There is a romantic air about Robert's (33 West 55th Street), whose setting seems to have been lifted right out of a smart novel. The low ceilings, the perfect lighting, and the comfortable seating are a blessing, especially for a well-planned dinner à deux or an evening of leisurely dining and good conversation. There is a detached quality about the restaurant which slackens one's pace, relaxes the nerves, and enables one to enjoy food and drink to the fullest. It is definitely a place to choose when the romantic urge and the desire for good food emerge at one and the same time.
Should there be something on the menu which you would enjoy prepared in another fashion, have no hesitation in asking to have it done, as Robert is most agreeable about the whims and moods of his guests. This is one of the special services of the house. There are, however, certain specialties which have become traditional in this delightful dining spot. One is a favorite of mine, poulet sauté viennoise, a simple and delicious chicken dish. Tender young chickens are dipped in egg and rolled in crumbs and sautéed in butter and forthwith served to you golden-brown. It is a sauté sec par excellence. A tiny twist of lemon gives the right flavor, and homemade noodles with tiny croutons tag along as proper accompaniment.
Though late to discuss it now, we give you a hint to be filed. Robert prepares a terrapin Maryland which is completely wonderful and which has done much to break the stringent dieting resolutions of one of my feminine friends. Merely the thought of West Fifty-fifth Street will start her rushing toward Robert and a large portion of terrapin. I cannot criticize, for it is terrapin which may be termed perfection.
For luncheon, should you feel in a salad mood, try shrimp with Russian dressing, a bountiful and truly delicate blending of flavors, a most satisfying warm-weather luncheon.
Incidental note: Why will restaurateurs not use a court-bouillon for cooking shrimp? It enhances the flavor immeasurably, and the trouble involved is negligible. I recommend highly—no, I urge—the use of more sapid liquid in cooking shrimp in the finer restaurants in New York.
Soups are a specialty of Robert's. His cold cream of leek soup, the onion soup, that runner-up in popularity, and his boula are all distinguished and worthy soups. What a little turtle broth will do to make a distinguished potage out of otherwise simple ingredients! It is my hope that someone will someday present to the public a truly fine, unadulterated turtle soup, one that will really stick to the lips.
I am not what one would call a dessert fan. I confess to a few sweets which I crave from time to time, but as a general rule there are few instances when I feel that a dessert is absolutely necessary to round out a meal. However, I do know that when I dine in Fifty-fifth Street, I get a certain feeling about crêpes au kirsch. Tender, delicate crêpes, positively ephemeral, rolled with crème Chantilly and blazed in butter and kirsch. This superb sweet is worth a trip from San Francisco or New Orleans for just a taste.
Robert chooses his wines with great care. He loves wine and stocks only those of which he is most fond. You will find a remarkable collection of Rhine wines and fine Burgundies along with some really distinguished clarets. And all at prices which are not too apocryphal.
The other evening we tried one of his favorite champagnes, a blanc de blancs of 1937 which has a mark—Salon—little known in this country. It is extremely dry with a most pleasant bouquet and a magnificent color. Not a fruity champagne, if such is your delight, but thoroughly pleasant.
You may lunch or dine at Robert's any day except Sunday. It is in the de luxe class, although not overly expensive. Dinner entrees start at around ＄2.50. Luncheon is moderately priced. Go to enjoy good food and good wines and liquors and do not rush.
Are you one of those stay-late-at-the-office persons who simply cannot adjust the work in hand to the hours of the day? Or are you one of the legion who think it easier to have a sandwich at the desk than to wait to be served in a restaurant? Perhaps you enjoy a late dinner in the spring and an early dinner during the summer. Well, it is such as you with varying dining habits of whom we are thinking.
We have long felt that Longchamps was a boon to those who want good food at odd hours, and it has been our habit to drop in now and then for dinner or supper at one of the various spots where we happened to be. But recently it occurred to us that this chain of most excellent restaurants is doing a unique service to the gustatory habits of New York. We are aware of where to go if we wish to dine impressively and plushily; where to go when we want international food of one type or another; where to go when we wish a certain style of cooking which is different from any other in the metropolis; but where to go when it is late or when we want a single dish with a drink or a bottle of wine is often a perplexing problem. The answer is Longchamps.
It is over twenty years since I heard about the restaurants that bear this name. I happened to be sharing a cabin on the old “Paris” of the French line with one of the managers of a Longchamps restaurant, and his conversation en route to New York awakened my curiosity. I accepted his invitation to dine with eagerness. Then, as now, there were the same distinguishing features that make these restaurants unusual in the country—the same window displays of garden-fresh vegetables and luscious pastries, the same careful way of preparing vegetables, the same all-encompassing menus, and the same pleasant and cheerful service.
