Town

So sad to see it’s closed, but while it was open, definitely enjoyed the décor and atmosphere. Food was good, not great — definitely had a sexy vibe to the place.

The great part about New York City is you walk by so many cool looking restaurants and bars every day. And, if you walk around as much as I do then you find there are not enough meals for all the places you could possibly try. But, I did find a first stop at Town in the Chambers Hotel for a drink and some food at the bar.
Town is a very modern looking space: comfortable, warm and inviting. The bar is small but the multilevel dining room can accommodate small to large groups of people. The menu was interesting with a good range of styles and flavors; it should appeal to most consumers. I was just making a quick stop and had the sliders. The chef used micro romaine lettuce split with a boirsin cheese spread as the «pickle» on the plate which I thought was clever. The burgers were «status quo» not being more or less than any good slider in the city. The mixology at the bar was what I call «modern influenced» made by my lovely and friendly bartender.
An average value for your dollar, Town showed some good signs of being a very cool place with an inventive style of cuisine. I will make my way back for a full meal and I will be sure to update my review at that time.

Town is in the ultra-​hip Chambers Hotel. The layout of the restaurant is great. You walk in and suddenly find yourself on a balcony, overlooking a seating area below. I loved our seats… they put us in two, small couches, facing each other across a table… very cool.
Overall, the service was the disappointment. It is a pet peeve of mine not to be offered a drink before my order is taken. Our server walked up to our table and immediately asked us if we knew what we wanted to order. You bring me my cocktail and THEN I’ll tell you what I want to eat. This isn’t Denny’s. Tease me a little.
I went with a tasting menu and the accompanying wine flight. The food was very good. However, for a couple of courses, my food showed up several minutes before my accompanying wine made its way to me. This was annoying and just took away from the whole experience.
Foie gras, venison, shortribs. It was all fantastic. However, in a town full of great restaurants, the service really took away from the meal. If you’re going to pay that kind of money, you expect the staff to bring their A-​game. Good service would have elevated this 3-​star experience to a 5-​star experience.

Disappointing outing at Town. First of all, when you walk in, the bar area is soooo narrow. We arrived at 6:30 for a 7:30 reservation and thought we’d be able to hang out around the bar for an hour — we did, but definitely NOT comfortably. There were a group of 4 banker types + girlfriends who were totally dominating the bar and took up 5 seats (1 with their jackets). They were loud, obnoxious, wouldn’t let people through, and very obviously drunk or stoned. It was painful to watch them… particularly as one of the girls told one of the guys «a secret» and basically screamed it in his ear. Vulgar stuff! There was no way to avoid this obnoxious 4some since you must go down the narrow path along the bar to get to the hostess.
Once we were checked in and seated… we were very impressed with the décor. It’s super nicely decorated and the space is large. My description doesn’t do it justice… it’s just a really nice place. Our waitress had a great melodic voice which made us want to order everything she mentioned — we went during Restaurant Week but (as stated before) the menu is different than was advertised.
–Amuse Bouche: Meal started w/​amuse bouche of salmon with crème fraishe. It was good and unexpected — I really wanted more of that salmon!
–Appetizer: I got the leek and veggie terrine — which was basically like leek jello mold. It tasted better than it looked, not saying much though. My friend got the butternut squash raviolini and it was sooo much better than my terrine. That’s what I get for trying «something different!»
–Entrée — my friend and I both got the duck — the duck itself was done well but the endive was super aggressively bitter and the plum sauce was super aggressively sweet. I could NOT take that sweet sauce, sorry to say — I cut off pieces of the duck that were touching it and set it aside.
–Dessert: No no NooOoOoo. I got the yogurt cake thing with pistacio ice cream on top. I love yogurt and I love pistacio. This was NOT good. It was spongy, tasteless yogurt — if that even makes sense.
The kicker is that the credit card receipt that Town gives you lists your ENTIRE CREDIT CARD NUMBER on it. Having once been a victim of identity theft, I am apalled by this. I immediately ripped up my receipt but I’m still kind of nervous about something floating around with my full credit card # and signature on it. *grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
All in all, I’m very sad about my experience at Town.

