With a name like Butter it has to be good.
And Butter lived up to the name.
Walking down Lafayette in Manhattan with cold winds whipping at our faces we were frantically looking for the restaurant. We knew the address was 415 and yet we found ourselves passing numbers 410-420 with no 415 in sight. We felt as though we were losing our minds. “For the love of God where is this place!?” I managed to say as my lips instantly became chapped. Then all of the sudden I peered through glass doors and saw some barely readable letters on the door: Butter.
We opened the door and were greeted by the coat check lady. Upon giving her our coats we opened another set of glass doors and walked down the long hallway to the two hostesses. Apparently at 7 o’clock on Monday night reservations are not exactly necessary. Or maybe the empty seats were due to the Arctic weather. Or maybe it’s the fact that New Yorkers eat after nine. I’ll go with the latter.
After having some cheddar biscuits with herb butter we ordered some drinks and the special appetizer. My drink was champagne with concord grape syrup and lemon. Simple, light and delicious. Our appetizer was a wood-fired pizza with ricotta and mozzarella cheese topped with oven-dried tomatoes and artichokes. The tomatoes were the stand out with tons of flavor in every bite. Since the pizza was not on the menu my friends and I tried to guess the price. “Oh, no more than $20,” I said confidently. Oh, it was $25.
Obviously I was not thinking about pinching pennies and I went ahead and ordered the filet of beef for my entree. Topped with cremini mushrooms, I ordered it medium. How pink will the beef come out I asked my waiter. “Pretty pink,” he said. He was wrong. There was absolutely no pink and instead the meat looked well done. Luckily there was enough flavor with the demi glace, mushroom and baby onions to make me forget about what the culinary definition of medium is.
I know the picture does not make it look the most appetizing. It also came with a side of black beluga lentils. I had no idea what they were when I was eating them and when I pulled up the menu online my meal was nowhere in sight. So, instead I e-mailed the chef. The famous chef quickly e-mailed me back to inform me that those lentils are usually served with beef. They had the texture of beans but the appearance of couscous.
For dessert I ordered the raspberry beignets served with a dish of vanilla sauce.
Topped with sugar, these mini donuts were filled with a delicious raspberry jam that oozed out the second I split it with my fork. I was surprised at the large portion. For a fancy restaurant in New York I would have expected one beignet.
Even more surprising was the candle Butter stuck in my friends tort for her 22nd birthday. We had to wait about a minute for the gigantic flame to burn out.
For such an elite restaurant (Beyonce and Prince dine here all the time) the customer service was amazing even for three college girls. From the second we walked through those invisible doors to my e-mail to the chef, Alexandra Guarnaschelli (you can find her on the Food Network!), I always felt appreciated. And if you go here you’ll definitely appreciate the food.
MEALticulous 