V Steakhouse

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V Steakhouse

Photo: Cititour.com

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Contact Info:

Address: 10 Columbus Circle (Time Warner Center) at 60th St
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10023
map: View the Map
Phone: (212) 823-9500

Food Info:

Menu: View the Menu
Cuisine: Steakhouses

Cititour Review:

Do you just love meat? Do you like it really tender, moist, meaty and rich and sealed up with flavor? Do you love it when you don't need to even dress it with steak sauce (a Niman Ranch Strip, $38)? Do you love it when your knife can sit idle on the side of your plate as the beef bows to the pressure of your fork alone (a Niman Ranch Filet Mignon, $28/$38)? How do you feel about lamb chops, so tasty, and so juicy that you have to bib yourself at the table (Colorado Ranch Lamb T-bone, $37)? Do you have warm and fuzzy feelings about beautiful Yama Ranch Waygu Sirloin ($62, American Kobe), and a thick and marbled Niman Ranch Porterhouse built for Papa Flintstone ($62)? Is there a place in your heart for a thin slab of bright pink fresh salmon ($12)—smoked just so it is infused with a gently with a lush smokiness, and jolted up to attention with bursts of orange fish roe, dill, set in a puddle of herb puree bolstered with lemon? What would you say to a crispy bacon roll ($11)—a tight, greaseless spring roll filled with spiced pulled pork belly and Napa cabbage? (Think pig in a blanket on LSD. Delish!) What about buttery Yukon gold potatoes ($6), crisped in their skins, topped with a fat dollop of cream and a sharp dice of chives? What about caramelized onions, all sweetly tangled up ($6)? Is there a reason not to love all of these things? I loved V, Jean George's Gaudi-esque steakhouse up at the Mall. We all did. The four of us (all women), were seated at a round table in the baroque room, filled with gilded trees hung with chandeliers, like a Cinderella party in an enchanted forest. Designed by Jacques Garcia of Hotel Coste in Paris and Spice Market in the Meatpacking, V is a bordello of a steakhouse, an opulent, over the top room decked out in rich vampy reds that feels like something out of Vegas, but somehow is muted enough so that it doesn't offend. When the night sky dims, and the windows fade into the background letting the city night work its magic, it feels like a fairytale. You feel like a slipper might be presented. It isn't. But who cares that your foot will never see the inside of that magic shoe. Who needs a shoe's promise of Prince Charming when you are blessed with really good meat (and a great bottle of wine) shared with your best girlfriends? Not I. Desserts are the creation of Joe Murphy, who was the opening pastry chef at Blue Fin and also opened Fresh, is now JG's corporate pastry chef, and he demonstrates that steakhouse desserts can be basic in their elements, yet thrilling in their execution. Do not under estimate the appeal of a bowl of berries ($8), floating in a clear, cool pool of lemongrass water, accented with kaffir lime and basil, and topped with a tangy quenelle of crème fraiche ice cream. The sweet and tart fruit—cherries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries, tasted so fresh, so exciting, they sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. Who reacts that way to fruit? Loved the Lemon Meringue Composition ($9). A wide bowl filled with all the elements of the classic pie—a puff of meringue, a scoop of lemon curd, a pile of crumbled shortbread pie crust (yummy). Mix and match. Totally genius and deliciously fun. The ice cream sundae ($9) is taken up a notch to the realm of childish-adulthood with red wine ice cream, nuggets of crystallized pistachios and chocolate sauce that you pour on yourself (I meant, that you pour on the ice cream yourself. Get your mind our of the gutter!) There's a terrific cheesecake plumped up with berries, there are chocolate beignets, and a deliciously twisted version of carrot cake—with a cream cheese cake base, topped with sweet-spiced carrot preserves and brown sugar sorbet ($9). V takes itself seriously enough to produce delicious food, but lets you have a good time eating it. Which is nice, 'cause when the check comes, that smile is probably gonna fade. But hey, what's money for anyway? Saving is totally overrated. Get into debt and live a little. Plus, there are free chocolate covered cherries on the way out!

 

Review By: Andrea Strong

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