Summer 2019 New York Restaurant Week attendee here! It was actually my first time doing RW in the city and I'm not sure why I haven't gotten off my laurels to do it before. In an ever-expanding list of places I want to eat at, RW makes it so convenient and exposes myself to different cuisines I may not normally spring for. I let my friend pick the place, and she landed on Perry St, intrigued that it's a Jean-Georges and James Beard-award winning place.... hmm... I have always wanted to try that molten lava cake everyone raves about...
We get all dolled up and trek over to the place. As other diners have mentioned, it is a little difficult to find. It is on Perry St, but facing the water and the building it looks more like a straight-up office complex then somewhere that would have a restaurant as its first floor.
Everything else after was smooth sailing.
We were greeted by two kind hostess' who sat us right away. There isn't a bad seat in the house - ours was next to the stairs and we still had no issue with it. It did take a beat to find the bathroom (if you're facing the bar, it's around the corner to the right).
I had been ruminating over the RW menu all week so I was pretty set on my order - eggplant toast with ricotta, parmesan-crusted chicken over corn and of course, the signature chocolate molten lava cake. However, I did look over the regular summer menu and may have to scoot back before summer is up to get that poached lobster because that sounded incredible. I ordered a ginger margarita to start which was so delicious. I ordered it since I felt like a sore throat was coming on and figured the ginger miiiight be useful, but, if that's not the case for you, I do recommend it. The waiter came around and set down beautiful slices of rye bread and some fresh and creamy butter. The bread was thick, fresh and the perfect vessel for whetting our appetite and getting us super hyped for our meal.
My eggplant toast with ricotta came and I was so delighted by it. I think the toast was the same as the rye bread and it had a great crunch to it, a little tough to cut through, but not a problem to eat. I love that they complimented the eggplant flavor rather than try to hide it. In addition, it was a hefty portion. I tried a bite of my friend's salmon sashimi appetizer and that was also delectable, the salmon was like butter.
For my entree, the Parmesan-crusted chicken was a large serving! I was surprised to see the hulking mass there. After all, when you think of finer dining you think small portions. Not the case here. Chicken, juicy, tender, textbook. The crust was snappy and, well, cheesy, so A+ in my book. I wasn't crazy with the corn, it tasted good, but was crunchy? Not sure how I felt about the texture. I had a glass of pinot grigio with my entree.
Ah yes, the dessert, chocolate molten lava cakeeeee. Decadent without being overly sweet and a bit on the dark chocolate/bitter side (which I appreciate). I was in a happy place, some may say heaven, for it. A stellar way to conclude the meal and understand what people are talking about when they say you need to have Jean-Georges chocolate molten lava cake (which is apparently featured among all his restaurants).
I hope to return to Perry St soon - food was delightful, staff was incredible, ambiance was chic without being pretentious, so it was a great experience overall. read more