This Caviar Russe NYC Review is one of our many NYC Restaurant Reviews and Michelin Star Restaurant reviews. Visiting New York? See all of our posts tagged NYC.
It was my husband who suggested lunch at Caviar Russe. While I normally make our NYC restaurant reservations, and I had some initial doubts about his choice, I was glad he wanted to try someplace we'd never been. We have several favorite NYC restaurants, and it's all too easy to get into the habit of going to one of them rather than trying someplace new.
Getting to Caviar Russe
Caviar Russe is in what I consider to be an unlikely location for a Michelin Star restaurant: 538 Madison Avenue, between 54th Street and 55th Street. It makes sense in terms of the Caviar Russe boutique, given all the designer shops lining Madison Avenue, but note that the restaurant is actually on the 2nd floor, and you'll need to press the buzzer to be admitted.
The Scene
There are a few rooms off to the right that we didn't explore, but we were shown into the dining room that fronts Madison Avenue and gets the best natural light, an intimate space of just 5 tables. There's a colorful Russian themed mural along one wall that reminded me of the exquisite Russian handpainted lacquer boxes from Palekh.
We were easily the youngest couple in the room (and probably the most underdressed as well, even though we were both in business attire). But we were having a late lunch at 2pm, so the two other tables were wrapping up their lunch, and presently we had the entire dining room to ourselves.
Caviar Russe Menu and Food
Our server introduced himself, asked for our choice of water, and provided lunch menus. There was of course an entire caviar menu with a few crudo items on the left hand side:
And the lunch tasting menu was on the right. I liked the fact that you could choose any items, although it was disappointing to see that 3 of the 8 savory items incurred supplemental charges, when the tasting menu prices were not cheap: $65 for three courses, $95 for 5 courses, $205 for 10 courses. We each opted for 3 courses and no wine, since we both had work to get done in the afternoon.
We were first brought an amuse bouche of bluefin tuna with some avocado, cucumber and jalapeno relish: good but not that inspired.
Similarly, the bread and butter choices were simple and good, but nothing wow: a choice between whole wheat rolls and mini baguettes, and salted and unsalted butter. The bread was warm, at least, which is more than can be said for some 1 Michelin star restaurants.
My husband had chosen to pay the supplement for the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin with Foie Gras, and it turned out to be a great dish. While I'm not as much a sea urchin fan as he is, he enjoyed it, and I agreed that the foie gras was excellent–perfectly seared, and a nice size portion. The sauce was so good it was eaten to the last drop.
My Foie Gras Terrine was prettily plated, with grapefruit, arugala, and a side of barely toasted brioche bread, but it wasn't remarkable flavor-wise, and I felt the slice could have been a little thicker, given the tasting menu price.
My husband's next course was the Wild Black Bass–again, beautiful presentation and cooked perfectly, although hard for me personally to get excited about as there are other fish I prefer.
We agreed that my second course was second only to the sea urchin with foie gras as the best dish of our meal: Risotto with Pork Belly and Kabocha Squash. Something about risotto, pork belly and roasted kabocha squash is so satisfying on cold autumn and winter days, and the flavors complement each other so well: the crispy pork skin and salty richness of the pork; creaminess of the risotto, and sweet-savory aspect of the kabocha squash. We split this dish, since it was so good.
For my third course I chose the Long Island Duck Breast with Rutabaga, Snow Peas and Lemon Thyme. I can't even remember the last time I saw rutabaga on a menu, but it did complement the duck breast well as a sauce, and the snow peas were a nice counterpoint both in taste and texture. Perfectly cooked and a good, but not amazing duck dish.
The only dessert we tried was my husband's choice of Chocolate with Kahula and Coffee Mousse. The coffee mousse in particular was delicious, and had almost a nougat flavor to it as well. I could have done without the jello-like little cubes, but the chocolate decorating the dish was excellent quality, unlike some chocolate dessert decorations that look better than they taste.
While neither of us ordered coffee or tea, a wonderful touch was a generous serving of miniature madeleines. They were warm and seemed fresh from the oven–definitely one of the better endings to a meal that I've seen from a 1 Michelin star restaurant.
The Service
Service from our server was excellent, including great pacing of the meal, since we both had 1 hour for lunch. The only service mishap was at the end, from another staff member (not our server) who gave us the wrong coats and tried to give our coats to another couple. It was quickly sorted out, however.
The Verdict
I was pleasantly surprised by Caviar Russe. It doesn't provide quite as much value for money of some of the other NYC Michelin Star restaurant prix fixe lunches, for example Jean-Georges, where a two course lunch is $38, three courses for $54, but the quality of the dishes we enjoyed was excellent: top notch ingredients, preparation and presentation. I had thought that as an adjunct to a caviar boutique, the restaurant food would be something of an afterthought, but was glad to be proven wrong.
While I'll continue to splurge on caviar primarily on first class flights where it's on the menu (Asiana First Class, Cathay Pacific First Class, Lufthansa First Class), it's nice to know about another elegant midtown lunch spot for my business clients visiting NYC who want a more private, quieter spot than many midtown restaurants offer.
If you've been to Caviar Russe, what was your experience?
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