New York City: Remi (July 2018)



My spouse and I dined at Remi for lunch on a Friday afternoon in late July 2018. We were staying on the next block at The London, so we were looking for a nearby quality restaurant like Remi. The restaurant is open for weekday lunch and daily dinner. (It stays open continuously from 12:00 noon until 11:00 pm on weekdays, so if you are looking for food at an off hour [for example, 4:00 pm], you can still have a good meal.) You can make a reservation using the online Open Table system.

Remi is located on West 53rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. It is located mid-block and positioned on fractional 6 ½ Avenue, a pedestrian passageway that leads mid-block between 7th and 6th Avenues from West 51st to West 57th Street, passing through privately-owned office buildings (with public spaces/lobbies) and allowing walkers to cross the streets at crosswalks (which have stop signs and a traffic light for drivers). For Remi, this means that it can offer semi-al fresco dining in its Atrium Garden, a foliage-enclosed sidewalk terrace beneath a covered glass-roofed arcade. 

The somewhat narrow but long main dining room has neutral-colored walls with wall-mounted lighting that accents a huge fresco of a Venetian scene above, wood floors that elongate the space, and white cloth-covered round and square tables with attractive black chairs, some of which share a lengthy L-shaped black-and-white striped padded banquette. A small curved bar occupies the front of the main dining room. Incredibly for Manhattan, Remi offers some $6 martinis at the bar during happy hour (which are only slightly more expensive when delivered to your table). Remi offers private event space in its Canal Grande and Rialto Rooms. 

Remi serves Northern Italian cuisine, including fresh pasta. We wanted to eat lightly, so we shared two appetizers: the prosciutto and burrata salad (the burrata was “to die for!”) and one of the daily specials, a yummy scallop dish presented over risotto cakes. We snacked on bread (but without butter or olive oil, which would have enhanced it) as we waited for our food. To finish, we shared the berry meringue, a beehive-shaped cone of hardened meringue filled with cream, then topped/accented with fresh berries – not only attractive, but also tasty. 

We enjoyed our lunch at Remi, particularly quality of the food and sitting outside in the covered arcade.
















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