Restaurant Week at Perry St.

I now have my own little brother in NYC! My Quincy buddy Adam moved here from Denver over the weekend. To celebrate his arrival, along with Kurt's friend Joanna's birthday, we went to Perry Street for Restaurant Week.

They should really call it Restaurant Weeks, since it's running through early February (I'll also be trying Gordon Ramsay's restaurant Maze in two weeks). Nevertheless, it's a nice way to get a three-course meal for $35, though you can easily spend more than that on alcohol if you're not careful.

Located on the ground floor of a modern high rise facing the West Side Highway, the restaurant's interior is spare and chic. As New York magazine put it, "Even when Nicole Kidman is dining there, Jean-Georges's eighth restaurant feels serene and subdued."  

As is typical with most higher-end restaurants that participate in Restaurant Week, the prix fixe menu was pretty limited. However, given the fact most of Perry Street's entrees alone are in the $30s, it was a steal. They started us off with an amuse bouche of potato soup with truffle oil and housemade potato chips.

For the starter, I had the housemade burrata with Meyer lemon and olive oil.

Everyone else had the Tasmanian trout sashimi in kombu, key lime and chili with purple shiso. (Where is my dictionary. Kombu? Shiso?) Both were outstanding. I was in the mood for something rich and creamy, so I liked the burrata, but the sashimi was probably the best pick. Extra points for the fact it was a reasonable serving, not just a few tiny bites.

Adam had the grilled beef tenderloin with herbal spinach and gruyere broth. It was some of the rarest meat I've seen on a plate...he loved it.

 The rest of us had the slowly cooked cod with lemon crumbs, lemon garlic broth and broccoli rabe.

 The birthday girl went for fruit instead of dessert...admirable restraint!

 I had the molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

The boys both had the toasted almond ice cream bar with citrus and candied orange. Definitely the more unique choice, but a bit on the tart side.

Not bad for a Tuesday night!