REVIEW: Landmarc Restaurant (New York)

Friday night we had dinner at a very nice restaurant in the TriBeCa section of New York City called Landmarc (179 W. Broadway, New York, NY 10013). Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery so I have no pictures to show you. The decor was urban industrial chic, with lots of subdued metallic hues. The food was outstanding. The clientele included a fair number of young children and well-dressed New Yorkers (sequined blouse for dinner? Oh...puhleeze!) on a very cold evening. Amusingly, seated next to us were two "attractively grunge-y" guys who we thought might be gay eating with two young children (under 5 years old). One of the people we were having dinner with said "Two straight guys having dinner with kids in this neighborhood? They must be gay." It turned out that the mystery diners were Ed Burns (star of Saving Private Ryan and more recently HBO's Entourage and husband of ex-supermodel Christy Turlington) and Chris Martin (lead singer of Coldplay and husband of Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow) with their kids Grace (Burns) and Apple (Martin).

For dinner we ordered a 2002 Bodegas Nieto Senetiner Malbec Cadus ($45) and appetizers were fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce ($10) and grilled octopus with potatoes, tomatoes, chrorizo and vinaigrette ($10). Our entrees were two specials: Australian lamb chops on watercress ($33) and venison stew over vegetable risotto ($30). We had intended on having the steak tartare with grilled country bread and field greens ($24) and the grilled pork chop with sauteed spinach, caramelized onions and apples ($26) but the attractive server immediately convinced us to switch with her confident recitation of the specials (without the prices attached, which we only discovered when the bill arrived). Everything was excellent, starting with the fresh country bread with butter with a salted crust on top. Both appetizers were generously sized and absolutely delicious. The lamb was extremely flavourful, simply seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and served medium rare. The venison stew was also tasty, with medium rare chunks of meat swimming in a hearty gravy accented by small pieces of interesting vegetables.

Dessert consisted of a number of miniatures: creme brulee, nutella eclair, lemon tart and chocolate mousse ($3, each). The best of the lot were the creme brulee (creamy, with strong natural vanilla flavor) and the lemon tart (intense citrus zest).

I definitely intend to return to Landmarc again, next time with my camera, when I am in New York. In fact, apparently Chef/Owner Marc Murphy intends to open a second, much larger (10, 500 sq. ft.) version of Landmarc in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Spring 2007. I hope to visit it soon afterwards.

GRADE: A.