Seasonal

For mid town I really like Seasonal Restaurant and Wine Bar. The food just works for me. I realize Austrian ain't exactly fashionable and I went there originally because they had schnitzel (which my SO needs like medicine on a regular basis) but I really love their food and their wine and their truly seasonal menu. We almost always stay at the same hotel (and the alternative is less than a block...+READ For mid town I really like Seasonal Restaurant and Wine Bar. The food just works for me. I realize Austrian ain't exactly fashionable and I went there originally because they had schnitzel (which my SO needs like medicine on a regular basis) but I really love their food and their wine and their truly seasonal menu. We almost always stay at the same hotel (and the alternative is less than a block away) so I always eat at the Modern which is within spitting distance. I love the Bar menu eating the most because I am usually on my own and spending time at the museum but have also enjoyed the more refined restaurant menu on evenings with my SO.

I don't like restrained flavors but when dining in NYC my priorities are great food, within walking distance of our hotel that we can get to quickly after my SO works a hard day. I tend to eat lunches, at least, in other parts of Manhattan where I can travel by subways or cab but when we are at 50th and 5th those restaurants are always good places to eat. There are lots of other places but we keep going back to these.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (10 Replies) (by KateBChi, created February 1, 2012)

For what it's worth, the Angelo's on 57th is very near to Seasonal, one of my favorite spots for a nice lunch. they offer a $27 three course meal that could well be worth trying. i don't know every place that you mentioned, but i don't see any "fine dining" places listed. Seasonal could fill that void without breaking the bank. it's also not too formal that you'd feel out of place in nice jeans...+READ For what it's worth, the Angelo's on 57th is very near to Seasonal, one of my favorite spots for a nice lunch. they offer a $27 three course meal that could well be worth trying. i don't know every place that you mentioned, but i don't see any "fine dining" places listed. Seasonal could fill that void without breaking the bank. it's also not too formal that you'd feel out of place in nice jeans and a shirt.

Angelo's is really just ok, in my opinion. i prefer Mariella's on 57th and 8th Ave.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (16 Replies) (by coasts, created December 10, 2011)

»Oh My...

Simply terrific. Innovative, creative and really on-point! These guys can seriously cook. I love reinterpretations of classic dishes. Go here and see for yourself. The extensive (and sure, occaasionally expensive) wine list will please you. Or a simply excellent pull of beer to compliment the oh-so-fresh food. One of my fav's. (by wesloveswine, created August 11, 2010)

»Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar Review + Photos

Photos can be seen here: http://www.donuts4dinner.com/2010/07/07/seasonal-austrianamerican-new-midtown-west/

When my boyfriend suggested Seasonal because it was awarded a Michelin star this year, I pictured a lively Austrian pub type place with comforting foods like bratwurst and sauerkraut and girls named Brunhilda serving them. What I got was a sleek formal dining room with an inventive menu...+READ Photos can be seen here: http://www.donuts4dinner.com/2010/07/07/seasonal-austrianamerican-new-midtown-west/

When my boyfriend suggested Seasonal because it was awarded a Michelin star this year, I pictured a lively Austrian pub type place with comforting foods like bratwurst and sauerkraut and girls named Brunhilda serving them. What I got was a sleek formal dining room with an inventive menu that put me in the mind of wd-50 or Degustation.

This is one of those unfortunate cases where I had the dinner a couple of months ago and was so overwhelmed by the idea of writing about all of the awesomeness I experienced, so pardon my slim review and (hopefully) enjoy the photos.

The tasting menu:

• octopus amuse bouche

I basically love anything with one of these green purees. They always taste so refreshing, and they make me think I’m eating something more exciting than leafy vegetables. I’d be so healthy if my life involved more green purees.

• salmon with some sort of awesome powder stuff and the BEST, most flavorful microgreens

• white asparagus soup, rock shrimp, morcilla, spring onion

I’ve had an interest in white asparagus since Leah said on season 5 of “Top Chef” that it’s her least-favourite ingredient (because, you know, she’s my least-favourite “Top Chef” contestant). Besides tasting fresh and springy, it also has the dubious honor of being the vegetable most resembling a penis. Win-win!

• sweetbread, celery root, onion

• soft poached egg, lobster, maitake, porcini

This might be the dish that really brings me around to mushrooms. I can handle mushroom flavor but hate the look of the things, so putting them in a foam is genius. And hiding the other kind of mushroom underneath that foam is über-genius. I think this may have been my favourite dish of the night because it was difficult and yet delicious.

