Restaurant Review: The Grill
The Grill located in the very historic Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan is a step back in time. In an opulent way. The Seagram Building was originally a business headquarters turned upscale bar, and has always had the reputation for being an architectural masterpiece.
Enough about the building.
Zach and I recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary and decided it was a perfect time to go and see if The Grill would live up to the hype. I think what initially intrigued me about the restaurant was it seemed to be a relic to how dining used to be. Servers and waitresses dressed in all black, oversized round tables draped in white linen and banquette seating. Twenty foot ceilings with dimly lit recessed lighting and floor to ceiling windows slightly covered by sheer drapes. The dining room was similar to a conference hall. But oddly I felt comfortable and not overwhelmed.
Upon arrival we entered the first level of the restaurant which is where the coat check and hostesses wait to take you upstairs to show you to your table. The room has a huge staircase and Warhol paintings on each wall. We were taken immediately to our table up the staircase and the first thing I noticed was a long table covered in fresh fruit. Picture cornucopia. I actually don’t know the significance of this because I didn't see any of that fruit being used on the menu. We also felt really embarrassed because we were definitely the youngest in the room.
Our captain, (which is what they call their servers) eventually came to our table and handed us a 3 inch thick pink leather book which was the wine list. I am partially embarrassed to mention that we brought our own bottle… Only because I had previously purchased the bottle of wine I wanted to drink this night because it wasn’t on the list. Shocking considering their wine list is 200 pages. We drank a white burgundy by Maison Vallette.
We eventually ordered our food and, by the service so far, had very high expectations.
Our starter included their house breads with a really smooth chive butter and half dozen east coast oysters from Montauk. The mignonette consisted of chives and what tasted like pickle juice which I loved.
Almost immediately followed was the salad course which we chose the endive and apple salad. To be honest this was really lazy and seemed to be half-ass. Endives tossed in a red wine vinaigrette topped with a crumble of pistachios from Sicily. The apple shavings were almost pickled in an overly sweet cure.. Really nothing special.
Service became slower after our starting courses which I actually really like. I really hate to feel rushed when eating and the time between courses allowed you to relax and really take in the ambiance. But about 15 minutes later a man wheeling a sterling silver what looked to be a juice press pulled up beside our table and explained that our next course; Pasta la Presse, which is a egg pasta in a sauce of the juices from the pressed roasted duck bones along with aromatics. Probably the best course. So rich, so delicious.
Next was our main courses which we were unfortunately underwhelmed by.
We got both the NY Strip and the grilled dover sole riviera style. The Steak was cooked perfectly I will say, sliced table side and accompanied by confit garlic and vidilia onion. The steak let us down because it lacked flavor. We both were shocked by how under-salted a cut of beef of this size was. I even asked for extra Maldon salt.
The dover sole was Zach’s least favorite to the point he wouldn’t even eat past a few bites. Which says a lot. I actually thought it was pretty impressive considering it was completely deboned in one piece right in front of us. It was accompanied by roasted vegetables including tomato, red grapes, onion and basil. I enjoyed it but it needed to be seasoned more. I will add that both dishes both were served room temp. Almost as if they had been sitting out for a while which was quite disappointing. Portion sizes were big though which was nice considering the $125 price of the fish and $98 price of the beef.
By now we had finished our wine and were feeling full. Of course we had room for something sweet. We sat for about 20 minutes while our table was cleared and reset. Ultimately ordering the baked Alaska and herbal tea. I have started to order hot tea after a meal and I really recommend it. The dessert was nice but just okay honestly. We sat and had our tea and enjoyed dessert.
Our takeaway from this experience was overall the atmosphere is spectacular. Service was above and beyond but sadly i’d say the food was just okay. With that being said I would love to go back with the understanding that you will only be wowed by the vibe and not the food. After tip (not including wine) the bill was nearly five hundred dollars. We had a great time which left us satisfied I guess. Ultimately I would say it is worth going at least once because you really do feel like a character in an 80s movie. Dress up, have a good time and enjoy the experience.