|
Bargains & Discounts in Travel, Food & Wine |
All grades are location, price & ethnic sensitive. Ratings also apply unilaterally: World-Class A+ is a separate category from City, Country or Area A+. Copyright 2001 by Punch In® & Wine On Line® International Syndicates. |
| The legendary Warner LeRoy recently succumed to a fatal illness, but
his greatness remains in his $22 million renovation of Russian Tea
Room. A new executive chef, Renaud Le Rasle, has taken command
of the kitchen and is producing some surprisingly excellent food.
The glistening main floor is a restored version of the original with its intimate leather banquettes in Russian red, gold samovars, Christmas decorated chandeliers, period paintings and shining green walls. The lush red carpeting is an exquisite modern Russian motif, the ceiling glimmers with gold leaf and exotic firebirds decorate the walls. Accents of tinted brass, gold leaf and an amazing ice palace complete the festive ambiance. The second-floor dining room would not be out of place in Vegas, and although it’s not my shot of vodka, there are plenty folks who would prefer its a wild two story visual experience. Surrounding you with lush opulence, there is a spectacular tree of Faberge-inspired Venetian glass eggs and a 15 foot tall revolving bear aquarium, alive with young sturgeon. Hundreds of candles meet walls of shimmering midnight blue glass and intimate banquet seating adds a touch of mystery. An amazing glass ceilings and treasures preserved from Le Roy's Maxwell's Plum now grace this fantasy. Keep climbing (or opt for the lift) and check out the third-and-fourth-level banquet spaces, each with their unique decor. Wherever you sit, you must begin an evening at the Tea Room with vodka (by the shot or flight) and caviar with blinis. The blini, while larger than the traditional and not composed of buckwheat, are good. The waiter first douses them with melted butter and creme fraiche, then spoons sevruga ($40 the ounce), golden ($60) or beluga ($65) into the center and rolls the them into a cylendar. Our sevruga was somewhat soft in texture and lacked clearly defined grains. But given the drama, the dish provided an elegant begining. Borscht was superb, if somewhat unorthodox, with its delightfully smoky flavor. Choose the hot version ($10/$17), Only cold zakuska (Russian appetizers), including its salad oliver was somewhat bland and characterless. Pelmemi, ($12/$24), Siberian" meat dumplings in chicken broth, were wonderful, especially dunked into their accompanying mustard or dill and sour cream sauces. (The higher prices refer to entree-size portions). Traditional entrees Coulibiac of salmon ($26) -- another Russian classic -- is served in puff pastry with Champagne sauce. Shashlik Caucasian ($29.75): a generous plate of lamb chops with barley mint pilaf melted in your mouth. The chicken Kiev special, tender boneless-breast, is rolled around truffle-butter and coated in Japanese breadcrumbs and is reason enough to pay the Tea Room a visit. Here is a glorious freehand-adaptation of a classic and one of the best dishes I've tasted this year. While the vodka list is awesome; the wine list excellent, with such interesting bottles as a Summers Napa Charbobo, 1998 ($40) that is stylish, medium bodied and hard to come by. Desserts, previously a work in progress, are now delicious, under the direction of pastry chef Morgan Larsson. Chocolate souffle is one of the city's best and a banana split bread pudding is great fun. Service by an young and enthusiastic staff is personal and attentive. The Russian Tea Room survives in grand style and rates A Plus on J. Walman's Restaurant Report Card.
J. Walman's and Nancy Preiser's reviews are available and have been seen on the Internet. Click here to see an index of other reviews on the worldwide web <http://www.punchin.com>. <http://wineonline.net>. J. Walman's reviews have been heard on WNCN, WEVD & WQXR radio, seen in Fodor's and Mobil Guide Books, and printed in Chocolatier, Troika and Metropolitan Millionaire magazines, The National Forward and newspapers and magazines throughout the world, including the NY Post, Women's Wear Daily and the NY Times, via the Punch In International Network. This review may be reprinted free of charge, so long as source and byline credit are included: "J. Walman's Restaurant Report," "Punch In International®," Wine On Line International®, "www.punchin.com & www.wineonline.net." *Given the volatility of the restaurant scene, Punch In will assign expiration dates to all forthcoming reviews, ranging from one month to one year. This is not a guarantee that your experience at a given restaurant will mirror ours, nor is it an indication that a restaurant will no longer be awarded the same rating. It does enable us to fine tune and update or reviews with maximum precision. Readers now have a new interactive interface, which includes the following options. 1. E-mail this site to a friend
2. Add you own comments or read others Click Here For Comments 3. Make a reservation through Open Table or the restaurant's own system by clicking on the banner below. 
Now you can get the latest news feeds from Yahoo & ABC on Punch In's Home Page. Need another E-Mail account? Free E-Mail: yourname@punchin.com Register your domain name for just $16.95 Click Her For Options
Click HereTo View J. Walman's Historic WNCN & WEVD Radio Reviews |
||||||||||