To me, aside from the fact that it is always possible to find something on the Longchamps menu which is attractive for any meal, there are certain perennial dishes which are distinctive. Their calf's liver sauté, New Orleans prawns, hamburger steak platter, and chops never seem to vary in quality or quantity. I have had excellent success with steaks there as well. Not long since, we had minute steaks which were perfection and cooked as well as any restaurant in New York can do them. And when a vegetable is served, it has flavor and fresh quality which might well be an example to many restaurants which present their vegetables with an undeserved aura of chichi.
I am a lover of good bread and really feel that for crusty French rolls of various types the Longchamps bakers do an excellent commercial job. The same is true of a majority of their pastries.
In the liquor department, Longchamps, while not spilling over as in former years, still give you a hearty drink, and their selection of brands is amazing. There you will find many of the rarer Scotches and almost any kind of imported gin, as well as some of the more difficult-to-locate bonded bourbons.
Many people feel that Longchamps is hardly the place to find a good wine card, but if you ask to see it, you will really be surprised. It is not the extensive selection that one finds at Twenty One or the Brussels, but it certainly has been chosen with an eye to presenting some distinguished wines, both American and European. It is a clever card in that the various wine districts of France and California are well illustrated, and you may literally pick your wine from its location on the map.
Prices, too, I found agreeable, and this is particularly true of the champagnes. Ten dollars for some of the best 37's is not an exorbitant price.
We needn't tell you that there are Longchamps restaurants spread all over New York, but we might remind those of you who will be in New York this summer that you may go to the restaurant at Madison Avenue and 59th Street at any time of the day or night, for their doors are open around the clock. Prices are fairly moderate and portions ample. If you are searching for celebrities, you will find a sprinkling of them here or there at all times. If you are a woman alone, you may go at any time and feel perfectly comfortable.
Our soap-box oration this month is a plea to certain restaurateurs to improve the quality of their vegetables. It is a shame to serve a well-cooked dish, freshly prepared and hot as the stove itself, accompanied by indifferent vegetables. In France, vegetables are considered important enough for a main course, but here, where two vegetables are considered a necessary accompaniment to any plat du jour, they are too often watery and overcooked or have been occupying the steam table much too long. Won't some restaurateurs taste the vegetables they serve to find out for themselves if they need to be treated with a little more kindness?
We keep hearing about this little bistro and that little spot which is so Continental that we have ceased to believe in anyone's judgment about such things, as we have too often traveled half way across town only to find rather mediocre food, badly prepared, and a minimum of service in depressing surroundings. Fortunately, however, there are many little restaurants and bistros which have all the distinction of a great restaurant. Such a place is the Chalet Suisse, where I have seldom been disappointed.
It is like writing about home to write about the Chalet Suisse, for I have lunched and dined there many times over a period of years. There is an honest, homely quality about the food that Mr. and Mrs. Baertschi serve which I find most refreshing, and the menu offers certain dishes which are difficult to find elsewhere. Many French and Swiss folk who are well known in the foreign colonies of New York are seen there repeatedly. There is always, for example, an excellent salade de museau de boeuf, steer's muzzle vinaigrette. I know of no other spot in town where you can depend upon finding it. There are a delicious ramequin of Swiss cheese, cervelat salad, and mussels marinière.
Among the entrees which we have become accustomed to order and reorder is the minced veal à la suisse, which is always on the menu because of its great popularity. And the gnocchi à la romaine is worth a visit, as is the onion-andcheese pie which you will find a perfect luncheon entree at any time. There is always Bratwurst or Bauernwurst—I prefer mine grilled without onion, but let your palate be your guide. Liver balls with sauerkraut or rippli with sauerkraut are delicious. The other night my tasting companion and I had an entrecôte grillé which was magnificent. Grilled perfectly and sliced in pleasantly thin slices and not in chunks, as much too often happens, it was meltingly delicious.
Should you want a true fondue in the Swiss manner, you have only to ask for it. For a large party, however, it is the better part of wisdom to call in advance to make arrangements. The other night there was a gay party of ten young men, an international group, dipping away at fondue. Their enthusiasm proved the excellence of the dish. Toss discretion to the winds when you start dipping fondue but hold to the kirsch or the coffee line for liquid accompaniment—it is the perfect companion. And don't forget an occasional drink of kirsch for the casserole as you dip along.
Desserts are on the usual side except for an excellent Swiss apple tart and one of the best crème caramel to be found in New York. And there is always real Switzerland Swiss cheese. What could be a more perfect finish for a Swiss meal?
A good selection of Swiss, French, and American wines at reasonable prices is cellared at the Chalet Suisse. The Fendant du Valais, a most refreshing drink for spring and summer, is around ＄3 a bottle. Good wine at reasonable prices or excellent beer is a necessary complement to many of the dishes. We had an elegant bock beer the other night.
The Baertschis also operate the Cornwall Inn at Cornwall on the Hudson, where you will find the same type of food when you are motoring during spring and summer.
Luncheon entrees complete with dessert and coffee range from ＄1.25 to around ＄3, with appetizers or soup extra. Dinner, complete at the entree price, runs from ＄2 to ＄3.50.