Winter Restaurant Week 2017 - lunch #3

I'm a bit behind on the blogging, sorry.  I had to go out of town for a work event, and was swamped before I left, so I didn't have to time to blog before this.  I'll try to catch up with things over the next few days (I also saw a couple of shows recently and had two wonderful meals in D.C.)...

I happily squeezed in one more Restaurant Week lunch before heading out of town and I happily combined it with a happy birthday lunch for a handsome work pal.  Lots of happiness abounded.  I wanted to make sure the place I chose would make my handsome work pal happy, so I went with the old tried and true steakhouse.  But I chose a new, upscale steakhouse, to satisfy us both.

from Charlie Palmer Steak's website

After going to Aureole last year, I've been on the email list of all of Charlie Palmer's restaurants. He opened a new one, Charlie Palmer Steak, a while ago, but they just moved to the Archer Hotel on 38th Street two weeks ago.  I thought it would be a good choice for a birthday lunch. Our booth was rather close to the entrance, and in a corner; I did wish we were a little further inside because I couldn't really get a good look at the interior decor from where we were seated, but when I poked my head around the wall, everything looked modern and sleek, with strong navy colors and mirrors.  I would see a little bit of the exposed kitchen later...

Our server was a charming fellow and gave us a rundown of the dishes.  For the first course, I chose the braised short rib with a red wine reduction and parmigiano-reggiano cheese.  They make the pasta in-house and it is DELICIOUS! The pasta was dense and chewy, in a good way, and the short rib filling was so tender and meaty, it was terrific.  I also loved the deep flavor in the red wine reduction - it clearly had been reduced for quite a while because it was quite thick and potent.  It was a wonderful first course and I even had enough to share.

For my entree, I had a hard time choosing between the chicken and the fish, because both dishes sounded incredible, but our server told me the chicken is one of Chef Palmer's specialties, so I chose that.  I also was quite keen to try the polenta side dish.  So the dish is called truffled chicken, and it was served on top of the creamy polenta, with a mushroom fricassee, and surrounded by chicken jus.  Oh good golly, it was delicious.  The chicken was prepared first via sous vide (cooked in a water vacuum thing that always looks cool on Top Chef), and then sauteed to get deliciously crispy skin on top.  The chicken underneath that crispy skin was so tender and juicy, it was great.  I didn't get a lot of truffle flavor, which was ok by me.  A little truffle goes a long way.  The polenta was so rich and creamy, with maybe a hint of cheese?  SO yummy and contrasted beautifully with the chicken.  The mushroom fricassee was a terrific contrast as well.  It had a very dark, rich, meaty quality, and just a tad crispy, to offset the soft polenta.  This was really a great dish and I can see why it's one of Chef Palmer's signature dishes.

The server came out to chat with us during the main course and I mentioned it was my handsome work pal's birthday, because, hey, you never know.  Our server also mumbled something about the chef being in the kitchen today and everyone was on their best behavior.  I said, 'hello, wait, did you say CHEF PALMER IS IN THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW?!?!' I admit it, I go fangirl crazy over great chefs.  So our server pretended to give me a tour of the dining room, said 'look at how nice our kitchen is and...oh, wow, is that the chef? Hey, meet the chef!'  Chef Palmer was very nice, shook my hand, asked me about my meal and other restaurants where I've enjoyed Restaurant Week.  I don't think I acted too crazy, but who knows?  It was a real treat, though, at least for me.  My handsome work pal was maybe the tiniest bit embarrassed.  :)

For dessert, I got the cheesecake "pudding" because I thought it sounded yummy and I also ordered it because my handsome work pal got the other dessert offering.  It's always nice to share the wealth.  Our very nice server also brought another special birthday dessert for my work pal, complete with candle and chocolate-sauce-scripted-happy-birthday.  It was very sweet of them to do.  Our desserts were both very good and I think if graham cracker crumbs were on top of anything, I'd eat it.

All in all, it was a terrific meal and I would be happy to go back and try more food at Charlie Palmer Steak.  I think my dad would like it - the food is tasty and the restaurant space isn't pretentious at all.  Thumbs up from me.  I already miss Restaurant Week and can't wait until the summer version comes my way...