A New Favorite Pre-Theater Restaurant

By Frank Whitman

Restaurants surround concert halls and theaters like the orchestra sections gather around the conductor. The experiences go hand in hand. Eating before or after the performance fills a need, expands the event, and adds a satisfying note to the occasion.  

We recently had this driven home at Carnegie Hall, the grand dame of American concert venues and at Stamford’s Palace Theater.  Both are at the center of a cluster of eateries that offer a range of flavors, prices and ambiance. 

In New York there are long-standing restaurants serving the Hall’s patrons. “Just to the Left” is the legendary Russian Tea Room, site of star-studded events, celebrity sightings, and buckets of caviar. Across 7th Avenue the Trattoria Dell’arte offers tasty Italian fare and the certain knowledge that they’ll get you out in time for the concert. The more casual Redeye Grill is next door and Angelo’s Coal Fired Pizza is across 57th street. These are just a few of the many places ready to nourish the Carnegie crowd. 

There’s a new member of the Carnegie Hall restaurant scene that will add a distinctive note to the dining score. The Paris Bar, down 57th street in the Meridian Hotel, is destined to be a favorite of the concert-going crowd.  Only open for 6 months, it has yet to be discovered, but that won’t last.  

Enter into the intimate wood-paneled room lit by tall windows facing 57th Street.  A geometric tiled floor, coffee bar, white table cloths and traditionally clad servers immediately sets a French tone. Past the raw bar the high-ceilinged dining room is divided into intimate spaces brightened with Gallic art. (Our little nook held the nudes.)  In the back, the open kitchen is on view for a pre-concert show of culinary action. 

The menu is a mix of French classics, creative combinations and must-have necessities. I spotted a glass of Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Pascal Jolivet ($17), (a favorite Sancerre producer) and used it as a theme for my menu picks. SB is a magical pairing with goat cheese so the Goat Cheese Croquettes ($14) were a no-brainer. Our server drained a pitcher of lavender honey across the golden brown orbs. Crunchy, with a creamy inside, the mildly smokey cheese flavor balanced by the floral honey was remarkable.

Marsha’s coarse, pistachio-studded Country Pâté ($21), surrounded by a constellation of condiments, was a rich and satisfying partner with a glass of dry Italian Contadti Castaldi sparkling wine ($17).

I usually skip salmon in restaurants, but the Paris Bar version served as a Wellington ($36) was too enticing to pass up. The tightly-sealed pillow of golden puff pastry held a moist fillet of salmon layered with mushroom duxelles. Served on creamed spinach, the Wellington was surrounded by a moat of assertive tarragon bearnaise sauce.

Silky French-style puréed potatoes accompanied Marsha’s roast half organic chicken ($36), a perfectly-cooked dark-skinned bird in a pool of rich pan juices. 

A chunk of very good bread ($8) sliced, not the usual way, but in blocky thirds (a kind of rustic pull apart,) was nestled in a crisp white napkin and accompanied by a medallion of butter garnished with a dusting of paprika and salt.

Our drive in and parking schedule had worked out well, leaving some extra time before The Choral Society of Grace Church sang the Verdi Requiem.  It was an opening that could only be filled with dessert. What would it be – Apple Tart, Chocolate Mousse or Meringue Cake?  The cake ($16) seemed the lightest of the three and easy to share.  Lightest turned out to be a bad guess, but the four-layer cake filled with vanilla cream and topped with a crown of seared meringue was a delicious, generously sized, shareable treat.

Service is professional and the management friendly.  The Paris Bar, a sister restaurant to the well-established Trattoria Dell’Arte around the corner, is a new favorite of ours. We’d be happy to go back, even if there is no concert that evening.

Stay tuned for more about the diverse Stamford restaurant scene around the Palace Theater next time.