Saturday night, I had the lucky pleasure of dining out with some great friends at David Burke’s Upper East Side restaurant, Townhouse. Townhouse is situated on a cozy block and unlike its upper-crusty neighborhood, it’s quite a charming little jewelbox amidst so many super-serious steakhouses and hotel bars nearby.
We chose Townhouse because the boyfriend of one of my closest friends is deeply involved with David Burke’s restaurant group. In fact, he’s going to be the head chef at David’s newest restaurant which will be located in the James hotel in Soho (tentatively opening late January). So, we figured why not try out some of his cooking and get a sneak peak of what’s to come at the James!
We started off the night with some drinks at the bar and some incredible calamari, which had huge flakes of sea salt on it and was accompanied by 4-5 foies-gras stuffed chicken wings. Yes. I know. A preview of the delicious meal ahead! Once we were seated in the back room, past the gorgeous glass balloons hanging from the ceiling, I made sure to order one of the specials in the hopes it’s a test for the new restaurant - an amazing sea bass with curry and kale. We also shared a bunch of appetizers like the burrata mozzarella and sides like creamed spinach, the polenta, and a few bottles of sauvigion blanc.
To finish things off we were generously treated to a huge selection of items from the dessert menu, which is where the whimsical promise of the restaurant really comes to life. “Coffee on a park bench” (taken with my horrible blackberry above) was just amazing to look at, a show-stopping cheesecake tree (go on the website for a drawing of it) and adorable purses with truffles inside, just for the gals in the group.
I would definetly go back to Townhouse for a special dinner with parents, or even just for a swanky cocktail with my man. It was nice to be in such an open, airy, happy restaurant after spending much of the fall in cramped, dark, noisy downtown spots. Although I do love my cozy restaurants, it was so much fun to switch things up a bit. Thanks again to Kristena and Jedd for helping arrange such a special evening!
