New York City: Gabriel Kreuther (December 2017)

Gabriel Kreuther - Spacious and Energetic Room

My spouse and I visited Gabriel Kreuther for dinner on a Saturday evening in early December 2017. We booked our place 30 days in advance using the online Open Table reservation system. The restaurant is open for lunch on weekdays, and for dinner on Mondays through Saturdays (closed on Sundays). Gabriel Kreuther holds one Michelin star and three stars from the New York Times.

Restaurant Gabriel Kreuther, named after the chef, opened in June 2015 in the lobby of the Grace Building across from Bryant Park, on West 42^nd Street between 5^th & 6^th Avenues. The restaurant and its adjoining bar are located on the street level, with a private event space and restrooms on the lower level. (There is one handicap-accessible restroom on the street level.)

The restaurant/bar space is huge, with high curved ceilings, and is divided into two sections: one for the bar and one for the dining room. The lounge area offers seating either at the bar (with a copper back bar and accents) or at small round cocktail tables, some of which share a cream-colored leather banquette and are lit by cathedral lamps; in addition to the usual wine, beer, and cocktails, an a la carte menu (think tartes flambés) features a few of the favorite items from the fine dining menu (sturgeon and sauerkraut tart). The main dining room offers seating at cream-colored leather banquettes and matching chairs or at free-standing tables divided from the bar area with prominent Y-shaped wooden beams. Or, if you really want to treat yourself, book the kitchen table (which is visible through a window in the main dining room), where you can actually sit in the kitchen and interact with the chef. Décor includes a gorgeous flying stork sculpture and lighting that accent the furniture, including the cream-colored leather banquettes and chairs. Silverware, glassware, plates, and table settings are elegant yet informal. (For example, all silverware is always placed to your right on a leather mat clearly designed for that purpose.) Music plays in the background at just the right volume to make the atmosphere energetic and comfortable rather than sedately formal.

The chef has an extensive resume; besides working at restaurants in Germany, Switzerland, and France, he worked in notable NYC restaurants like the Museum of Modern Art’s The Modern, Jean Georges, La Caravelle, and Atelier at the Ritz-Carlton. He was named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs in 2003, received a 2009 James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: New York City, an AAA 5 Diamond Award, Best New Restaurant of the Year award by New York's Village Voice, and 3 Stars from the NY Times.

Cuisine is international (including Alsatian/German/French). The dining room menu offers a 4-course prix-fixe menu that offers a choice of three savory and one sweet dish for $155 per person. Or you can splurge on the chef’s menu carte blanche for $235. The lunch menu offers smaller options such as a two savory courses for $58 (each additional savory course is $29 and optional dessert for $18). We decided on the four-course menu because it offered us about four choices in each of the categories. In addition to the four main courses, we received a selection of amuse bouche to begin our meal, and between every course, a different bread and butter/spread arrived. (We particularly enjoyed the first bread course that came tied with a ribbon that our server cut to release the pieces of bread, much like a flower opening; conversely, the herbed wheat rolls and the chewy baguette were delicious in their simplicity.) We loved the presentation of the restaurant’s signature dish, a sturgeon and sauerkraut tart topped with caviar and delivered covered by a glass dome that emits smoke when lifted (but unfortunately we did not care for the flavors). Another savory starter course included langoustine tartare with flying fish roe, cauliflower, and macadamia puree. Service was great until it came time for dessert: then we waited, and waited, and waited! Because it was my spouse’s belated birthday celebration, the restaurant eventually delivered three sweet plates: a tiny cake and the two deconstructed dessert dishes that we had chosen. We particularly enjoyed the “apple” slice on one of the plates. At the end of our meal, along with the bill, petit fours arrived nestled in a cacao pod.

We enjoyed our dinner at Gabriel Kreuther – the atmosphere was just the right combination of sophistication and comfort, the service was good, and food was tasty.