A friend and I went to this restaurant last night, during restaurant week and boy were we disappointed! We were seated in the upstairs balcony right next to the kitchen door, the entire time waiters and staff were running by the table. There was a fake «wall» up by another table and the hallway and at one point the gentleman sitting by the table, touched it and it knocked the entire wall over and wine and champagne went everywhere! Unbelievable!
We decided to do the 7 course Vegetarian tasting menu — big mistake. Since it was Restaurant Week, they were very busy and focusing on the Restaurant week menu. They completely forgot about us. First, they brought out a salmon amuse buche (which is not vegetarian). Then when the 1^st course came out, the guy who brought it out had no idea what it was when we asked.
The next courses took up to 45 minutes between courses to bring out! When we asked the waiter, she gave us a lame excuse that they were really busy. We finally asked for the Manager, who was very apologetic and saw to it that the food was brought out faster.
Overall, the food was just okay. The portions were very small, even for a tasting menu. The dessert was good, which made up for a bit. But, definitely NOT high end quality.
At the end of the meal, the Manager came out and apologized profusely for the horrible service and comped our entire meal, which we were very surprised at. However, the food was not top notch and the service was very lacking.
I would not recommend this place.

So we went for Restaurant Week, but it didn’t feel like a RW outing. (Ok, aside from having to wait like 40 minutes for a table WITH a reservation because all the other RW guests were just *luxuriating* at their tables)
First off, they put the RW menu in with the rest of their full menu, so you don’t have to do that whole awkward asking for the cheap menu thing.
Also, once we ordered off the RW menu, they didn’t scowl at us or abandon our table or treat us any differently. (+1 star)
Everyone was extremely attentive and the sommelier offered to help us pick a bottle of wine, though in the end we decided to go with her exceptionally selected wine pairings for the RW menu. (+1 star)
Second, Town got me to voluntarily eat things that I would never even order. We’re talking fish, mushrooms, snails. It was all amazingly delicious. I’ve never had an amuse bouche before! (Don’t make fun, I was very excited) I got the rizotto, duck and espresso fondant. (+3 stars) Dont’ fill up on the little rolls! They’ll just keep bringing them to you.
Only bad thing i can really say is that the bathroom was a total mess, toilet paper everywhere except the dispenser. (–½ star)
Overall, an incredibly enjoyable meal. And hey, the food is small because it’s really rich and you shouldn’t be eating american-​sized portions anyway. I’m definitely going back… next RW.

The first of my four Winter 2009 Restaurant Week meals.
Went here for lunch with a friend. NOTE: The RW menu online is not what they actually served, so just keep that in mind if that’s why you made reservations here. I had the cavatelli, the monkfish, and the panna cotta, while my friend opted for the tuna sashimi, pork shoulder, and apple tartin. We both also had the fresh brioche when given a choice of bread (other options were cheddar and jalapeño or cranberry, i think).
We both really liked our appetizers, while the main courses were nothing amazing. Surprisingly, dessert was our favorite part of the meal. Normally I feel like RW desserts are kind of an afterthought, but both were really tasty (I liked the panna cotta better than the apple tartin, though). Another pro of Town were the portion sizes. Nothing was too big or too small so at the end of the meal I was full, but not grossly stuffed. I hate it when you go to RW and when dessert comes you’re too full to eat it.
The décor and service were also top notch. All in all, it was a good RW pick, but I’m hoping for more excitement in the other 3.

The space is very lovely, the food mediocre, and the service below par. We came here on New Year’s Eve to welcome the new year with friends (and celebrate the end of 2008, aka two thousand GREAT, ho ho ho). There were two prix-​fixe menus, one that was four courses and one that was six. The decision was for six courses for $ 125.
I wondered if it was already the new year by the time the waitress came to take our drink orders, we had waited so long. Our six courses consisted of oysters, hamachi, cod, butternut squash ravioli (my favorite), ribeye (i thought mine was fine but my friends complained it was too fatty), and two desserts that were unimpressive. I did enjoy my meal, but it was just not worth the price.
Our bill (for two people) came out to $ 350. Seriously? I appreciate a nice meal once in a while but for $ 350, I would have hoped we were blown away by the food and the service. Good thing I was in good company.
Two thousand nine is where I don’t spend a dime.

