Now I'm not going to lie I was a bit skeptical of the restaurant, actually make that scared. I knew it was known to be a great restaurant it had hundreds of positive reviews, but there were some items on the menu I was quite unsure of, things like sea urchin or bone marrow in dishes, which didn't sound like things Mike or I would ever order on a menu, but we went into it with an open mind as it did come highly recommended by one of his teammates (that selected the restaurant for us).
The restaurant is located right across the street from Central Park in Columbus Circle. The service from the moment we arrived was impeccable. I had several questions about items on the menu and our server explained them in exception detail, and were suddenly feeling much more at ease and comfortable with the menu.
Before our meals arrived we were served a cold soup shooter (I wish I could remember what it was but it was tasty). Even the bread was good, fresh homemade sour dough bread. Mike order the four course Prix Fixe for dinner, I ordered mine separately. For our first course I had zeppole - seaweed, shrimp and chickpea fritters. It didn't say what kind of sauce they were served with but it went well. The seaweed wasn't an overwhelming taste either. Mike had some kind of lobster dish that he said was very good too.
Don't mind the terrible pictures, they're from my phone and with no flash, Mike was embarrassed of me even attempting to take pictures
After that we moved onto our pasta dishes, homemade pasta that is and you could tell. Mine was in a red sauce and had delicious shrimp in it. But Mike's was even more incredible, I did manage to get him to give me a bite. They were homemade ricotta ravioli's in a pesto sauce - outrageous!
For our main courses I ordered a wild stripped bass. I'd never had stripped bass before and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but boy was this delicious and cooked to perfection. The first was mild and flaky, and pan sauteed so it had a nice little crisp to it. It was served with roasted cauliflower which was also equally incredible, the best cauliflower I've ever had and it had a few small potatoes that were great too. Mike had a 50 day aged steak that he said was also very good.
The dessert was also no exception to the caliber of the meal. I had this delicious apple tart but Mike's was to die for. He almost didn't order it but the waiter said it was really good and he wasn't lying. They were small donuts but the most amazing donuts ever and served with espresso gelato. I have to say this place did not disappoint. The service was impeccable and the food was even better. Of course this is not somewhere you would go on a regular basis since it was quite pricey but well worth the splurge for a nice anniversary. 
After we gorged ourselves on our delicious meal we headed over to the theater district for our play. We we had tickets to see Anything Goes featuring Sutton Foster. Now anyone that knows me or my Mom knows that I am a theater buff (no thanks to my Mom). I now know the leading Broadway stars and Sutton Foster is one of them. We had seen her a few years earlier in Thoroughly Modern Millie and she was fantastic! I couldn't wait to go see her in Anything Goes.
No thanks to to the Occupy Wall Street protests which had conveniently moved into Times Square that night we barely made it to the theater on time. We sat down in our seats at like 8:01 pm just a minute before the show was due to start. Well I go to open my play bill and what's in there a sheet that says the role Sutton Foster normally plays would be an understudy today, I was so upset!!!! Mike just rolled his eyes at me over this. But we stayed we were all dressed up and there wasn't even much time to get out even if we wanted to get our money back (which you can do) so we stayed.
I knew as soon as the understudy sang her first song she was not as good as Sutton Foster. She was certainly good and qualified and I'm sure probably 90% of the audience probably didn't even know who Sutton Foster was but I did and it was a disappointment. I tried to explain to Mike there was a difference, Sutton Foster won the Tony Award for her role in this show (and countless other nominations and awards in this and other shows), the understudy did not, clearly there was a reason for this. While the show was still outstanding, we both really enjoyed it but I know it could have been even better.
After dinner I had hoped to go out for a drink. Mike's teammate had recommended some nice places for us to go but Mike wanted to head back home but I will def keep them on my list for hopefully the next time. He had recommended to us:
- Ink48 Hotel, rooftop bar on the west side with great views
- Peninsula Hotel
- King Cole Bar, at the St. Regis Hotel
- Flatiron Lounge, a very cool, small but cozy cocktail lounge in the Flatiron area
- 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar also in the Chelsea area
Even though Sutton Foster wasn't in the show and we didn't get to go out for a drink after it was still an amazing date and we had such a wonderful time. Dinner was one of the best we'd ever had and it was a great way to start our anniversary celebrations. I couldn't imagine a better date with my wonderful Husband!
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