasted chicken for two, with a stuffing of brioche, foie gras and truffles. It's presented at the table, with crispy brown skin, and then taken back to the kitchen for carving. When represented, we were both served a generous slice of breast, stuffing and sides, plus a skillet with dark meat to share. The best chicken we've ever had? Absolutely.
Chicken, Whole-Roasted for Two
Carved chicken breast, with corn and freekeh
Dark meat chicken, in corn compote From Katz's to The Nomad; from the sublime to the ridiculously good. Daniel Humm did not let us down. We walked back to our apartment, looking forward to the gastronomical adventures still ahead. Copyright © 2014 TwoForTheTable.com |