• trout, goat cheese, pumpkin seed, radish

• wagyu, parsley root, black garlic, cipollini, lime

I still think about this dish once a day. There is no reason that lime flavor and steak go together, and the fact that they not only go together but bring out all of the best flavors in each other is mindboggling.

We ended with a couple of desserts that I seriously can't even describe even after trying to jog my memory with the photos, so they must not have been that memorable. Still, it was a wonderful experience.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (by plumpdumpling, created July 7, 2010)

»Seäsonal Weinbar & Restaurant

An excerpt from my blog post about Seäsonal Weinbar & Restaurant. You'll find the photos and more at the ulterior epicure. http://ulteriorepicure.com/2010/05/20/review-umlaut/

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You’ll find a lot of usual suspects on their menu, embellished for a more modern audience and a more refined setting.

There’s a steaming bowl of “Spätzle,” for example, stringy with...+READ An excerpt from my blog post about Seäsonal Weinbar & Restaurant. You'll find the photos and more at the ulterior epicure. http://ulteriorepicure.com/2010/05/20/review-umlaut/

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You’ll find a lot of usual suspects on their menu, embellished for a more modern audience and a more refined setting.

There’s a steaming bowl of “Spätzle,” for example, stringy with Berg Käse and painted beautiful shades of pastel with vegetables ($23). Tender pieces of wild mushrooms were threaded throughout. Comforting on a cold, rainy night, as it was, this was one of the better dishes of the night.

So was the “Kaiserschmarrn,” a wrinkled mass of fluffy pancake served with a side of strawberry-rhubarb compote ($10). It was buttery, eggy, and warm. It was great.

And the “Wiener Schnitzel” here is outstanding, two tender escalopes of veal puffy with a golden crust ($28). Softened with a dollop of lingonberry jam, or cut with a tangy, creamy cucumber and dill slaw, it was my favorite dish of the night, notwithstanding the cold scalloped potatoes underfoot.

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Actually, everything we ordered was delicious. And, except for the minor temperature issues I’ve mentioned, everything was cooked precisely.

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But I thought quite a few dishes were over-embellished.

My “Tafelspitz,” for example, was excellent, if not downright Saturnalian. It was practically a buffet, with side dishes orbiting about in excess. [Tip: order this dish and you'll get to sample half of the "Side Dishes" on the menu, each listed at $7.]

But, as scatter-minded and over-the-top as it all was, each member of the collection was great.

The two, thick slices of boiled chuck were impossibly tender, veined with melting collagen, and soaking in a rich and flavorful oxtail broth. The vegetables were sturdy and fresh. And the rösti were crisp and light, accompanied by horseradish cream and applesauce.

Now, I pause on the creamed spinach, another rider to the tafelspitz. This spinach wasn’t just creamed, it was pureed. What was I to do with the soupy stuff? The beef had plenty of flavor from the oxtail broth. I hardly needed a sauce, much less add more fat to the already rich dish.

I’d rather have had a big bowl of freshly shaved horseradish, sharp and pointed, which I consider di rigueur in tafelspitz eating. I missed it.

Some of the dishes were delicious, but odd.

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They ran out of apfelstrudel too. That was disappointing, if not slightly surprising for a half-empty Austro-Germanic restaurant on a Sunday night.

But even more surprising is the fact that they don’t make their apfelstrudel in-house. They purchase it from an outside source. This was especially troubling news if you know that the apfelstrudel here doesn’t seem like the type of thing a Michelin-starred restaurant could (or should?) order from another source. Our server’s honesty about it all was at once slightly shocking and refreshing.

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I worry about Seäsonal.

I liked my experience. But I don't know that I liked it enough to go out of my way to visit that part of Midtown for dinner without another reason. Tucked away on an unremarkable street, it's an incredible boon to concert-goers (say, at Carnegie Hall) looking for an upmarket bite early or late.

It seems to struggle for a wider audience.

I would, however, return to sit at Seäsonal's bar just to listen to their play list. If you're between the ages of 30 and 34 (as we four all were), and you're prone to episodes of nostalgia, you might just get lost in the incredibly age-specific melodies piped into the dining room.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (5 Replies) (by ulterior epicure, created May 21, 2010)