Ah, Sardi's. That classic NY haunt, known for its antipasti meat platters and steaks. Not a typical choice for a grazer but sometimes we get dragged somewhere and we just have to make do. I recently had a pre-theater lunch at Sardi's and I was very much impressed. The service was fast, but not rushed and the servers were conversational but unobtrusive. The lunch menu actually offered more grazer-esque food then I had expected: a few salads, a vegetarian soup and even a tofu and steamed vegetable entrée.
I ordered the seafood cobb: shrimps, crabmeat, avocado, roasted peppers, hearts of palm, corn and cherry tomatoes. Strangely, each ingredient was placed separately on the plate, so that I had to mix it all together myself. I also had to mix in the dressing, which came on the side (while I'm a big fan of salads, I happen to like when the dressing comes right on the salad because the chef always gets it more evenly tossed than I ever do). Still, especially on a hot summer day, it was lovely to bite into one cooling ingredient after the next.While the scenery has never changed - cartoons of actors still cover the walls - Sardi's was not the pretentious old-NY steakhouse I had purposefully avoided. Rather, it was a nice mix of the old-NY pre-theater buzz with a new-New York menu of light bites. If you find yourself in the theater district looking to do lunch and a show, I think Sardi's is a good choice. Even for a grazer.
- The Grazer