I went here with a whole table of friends for restaurant week, thoroughly excited for the night. I understand there’s a bit of back lash these days for restaurant week, there’s a stigma that high end restaurants get flooded with people seeking a cheap meal so that a lot of times the kitchen and staff just phone it in, waiting for the riff raff to clear out.
I left Town with just that impression. If a restaurant is going to participate in restaurant week, the staff should see it as a chance to open up their craft to a whole new audience, not as something to have to deal with while waiting for the VIP’s to return.
The food was fine, but nothing worth remembering. The service was cold and a bit snotty. I’ll keep the rating at three stars because regardless, they still are a rather tuned machine turning out wholly decent food, but nothing I experienced there would make me rush back to give them a second shot.

The floating fireplace in the entrance of the Chamber’s Hotel was the most alluring thing I’ve seen, in a very long time. Marbel, black, enormous, rowring, with three cushy-​looking black square pillows on a wrap-​around ledge on either side of the fireplace. Really enticing …
Town is a level below the entrance, and while nice and clearly «fancy,» it was a bit of a bore. The food was great but the service was slow and felt a little chaotic.
Lackluster overall.

So I would say for normal «feet on the ground» folks this is either a business lunch/​dinner place to be charged on the corporate AMEX or a special occasion restaurant.
This was my second visit to Town and I must say that its quite enjoyable. As fancy pants as the décor is there isn’t much not to love about the place. The wait people are attentive but not too intrusive. And there is no snob appeal when asking what is on half the menu which is franco-​philed, deconstructed and spat back out in some instances.
I went seafood at a business dinner the first time and everyone remarked at how well they enjoyed their meal. You really can’t screw up a piece of fish so long as you don’t play with it too much and the ingredients are ultra fresh which they are at Town.
This second time around was for an intimate bday, just my girlfriend and myself and we had the little cheese gnocchi in a lemon infused chicken broth to start all though on the menu you would never know what it was. There was a small sprinkling of micro greens on the plate and as per its description we picked the app since we thought it was a salad, lol. We were pleasantly surprised and wished that more than 10 of the little gnocchis would come in the full portion which we split as an app. In any case it devine. A testament to deconstructing food and maintaining the goodness of the ingredients in contrast to over the top flavor combos.
We moved on to the tomahawk steak (cote de boeuf, which is a massive bone in ribeye, the meat closer to the bone would be a texas beef rib if served alone) and the steak was herb infused. It was fantastic. Truffled risotto came as a side, with some root veggies and that too was also grand. If I had some grey salt on hand I would have been like a pig in mud. The wine list by the glass is reasonable and reasonable. The meal for two with a few glasses of wine was over $ 200 but it was a very nice meal we even left the place with a doggy bag as there was just too much steak to eat in one sitting. Skit the apps if you want to finish it and have room for dessert. The desserts were also really really good there although not quite up to par as eleven madison. Go for the food as opposed to the ambiance which it has plenty of. Maybe I just went on a good night but I can’t say this as the meal was great both times. This last time was on a Sunday evening and post mortgage crisis it was like a ghost town there. The cooks had their A game on though even though it was a slow Sunday. Further evidence that simple honest cooking is the best way to go.
PS almost forgot, someone complained about the rib eye. Ok first off this person must be a filet mignon eater. Which is the most overrated, lean, tasteless piece of cow on the planet. The ribeye is one of the most expensive, juiciest, flavorful cuts on the planet so what is she talking about. That extra fat is called marbling. Normal stores don’t even sell these cuts as the restaurants by them all out. Its what makes the steak so tender. Cut out the fat if you didnt like it, or better you, know your cuts of steak and don’t order a rib eye from a place like this, since you should know that its going to be highly marbled. Better you order a hangar steak from a place like Brasserie or Steak Frites, they make nice versions. Even better save yourself some money and go to an Argentinian steak joint in queens and splash some fantastic chimichurri over that hangar steak.

