Seasonal

132 W58th St

Walk down W58th Street, and you might miss the brand new, quaint, quiet, and overbooked modern Austrian restaurant calling itself Seasonal. Upon entering, you'll be greeted by two smiling women speaking to one another in German and translating to English only to announce a two-hour wait. But pull up a stool at the bar, and Glenn (the bartender) will take good care of you. Throughout the night, Glenn offered up free tastings of this and that.
The wine list focuses on Austrian wines, with many Gruner Vetliner's as well as some rarer bottles. We ordered a bottle of Gruner recommended by Glenn, because it is the favorite of Wolfgang Ban and Eduard Frauneder - Seäsonal's talented chefs and owners.

The menu (which has changed since it was posted on their website) is compact but filled with wonderful Austrian and German inspired delicacies. I shared the FRÜHLINGSSALAT with my date - an arugala and microcress salad with grilled asparagus, a perfectly poached egg, and a great lemon dressing. Another grazer-worthy appetizer was the LACHS UND HEILBUTT - similar to a salmon and halibut carpaccio served with a quail egg and a sweet cream sauce.

Next, I had the halibut, which came out crispy on top and flaky in the middle. It was served with pearl onions (which were roasted until caramelized and sweet), sauteed romaine, and more smoky mushrooms. In fact, overall the dish had a distinctly smoky flavor, which I found unique and delicious.

The decor - black, white, and gray - manages to be simple, luxurious, warm and inviting. Beautiful fresh flowers are displayed at the rounded bar, which is both social and intimate. Comparisons to Wallse (down in the West Village) are obvious, but Seäsonal manages to pull together an identity of its own. This restaurant - for its wonderful food as well as its staff - is not to be missed.

- The Grazer

Bar Boulud

1900 Broadway

With the recent addition to his empire, Daniel Boulud - knowingly or not - has opened a place for grazing. With Bar Boulud, Chef Boulud has followed the NY culinary trend. Gone are the white tablecloths and the idea that you have to order three, sequenced courses. Instead, you can graze on patés, terrines, cheese and vegetable plates, or salads. If you do want an entrée, there are plenty of lighter fish entrees to choose from: an artic char, a striped bass, a skate and a sea bass.

To start, I actually went for the "Lapin De La Garrigue" - pulled rabbit, carrot and zucchini paté. Given that paté is made from minced meat and added fat, I was worried I might get something a bit more gamey, but instead it was deliciously tender and light and still very tasty. I also had the Mesclun Provencal: a huge portion of greens, fennel, radishes, olives, roasted grape tomatoes, crispy artichoke pieces and little bits of white anchoives. The anchoives were a bit too salty for me and I found myself picking around them, but overall a satisfactory bowl of greenery.

Next I had the striped bass with braised greens, butternut squash and roasted chestnuts. The portion was small - in the traditional French way - but not too small. I actually couldn't even finish it. The fish was good but unmemorable. The best things on the plate were the sides. The braised greens were delicious, as were the two small chunks of butternut squash, which sat on a pretty orange butternut squash puree. Perhaps strangely, the best thing on the table were my roasted chestnuts; they were really rich and full of flavor. If you don't want the striped bass, I recommend ordering a side of the chestnuts or you'll have missed out.

The service was impeccable, but not pretentious (like it can be at Boulud's Upper East Side haunts). We were seated promptly - actually before our reservation - and the waitress came over right away. Not one, but two Sommeliers took care of us, matching our preference for an aromatic white wine ("not too sweet") perfectly, and later, recommending a light dessert wine to pair with our "Diva" (raspberry and pistachio) gelato.

If I were to be picky (hey, I'm The Grazer), I'd say my one problem with the place is the design. I found it stark. It looks to me like the kind of place you go to for a business lunch. Perhaps Boulud still has a touch too much of the Upper East Side in him for the new central West Side location.

- The Grazer