Took the family to The Grand Feast yesterday to celebrate my birthday. Just the four of us. I did not tell the restaurant that it was my birthday, because I prefer things low key. We had originally wanted to go to Jacob's Pickles on the UWS, but surprise, no reservations available. I decided to find a new place in the general neighborhood, and I saw that the Yelp and Google reviews for TGF were uniformly excellent. So we gave it a try.
The photos online are very flattering... IRL, the vibe comes closer to "hole in the wall" than upscale casual dining. There are only about 40 seats maximum in the whole restaurant. The kitchen is tiny- they could only handle one table at a time, although to be fair, we didn't have to wait very long for our order to be ready. But in retrospect, I understand why they maintain such appearances... because the food at The Grand Feast is so freakin' great, if they made the decor any more attractive, they would have lines down the block and there would be no way for the kitchen to keep up.
The wait staff could not have been nicer or more attentive. Menu was varied and interesting and reasonably priced. Portions were generous. We started with a mushroom truffle risotto and Caesar salad, which we shared around the table. Both were delicious. The risotto was perfectly al dente, fragrant and cheesy and gone in about twenty seconds. The salad was crisp and fresh, and the dressing must have been homemade because it put store-bought versions to shame.
For our main courses, I had the duck l'orange. Cooked a precise medium, tender and expertly seasoned. It was served with a butternut squash puree (my only complaint was that there was not enough of it on the plate), crispy tasty Brussels sprouts, and a sweet tangy sauce that made me want to lick the plate clean. My son had the lamb shank- it was HUGE, and fell off the bone like it had been slow cooked for 14 hours.
My wife and daughter shared the dinner special- a tomahawk chop. It could easily have fed three people (and possibly four). They were rhapsodizing about it, so of course, I had to try it for myself. I say this without hyperbole- I have dined at virtually all of the best steakhouses in NYC. This tomahawk blew all of them out of the water. It literally melted in your mouth. You could effortlessly cut it with just a fork. The ideal blend and saturation of salt and pepper. Served with two sides- a gigantic bowl of crispy french fries and those yummy sprouts. Even with two people sharing, and the other two picking, fully a third of it made its way home with us.
And then... the surprise. I'm not sure how it came about. Again, I told no one at the restaurant that it was my birthday when I made the reservation. No one in my family called ahead- they didn't even know where we were going. Someone must have overheard our table conversation, or it was some arcane magic that was responsible... but a crème brulee with candles was brought to the table, and Happy Birthday was piped over the house speakers, and I was serenaded by the staff and patrons. I really did not expect it, and I was so touched by the gesture. It was a gift.
Oh, and the crème brulee was divine. As was the carrot cake and chocolate mousse that we ordered for dessert. Even my coffee was great, LOL. A fantastic way to end the meal.
Now I know why TGF keeps things so low key. I'm sure that the residents of that particular neck of the woods must know full well about The Grand Feast... and I'm sure they hold this knowledge close to the vest, because why would they want to risk having this neighborhood treasure overrun by outsiders? In fact, pretend you didn't read this review.
Because I want to be able to go back to The Grand Feast again, and again, and have it be as amazing as it was tonight. read more