OTB In Depth: Porter House New York and Chef Michael Lomonaco (UPDATED)

Porter House New York
Time Warner Center, 4th Floor
10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY
(212) 823-9500

Web Site: http://www.porterhousenewyork.com

Michael Lomonaco is the kind of guy who is just eminently huggable and who is one to make you feel at home no matter which and what kind of restaurant he runs. A true proponent and practitioner of restaurant hospitality, he’s cheffed at some of the city’s most iconic restaurants, including The 21 Club and the late Windows On The World, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Following his career as the last chef at Windows on The World, he briefly acted as consulting chef at both Guastavino’s and Noche.

Not to be beaten down by personal tragedy, in 2006 Michael opened what may become yet another iconic restaurant, in the country’s most haute food court in the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle, putting it in the company with such notable restaurants as Pe Se, Bouchon, Cafe Gray, Masa and Landmarc. Focusing on prime aged steaks, seafood and updated versions of classic steakhouse side dishes, Lomonaco has re-invented the New York steakhouse and revived the classic Porter House atmosphere that the city was known for in the late nineteenth centry.

We visited Porter House twice in 2007 — once during the late summer and most recently in October to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. On our second visit, we decided to focus on the restaurant’s fish dishes, which many diners might choose to overlook because of the restaurant’s steakhouse premise. I urge you to reconsider that notion right off the bat — Porter House is as much a fish and seafood restaurant as it is a steak restaurant. While other restaurateurs tend to segregate their restaurants by theme — such as Laurent Tourondel with his “BLT” group of restaurants (such as he is doing with BLT Fish and BLT Steak)  Lomonaco is doing everything under one (albeit a very large) roof, and he’s doing it quite successfully.

Click on the photo collage above for a Hi-Resolution tour of Porter House New York (First Visit)

Click on the photo collage above for a Hi-Resolution tour of Porter House New York (Second Visit, Seafood Dishes)

Click to listen to my chat with Chef Michael Lomonaco (52 mins)

Click here to watch a video of Prime steaks being trimmed in Porter House’s butcher shop.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more information about Porter House New York’s dishes.

OTB In Depth: In the Gramercy Tavern Kitchen with Chef Michael Anthony

Gramercy Tavern
42 E 20th St, New York, NY
(212) 477-0777

Web Site: http://www.gramercytavern.com

Gramercy Tavern is one of my favorite New York City restaurants — its warm, inviting atmosphere combines the very best of casual dining with a cuisine that often exceeds its 3-star cousins. Many well-known chefs from all over the city — and all over the country — have sharpened and perfected their cooking and hospitality skills here before heading out on their own and opening their own restaurants. It exists as something of an enigma in the New York restaurant scene, both a place for locals just to “go out and eat” with a very approachable and comforting Tavern menu and convivial bar atmosphere, and also as a destination restaurant with its gorgeous wood-accented dining rooms and fine dining menu. Back in February of 2006, the restaurant began a makeover in the form of a new Executive Chef, Michael Anthony, previously of the highly acclaimed Blue Hill and Blue Hill Stone Barns restaurants that he started with his former partner, Dan Barber. Known for his use of local and sustainable cuisine and his patronage of the New York Greenmarkets, his laser focus on quality and bringing out the best in top quality ingredients has renewed a place for Gramercy Tavern in the very top of the New York restaurant food chain.

Click on the Photo Collage above to see a Hi-Resolution tour of Gramercy Tavern’s Kitchen.

Click here to listen to my conversation with Chef Michael Anthony in the kitchen of Gramercy Tavern.

Click on the photo collage above to see a Hi-Resolution slide show of the tasting menu Rachel and I were served at Gramercy Tavern.

Click here to hear Chef Michael Anthony describe the dishes.

 

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below to read more about Gramercy Tavern’s dishes.