3.5 stars.
Made a reservation at Town for Restaurant Week after the roomies were getting on my case about not having any rest. week reservations lined up.
I scrambled, did a whirlwind menu review of places that still had reservations open. I had no idea the restaurant was linked to SATC (and honestly if I’d known I probably wouldn’t have come), but it was really quite good and showed little to no signs of the vapid pretension typically associated with that scene.
I would give Town 4 stars, but they lose ½ a star for the idiotic bartender. Here’s the story: We showed up 10 minutes early for our reservation, and the place wasn’t terribly busy. The bar was empty and the bartender was chatting with one of the waitresses. The hostess very pleasantly told us that our table would be ready in a few minutes and invited us to have a drink at the bar. But when we seated ourselves at the bar, the bartender proceeded to ignore us. We tried waving at her, we tried dropping hints in conversation («yeah, I would LOVE A DRINK RIGHT NOW») but to no avail. Then she walked right by us and left the bar. That’s right — she left the bar completely open with nobody watching (the hostess was downstairs seating a table). This lasted for about 20 minutes and we were very tempted to serve ourselves. However, sadly, we refrained.
Once we were actually seated (about 10 mins after our reservation time — fairly decent during Rest. Week), the rest of our meal went off without a hitch. Our waitress was the most professional, most adorable waitress I’ve ever seen. She was friendly, attentive and helpful, without hovering or being pushy.
My roomies ordered off the restaurant week menu, and I ordered off the regular menu. We shared everything, and everything was wonderful. I can’t remember exactly what we all had, but every dish I tasted was perfectly flavored, well executed and somewhat creative.
The drinks (which our waitress eventually ordered for us) were so-​so. The drink recipes had the potential for greatness (not Death&Co. or M&H level, but high-​class), but the bartender’s inept mixology screwed that up, resulting in layers of sweet syrup topped by lakes of seltzer or pure alcohol.
The best part though, is that Town has two tasting menus — a traditional tasting menu and a vegetarian tasting menu. This warmed my little ex-​vegan heart… for a restaurant to design a separate tasting menu for vegetarians is truly a treat, and I intend to be back for that.

Like Julie C, I also wanted to love Town. Went there last night for restaurant week, so I guess I always hold a restaurant to lower expectations when I go during restaurant week.
Despite our reservations, we had to wait 20 minutes before being seated. btw the chairs are kind of heavy and hard to pull out. and its not that i’m weak, i had just come from working my guns at the gym.
the restaurant wk menu offered 2 choices of each– app, main, dessert.
For apps– I got the squidish salad, which was quite tasty but i wasn’t sure what those kidney beans were up to. they were just kind of there. they were undercooked and added no value to salad.
For my main– lamb shank… on one side you’ve got this potato-​ish purée which was tasty. on the other side, some tangy lemon paste (which i initially thought were whipped potatoes, imagine how my tastebuds jumped in surprise). The lamb was tender, wasn’t a fan of how all the flavors came together.
For my dessert– warm chocolate tart w/​chocolate gelato/​sorbet. it was alright. a bit dry. i’ve had better.
Overall, i did not hate my experience there but wouldn’t mind going back to try the real menu or maybe just to grab some drinks. ambiance was nice w/​pretty fuchia calla lilies at the table.

We had eaten here before and sadly I had the same thing both times. However, it wasn’t for a lack of options, I just enjoyed the first dinner I wanted it a second time.
The space is excellent and very classy. As one other reviewer note that SATC was the original reason we went, the food was the reason we went back.
When reading through the menu and if you just don’t know what to get… order the organic steak with marrow, it is fantastic.
I enjoy this place as it is a see and be seen place but the food is actually very good.

I wanted to love Town. I did. But when I arrived for a business lunch and was told I was the first in my party, I decided to wait in the lobby for the other diners. Five minutes later, the hostess came to find me to say that, in fact, she had already seated the others in my party — and sorry, she made a mistake. So first star removed for making me look like I was late — when I wasn’t.
The food was fine — I had the skate and it was nicely prepared. One of my colleagues ordered the hamburger and when asked how she wanted it prepared, answered «well done.» So while I’m more of a medium rare person myself, it she wants her burger well done, she should have it that way, right? Not at Town — I could see the blood from across the table. She was too sheepish to complain — but I was annoyed that she didn’t get what she ordered.
Here, however is where Town really lost me. Late in the meal, our server approached our table and said in a low voice «who is that actress over in the corner?» which, caused us all to look over at the corner table. I’m confident that Rose McGowan (and most other celebrities) would prefer that waiters at fancy restaurants not call attention to them when they’re dining out. The waiter then tried to gossip with us about Ms. McGowan and her current romantic situation. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would have tried the same nonsense with a table full of business men as opposed to women.
All in all, very disappointing — Town belongs in the suburbs if you ask me.

