The husband and I had date night this past Saturday night. We decided to have dinner Landmarc in TriBeCa, one of my favorite family-friendly neighborhoods in NYC. The husband had eaten there before and described how delicious some of their dishes were-- some of which I hadn't enjoyed since our last trip to Paris in 2010! So, I was pretty stoked to enjoy my adult-evening out where I could sip on wine and enjoy a gastronomical adventure. To my pleasant surprise, the place turned out to be incredibly child-friendly, already serving a handful of families with (very well-behaved) small children by the time we arrived.
Husband says: Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that the chef has children of his own, so he's made it a point to make the restaurant child-friendly and even has a special children's menu that offers quality and healthy food choices for children.
Um, what? That is awesome. What a difference this place was from last week's restaurant adventure (read about it on last week's blog post here).
So, I decided to do my own brief restaurant review on this child-(and date-night)-friendly joint for this week's post. Enjoy!
179 West Broadway, NYC (TriBeCa)
Background:
Opened in 2004 by head Chef Marc Murphy, Landmarc is a French-bistro-inspired restaurant with 2 locations-- TriBeCa and at the Time Warner Center.
Ambience:
With exposed brick walls, tasteful garden lights (yes, it can be done tastefully!), a few steel ducts, and iron rods shooting up all the way to the 2nd floor, this place has a warm and rustic charm with homage to its industrial-feel neighborhood. It's a pretty adult-ambience for a restaurant that's so child-friendly. We had dinner at around 6:30pm, which I guess is relatively early for New Yorkers. We sat on the 2nd floor-- it was quiet and laid-back (even with families and children present) where the husband and I could enjoy a conversation and the view of West Broadway.
Service:
Excellent and friendly service. They don't sell wine by the glass-- only by half bottles, but you can get sparkling wine by split bottle.
Food:
So solid. We ordered the following:
- Roasted Marrow Bones with onion marmalade & grilled country bread: I liked how they served the sea salt on the side so you can season your own marrow. I can also eat their onion marmalade by the spoonfuls.
- Red & Yellow Beets with arugula, walnuts & goat cheese: Classic, clean and super-creamy goat cheese.
- Caramelized Sweetbreads with pea puree, fava beans & leeks: The caramelization on the sweetbreads actually made it taste...sweet! (Sweetbreads: thymus gland of a calf/lamb/pig and nothing to do with "sweet" nor "bread"). The vibrant, green pea/fave bean/leek puree was one of my favorite parts of the meal-- complimented the sweet-sweetbreads so perfectly.
- Steak Tartare with field greens & grilled country bread: Perfect blend of dijon, capers, and onion bursting with every bite!
The children's menu conveniently comes with a a cartoony-Chef Marc on the back for kids to color in. It has all of the usuals: pizza, chicken fingers, burger, mac and cheese, fish sticks, etc. So what, big deal, right? They offer a special children's menu with items that are in accordance with MyPlate, the USDA's new dietary guidelines to help guests make better food choices for their children. These items are $12 each and are all served with sliced apples & bananas:
- Green Eggs & Ham with spinach & basil pesto and cheesey whole wheat toast
- Lemon & Herb Roasted Chicken Legs with steamed broccoli, brown rice & yogurt dipping sauce
- Whole Wheat Quesadilla with chicken, cheese & vegetables
- Sliced Skirt Steak with steamed broccoli & cheesey brown rice
Can't wait to take Logan here when he's a bit older! Yeah, I'll order him a MyPlate-friendly entree, but I also can't wait to introduce him to delicious caramelized thymus glands, creamy duck liver and gelatinous bone marrow, mmmm! What kid wouldn't want that?? ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment