central

so you know all that great stuff you've been hearing about michel richard's new place central? well, it's all deserved. we went thursday night to try it out and it totally lived up to all expectations.


sus and i decided to go a little early so we could check out the bar scene (ok, we really just couldn't bear sitting at work anymore). we were able to snag the last two seats at the bar and happily read over the cocktail menu (i mean, when in rome). we settled on the cosmopolitans - but they were truly unlike any cosmo i've ever had (and believe me, i've tried my far share of cosmos). it was good, but so completely sour. and those cranberries really had a bite to them.


and the bar scene? it was fun. definitely got a lot more crowded in the hour or so we were there. and you do have the option of ordering from the full menu and eating at the bar, if you so desire. we sat next to one of the giant wine "cellars" - maybe next time we're there we'll peruse the wine list and go that route. and the giant mirror over the bar was very cool - and the way i was sitting allowed me to strategically see everyone who walked in the door. and the yellow glass divider separating us from the dining room made us feel like we were somewhere sunny. which, in my book is always a good thing.


we nursed our drinks and before we knew it our table was ready (and the third member of our party had arrived!). we got seated in larry's section - boy was this a treat. larry is your quintessential cute, super sweet older man. he really made our dining experience that much better. he came over and saw our almost finished cosmos and assumed that we were ok on drinks. but, you know what they say when you assume. so i politely corrected him, pointing out that nari did not have a drink yet (and she really needed one asap). and susie and i each ordered a beer off their draft menu (blusser pilsner for me and a hofbrau for susie).


ok, so the drinks were taken care of. now came the hard part - deciding what we were going to eat. the menu is basic. it's only on the front of one page. but, all the options (well, minus the seafood of course) sounded delicious. in the end i settled on the lamb shank w/ polenta. as for the roomies - nari got the hangar steak and susie got the much talked about lobster burger. both of their entrees were served with fries (which were just as good as i had heard, by the way) and we got an order of mac & cheese for good measure.


so as we were catching up on life (you'd think that we didn't live together or something) we were brought out a basket of bread. crucial. now, i'm the first person to tell you that you can completely judge a restaurant by it's bread. and according to this logic - central is great! the bread was warm and soft, with a super crunchy crust. and the butter was cold, but completely spreadable. and everyone knows that bread is probably my favorite food group. this dinner was off to an excellent start.


we had just enough time to finish our two pieces of bread each before our meals were brought out. the servings were a perfect size (yes, they were on the larger size. but, come on, that's perfect for us). we immediately began chowing down and managed to eat almost every morsel of food on the table. anything that was left on our plates was just in anticipation of the best course - dessert!


if you've heard anything about central (and if you haven't, you clearly live under a rock) you've heard about their yummy desserts. and most importantly, the homemade kit kat bar. it's a wafer on the bottom w/ a chocolate mousse topping and hazelnut sauce drizzled on top. and i'm all for ice cream, but the side of ice cream with this dessert was a little over the top. but, don't worry we finished it all!


oh, and the bathrooms are nice. i mean we obviously had to check them out (i'm slowly compiling a list of the city's best...and worst). nothing too fancy (like mie n yu), but overall they were nice. and the bright magenta walls were definitely a nice touch.