Fantastic.
Not only do they have an amazing wine selection, but the food is delectable. Went here after a show off Broadway and will be going back often. It’s got a cool New York loft feel with soft lighting and great music that does everything to give it a great ambiance.
Appetizer was a tuna tartar that was fresh and had great accents of pepper and olive oil. Second course was rib eye. The rib eye was perfectly cooked, full of flavor over an amazing caramelized onion bed with the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had as a side. Desert was a Panna Sotta of ricotta cheese that had a great pistachio flavor. I definitely stand by every single one of the 5 stars I rated Town.

I will admit that Sex and the City has influenced more than one restaurant reservation in my life, and Town (period) is just one example. Though I went there for a breakfast meeting and not for a trendy dinner where I’d don my non-​existent pair of Manolo Blahniks, I was still very pleased with my Town experience.
The restaurant was all but deserted on a snowy December morning around 9am; there were only two other tables occupied while we were dining.
I cannot praise the service at Town enough — it was absolutely outstanding. I’ve hit a point in my life when service at a restaurant is often just as important as the taste of the food, so Town especially impressed me.
The food was delicious, and the serving sizes were very generous, a rarity for «fancy» breakfasts. I ordered the French Toast with Fresh Berries and finished every last bite. For me, French Toast can be tricky, as I like my bread nice and firm, and definitely not soggy with egg. This was perfect, with just the right amount of powered sugar and very fresh berries. I was disappointed that my bacon was not very crisp, though I am unusual in liking my bacon basically charred.
All in all, my Town experience was very enjoyable. I feel I can only give it four stars though because the restaurant wasn’t so much of a scene as I expected, and I didn’t really get to taste the dishes for which the restaurant is known. I would happily amend my review after eating dinner at Town.

If you have dietary restrictions make sure to communicate them in perfect clarity to your server.
I had the egg «en cocotte» as an entrée, which I chose because I wanted to see how a dish whose main focus is «an organic egg» could be worth $ 17. When ordering, I had asked what was in it, and it was not mentioned to me that there were little ham cubes. Now granted, I did not specifically ask if there was ham in it, but I was in a business lunch context and did not want to make a big deal. «It’s just a poached egg on top of shaved asparagus with pecorino cheese» led me not to expect little ham cubes.
The ham issue threw off my entire lunch because they had to make me something else, and it came when everyone else was getting dessert, but I wanted dessert too, so I asked them to box it after eating a few bites, and it was all very awkward.
The food seemed flavorful and well-​prepared as a general matter, but I didn’t try anything that blew me away. Other than the cranberry roll, which was fantastic.

Still hungry. Food is, without doubt, delicious, but I had 3 rolls with my meal and I’m still hungry!
Town serves a prix fixe menu (I think in the ~$ 70 range though I’m not sure) and you get to choose your appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Tonight I chose the tuna tartare, grilled skate wing, and the lemon crumble.
The tuna was good — chunks of very fresh tuna topped with a crispy buttery wafer. The skate was good — grilled and breaded tender meat. The lemon crumble was good — tart lemon, fresh raspberry jam, sweet lemon meringue ice cream.
But seriously, I’m a real person and I want some more food! I don’t think that I was the only one that felt this way because the bread basket was completely empty by the end of the meal.
Service was excellent — my wine and water glasses were never empty.
+4 stars for food
— 1 star for no food
= 3 stars
I’m onto my 2^nd dinner now.

So I got to see what NYC thinks is hot and trendy. I have to say, SF is just as good — if not better — and about $ 10 cheaper per entrée. NYC is home of the $ 16 cocktail
Started with the sunchoke soup. Tasty, perhaps a tad too sweet, with a fussy presentation, poured from a pitcher that spilled onto the rim of the plate. I had the pork chop, delicious and a huge portion. My friend stepped out to smoke, and instead of holding back his entrée in the kitchen, the staff put a metal lid on it. Which seemed strange to me — this isn’t room service.