I mentioned in a previous newsletter that I find going out to eat on Valentine’s Day to be a bit of a nightmare. However, I’m a big believer in romantic dinners… just maybe not on the same day as every other couple. While I was bummed that Viraj and I didn’t get to spend Valentine’s Day together, the one perk of us being apart was that we didn’t have to fret about how we were going to commemorate the day; a late celebration at Delmonico’s, easy as coconut cream pie.
I’m a California girl through and through, so I feel the most comfortable dangerously underdressed in upscale settings. (I wore open-toed Birkenstocks for an entire year once, and yes, I did go to quite a few very nice restaurants in them and it went over totally fine.) I don’t mourn the slow death of white tablecloth restaurants because it wasn’t ever the type of dining I grew up with—whether it’s the times or the state I’m not sure.
However, with restaurants like Union Square Cafe or Kei in Paris, a very traditional fine dining restaurant where it was as quiet as the tablecloths were white, the rarity of the experience becomes quite charming. A couple sitting across the small dining room from us got engaged over their dinner; Viraj and I barely noticed due to the lack of commotion. The server handed me a menu without prices and Viraj a menu with prices. I was too scared to take any photos. It all vaguely evokes a time when men would lay down their coats on puddles for women… romantic in small doses. (And misogynistic in large doses?)
And so when wanting a classic meal, where else should you look but Delmonico’s, the country’s first fine dining restaurant?
Every part of the Delmonico’s dining experience exudes class, from the attentive service like the coat check at the front (where you also go to pick up your leftovers as you leave!) to the romantic corner booth Viraj and I were seated at, side by side. I started the meal with the 1930s martini, a gin martini with orange bitters, which impressively tasted distinctly different from other martinis.
While the walls of Delmonico’s are filled with history, the menu is anything but… in the best possible way. The menu is diverse and thoughtful, taking inspiration from different cuisines like so many modern restaurants do. I’m not too big on steakhouses; usually when Viraj and I go to one I let him pick a steak and some sides and that’s the extent of it. But the Delmonico’s menu is endlessly fascinating, and Viraj and I will need to return to try the oysters with passion fruit mignonette and champagne gelée, the chilled jumbo prawns with sweet gochujang cocktail sauce, Maine crab cake with potato strings and tarragon dill tartar, to name a few.
But do not fret, the dishes we did order were absolute showstoppers. We started with the tuna “tagliatelle”: removing an impossibly thin layer of potato crisps revealed artfully arranged ribbons of tuna covered with truffle aioli and roe, a fishy and delicious work of art. Next, the dry aged ribeye arrived, along with a massive, singular hash brown covered in caviar (we paid extra for that, but I wouldn’t recommend that you do), the greenest creamed spinach I’d ever seen, and the most important… black garlic butter and sichuan peppercorn sauce and creamy blue cheese sauce.
Steak isn’t really my favorite, but it turns out that steak is my favorite when presented with such a fascinating array of butters and sauces. While I’d return in a heartbeat to sample Delmonico’s vast non-steak menu, it’s reassuring to know that Delmonico’s takes their steak just as seriously. Shockingly, my favorite was the blue cheese sauce—I do not like blue cheese, but the perfect subtle funkiness of their sauce complimented the fattiness and meatiness of a bite of steak.
With large portions and dishes that were a hit every time, it was very difficult for us to pace ourselves for dessert, and… we failed. But we did order the yuzu cheesecake to go, which had the most incredible black sesame crust, and it tasted amazing the following day.
I could go on about Delmonico’s, but I think I’ve made my thoughts clear here. When it comes to steakhouses in New York, there’s a clear winner in Delmonico’s, and what’s especially fantastic about it is that it's a restaurant that puts just as much thought into the other dishes served. At Delmonico’s, have your steak and eat it too… or something like that.
Bite it!
Gosh, I say this with almost every restaurant, but book a reservation on their website. They usually at least have some availability, but the earlier you book the better. I believe in you!