Petrosian

Housed in ALWYN COURT, one of the most beautiful landmark buildings in New York City, and just around the corner from Carnegie Hall and a short block’s walk from the entrance to Central Park, is a renowned restaurant with the best kept brunch secret in the City. For a mere $28 one can choose from a wide variety of appetizers, entrée’s and deserts that quite frankly could boggle even the most sophisticated palate. Well, have you guessed the restaurant? Of course, it’s the fabled Petrossian.

Petrossian made his name introducing Russian caviar to France and the rest of the world back in the roaring 20’s. In sync with the era of their entry on the world scene, this famous restaurant’s décor, designed in the art deco style by Ion Oroveanu, is replete with Lalique crystal wall sconces and a magnificent crystal beaded serpentine Lanvin ceiling chandelier. Bronze sculptures from the 1930’s decorate pedestals in the window niches and are scattered throughout the restaurant, while the rooms main feature, a curved bar backed by glorious mirrors with etched Erté female figures, looks out over the tastefully appointed room. The seating is comfortable and the tables discretely separated with sufficient leg room for even the tallest diner.

Brunch for me and my companion was selected entirely from the prix fix brunch offerings with one notable exception. We simply could not resist the Petrossian Teasers from the ala carte menu ($27) with exquisite tidbits of foie gras, smoked salmon, and caviar canapé. We savored each succulent morsel and agreed that Petrossian’s reputation was not only richly deserved but perhaps underrated.

Our brunch selections began with the Cured & Marinated Herring Sampler and the Salmon Roe Blinis with Crème Fraiche. The three herring filets - marinated in cream dill sauce, traditional pickled, and pink Madeira sauce – and garnished with springs of dill, were tender, silken, and extremely flavorful and accompanied by tiny sweet gherkins; a perfect compliment to the robust herring taste. To this reporter’s palate, the herring fillets were a superior choice to the salmon roe on blinis. The blinis were slightly doughy and just a bit thick but the goodly portion of salmon roe was of exceptional quality, firm and full, bursting with flavor. Other offerings on the Appetizer menu that did not contain processed fish were plentiful such as Poached Pear & Maytag Blue Cheese Salad in a Balsamic Vinaigrette; Borscht With Crème Fraiche & Pirojkis (see recipe in Cook’s Corner); Ricotta Blintzes With Berries & Crème Fraiche; Asparagus & Proscutto Salad With Parmesan Reggiano and more. So if you are one that likes smoked fish but in small quantities, there are choices galore. And for you smoked fish and caviar lovers, the ala carte menu includes samplers as well as servings by grams of all caviar offerings according to taste and pocketbook.

Before moving on to the entrees, mention should be made of the old-world flavor of the service. The staff was professional, knowledgeable, polite and anxious to please but while the restaurant was full and bustling, there was no waiting line so the service while not rushed, seemed a trifle too efficient. More time between courses would have been appreciated to allow one to fully savor each delectable treat with sufficient time to digest and even anticipate the next course. But once the meal was served and the table cleared there was no pressure to vacate the table and we lingered over coffee and conversation. Each menu offering was served with European style cutlery specifically designated and sized for a particular menu item, with a fish fork as required, a flattened desert spoon as necessary and of course a gold plated caviar paddle; and presented in dishes designed to maximize eye appeal. In the case of the herring sampler, the serving dish was a 4 sectioned glass flat with each herring filet snug in its own compartment with one left over to house the gherkins.

My entrée selection was the Smoked Fish Cobb Salad while my companion selected the Sturgeon Burger with Zucchini Fries and Caviar Crème Fraiche. The salad was an extraordinary presentation of rows of diced white, classic smoked, Black Sea spiced, and dill marinated salmon, each in its own row and separated by rows of diced tomatoes, blue cheese, quartered egg, diced avocado and crisp (and I do mean crisp) bacon, over a bed of field greens delicately drizzled with a light dressing so that each flavor stood on its own and yet melded well with the others… the plate looked as good as it tasted. The burger was a misnomer as the sandwich consisted of a filet of sturgeon over a large ripe tomato on a bun accompanied by a pot of the caviar crème fraiche dressing and deep fried zucchini slices that were crisp on the outside and softly silken on the inside.

The dessert menu was somewhat limited compared to the large appetizer and entrée selections but I selected a Chilled Coconut Cappuccino with Coconut Daquoise & Kahlua that was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate, providing you like coconut. The drink/desert was served in a large glass and was a light and satisfying alternative to sorbet after a filling meal. My companion opted for an Apple – Cranberry Strudel with Cranberry Rum Ice Cream & Green Apple Salad that was a knockout. The strudel was one of the plumpest and most flavorful I have ever tasted and the accompanying ice cream over the shredded apple salad was a masterful stroke of flavors and textures. This is a paring worthy of a master chef, which brings us to the matter of Michael Lipp, Petrossian’s Executive Chef. Michael is a young, talented and enthusiastic chef dedicated to promoting healthy and ecologically conscious cuisine. Hats off to him for his innovative and creative recipes which are artistically presented and delicious to eat. All in all a most memorable way to spend a Sunday enjoying a special meal in a gorgeous environment with family and/or friends… and close enough to Central Park to walk off the extra strudel pounds.

By Barbara Penny Angelakis

I would like to introduce our readers to a new American vodka called Blue Ice Vodka, crafted by Master Distiller, William Scott, at the Silver Creek Distillery in Rigby, Idaho. For bottle collectors, the bottle is a really nice design, a pretty blue with an embossed ice flow design on the back of the bottle. For vodka connoisseurs, this very smooth vodka is made in the United States in the traditional manner using potatoes, from Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes and glacial pure water. Blue Ice Vodka is made in small batch productions, and has a five-stage filtration process, and a four-column fractional distillation, and is also all natural and is additive free. This vodka is also gluten-free, which I never much paid much attention to previously, until my friend, Hal, developed a gluten allergy, and no longer could drink his preferred beverage. Hal, Blue Ice Vodka could become your new beverage of choice, since only 1 percent of all vodkas are made from potatoes.

I first tried Blue Ice Vodka at Vodka Fest held in New York on October 27, 2003, where I had the opportunity to sample vodkas from some of the major and some newer distilleries. I was so impressed by Blue Ice Vodka that I wanted to try it again at my home. At a recent gathering of our usual crowd of friends, my husband and I decided to see what our group thought of this new vodka. This special group of friends: Annette and Neal, Penney and Bill, and Randi and Roger, like Ed and I, belong to a Gourmet Club, where we not only create gourmet meals, but also enjoy experiencing excellent wines and spirits, so we thought that this would be a good tasting group. I first had our guests sample Blue Ice Vodka neat, then made up a batch of Cosmopolitans for them to experience. The group consensus was that the vodka was very smooth, clean, and had a very good taste. The group consensus of the Cosmopolitans, were, well, I had to keep making up new batches all night, shaken of course, not stirred, if that gives you any indication. Whether you prefer your vodka neat, chilled, or blended into a martini, I think that this vodka holds its own against other luxury-quality vodkas. It has certainly earned a place of honor on my drinks table.

By Debra C. Argen