If you’re like me and have watched too many years of “Hell’s Kitchen”, nothing is more exciting than seeing a beef Wellington on a menu. So that’s how four of us ended up at @takroomnyc, the new 50s-era @hudsonyards restaurant by 3-Michelin-star chef @chefthomaskeller of Per Se and The French Laundry. We started off with wonderfully balanced cocktails, complimentary crudités, and bread service with this neat little butter-dispensing device that push-popped the creamy goodness up through the center into individual portions. We also ordered: 4) the jumbo lump blue crab cake with spicy mayo, 5) braised short rib and forest mushroom lasagne, and 6) grilled Ora King salmon. My husband and I shared the prime beef short rib Wellington for two, which was presented to us whole before being cut tableside. I thought they were going to take the ends away because the server put them on a separate plate, but no, those were also given to us! (I’m greedy.) It was so incredibly tender, I wonder if they sous vide the steak before wrapping it in the pastry and baking it. The steak fries we ordered for our side were special somehow, like they had been brined in salt before cooking rather than sprinkled with it afterward. And though we didn’t choose to order dessert, we were given a cute box of caramel corn at the end! It was a pretty pricey at $315 for my husband and me (the Wellington alone was $138), but the experience was really special. We were in a semi-private area overlooking the Vessel at Hudson Yards, the service was impeccable, and the little extras like the crudités and caramel corn made me feel like I was having an almost Per-Se-level meal. Plus, I just loved the throwback green velvet banquette seating and the light piano music that sounded old-timey but was actually renditions of Nirvana and Coldplay. Come here for your next special occasion!
Photo taken at: TAK Room