The Louie Family went out for restaurant week. Since two members of the Westchester Breakfast Club are part of the Louie Family, we decided to post a review. Here it is:
42
1 Renaissance Square
White Plains, NY 10601(Map It!)
Attendees: Sylvia, Jeffrey, Alan, Mother Louie, Father Louie
Once I heard that the list for the participating restaurants for Hudson Valley Restaurant Week was out, I jumped on it. The first thing I looked for was 42, a restaurant located on the 42nd floor of the new Ritz Carlton Hotel (and condominiums) in White Plains. It was a restaurant that I had wanted to go to for a loooooong time, but always felt that it was way out of my price range to even walk into! With restaurant week, it allowed us mere mortals an opportunity to enjoy the deliciousness and awesome views this restaurant afforded. So, I made my reservation, about a month in advance.
I watched those two buildings be built. I remember watching them tear up the parking lot and drive in the pylons. I watched them get higher and higher, and finally finish a couple of years later. After watching and dealing with the construction for so long, there was this nice shiny building, I had no reason to ever be in…until tonight!
When we first walked in, I was confused. How does one get up to the restaurant? Was I even in the right building? Good thing the staff there are extremely helpful as they walked us to and directed us up the elevator to the restaurant.
The views up there, are amazing. I can honestly say, it brings the Westchester landscape into a totally different perspective. We had reservations at 6:30, and
Pinot Grigio
the timing was perfect. The sun was still up, but just starting to set, and as our meal progressed, the sun set over Westchester, and it was a beautiful site to see through the floor to ceiling windows that surrounded the entire space.
The other site to see was the food. Once we got settled into our table, they brought out the bread sticks and some whipped butter. There were two different types, a plain and one that was perfectly speckled with caraway seeds and a little sea salt.
I also ordered a glass of pinot grigio to supplement my meal once I figured out what I wanted. I ended up starting with the Salmon Tartar made with Asian pear, jalapeno, and toasted sesame oil. That was pretty darn good. Very light, and the hint of jalapeno was a very nice touch. My main was the Salmon with Lentil Salad, Honey Mustard and Pea Shoots. When I ordered the salmon, the waitress asked me how I would like it cooked. I was a little confused….no body has every asked me that before! I was starting to wonder how one orders their Salmon cooked…medium rare? Seeing my hesitation, she asked if I wanted it cooked through or leave a the middle a little pink. A little pink in the middle for sure….cooked through salmon = dry salmon, and that is not good eats. The salmon came out perfectly. It was super moist and perfectly flaky, and the skin was awesomely crispy. The honey mustard sauce was artfully smeared onto the dish, just like in Iron Chef! And it was incredible. Not too heavy on the mustard, and just sweet enough to complement the salmon well. The lentils in the lentil salad were good, they weren’t mushy which is great. The spinach part of the salad was tasty.
For dessert, I opted for the Vanilla Panna Cotta with Peach Gelee and Milk foam and a decaf cappuccino. I’ve never had Panna Cotta before, since it was another thing I’ve only ever seen on Top Chef. It was wonderful. Not too sweet, and generally very good. I would have licked the little cup if it was socially acceptable to do so.
Salmon Tartar
I also tried bits of everyone else’s meal (how could I not!). The lamb belly roulade was fatty, but in a good, totally worth the extra miles run, kind of way. The waitress actually warned us about it when my mother ordered it. The braised lamb shank which was the extra meal we got was also very good. It was tender and flavorful. My favorite part was really the polenta served with it. It was so smooth and buttery.
The Skirt steak was okay. For a skirt steak it was cooked well, but I’m not a fan of skirt steak to begin with. i also sampled some of the Chocolate Tart.Pretty good, nice deep chocolate flavor without the overpowering sweetness.
It was a very pleasant dinner I enjoyed immensely. It was not rushed, and the service was attentive, but not overbearing. We even got an extra meal because they thought they made a mistake!
The Czar says: The views alone make me want to go back for a special occasion. Although next time, during non-restaurant week times, maybe for small plates, which takes place in the area adjacent to the dining area. Set up like a lounge, you can sit, chat and nibble on some rather good looking small plates and enjoy the view without biting a large chunk out of next months rent on the meal. The other option is the bar, which also has excellent views to enjoy a drink and wind down the day. The food is amazing, and the portions were generous. Well worth that rent.
Salmon
Dinner at 42 was my first elegant and fancy restaurant that I have gone to. I believed that the service was quite nice and most of our meals came out correctly. I felt kinda out of place, but the surroundings within the restaurant made it feel quite comfortable. The nice comfortable chairs, pillows that were available for you to lean on, and the views from the 42nd floor made you feel like an emperor.
We had a 3 course meal which included a starter, the main course, and the dessert. I had an Endive which was drizzled with some lemon, had melted cheese dip thingy onthe side, and some kinda of bacon. I do not enjoy eating veggies but with a drop of lemon and cheese dip the Endive was quite delicious. The main course was Salmon. This was very good and cooked very nicely, but it was very odd when the waiter asked me “how do you like it cooked?” … medium rare?!?!? Although for the main course, we were given very strange utensils to eat with; figuring out how to use such utensils was the hard part. Finally, the dessert I had was the Chocolate Tart. If you have a sweet tooth for chocolate (brownie-ish type) then this is the one for you.
Overall, I had a great and enjoyable time. The food was great and the service was satisfactory. It truly is “different up here”!!
As we entered 42, after the one stop elevator ride to the forty-second floor, delightful hosts and windows with amazing views of the surround city and landscape greeted us. The weather was perfect with clear skies. The shades of the westward windows were down to block out the direct sunlight. At the entrance to the restaurant, there is a bar with equally nice views and a lounge area where people can just relax.
The menu was a special Restaurant Week menu, which consisted of 3 courses. For the first course I had a potato soup. It was rather creamy and delightful. Sylvia had the salmon tartar, which is salmon cooked in an acid like lemon. I believe they used lemon. I had a bite and it was tasty. Another option was the endive. I did not try that.
Between the appetizer and the main course, my family went off to take pictures by the bar. The bar also has views to the west so watch the sunset. The shades were being moved as the sun was setting. It’s a rather nice sunset with this dinner. It’s a good thing Sylvia got reservation for 6:30.
Vanilla Panna Cotta
The main courses arrived. Everyone’s meal look delicious, expect for mine. Mine hadn’t arrived yet. We waited a while and I told everyone to start eating so that it wouldn’t get cold. Eventually, a waiter came by with my braised lamb belly roulade. The waiter also informed us that because they were switching over to a different type of lamb, he would bring us a lamb shank as well. I don’t know the true reason for them doing this, but two plates of lamb for the price of one is no reason to complain. The roulade was delicious. Cooked perfectly with soft, juicy meat and a layer of fat from the belly. The lamb shank was fantastic as well. It was drier because of the lack of fat in that part of the animal, but it was cut into strips, which made it more manageable. The sauce from the plate enhanced the flavor and made want to actually lick the plate afterwards. No, I did not eat both dishes on my own. We shared the dishes so that everyone could try some lamb.
Dessert arrived and the surround town’s lights were as bright as can be. We could see, or what we assumed was, New Rochelle out in the distance. Dessert consisted of a Chocolate Tart. It was sweet with some sort of cream thing on top of it. Scattered around the plate was black salt, which was a very pleasant surprise. I enjoyed Sylvia’s Vanilla Panna Cotta more. Dinner ended with a cappuccino, which had a lovely leaf art.
42 was a very good decision to go for restaurant week. The special cost of the meal was $28. They do have a special that runs throughout the year for $42. Was it worth the reservation and the 28 dollars? Yes. It was.