Showy tableside service is all the rage in many of New York City’s best restaurants, said Chris Schonberger and Erin Mosbaugh in FirstWeFeast.com. A few “fusty old brasseries” never stopped filleting Dover sole at their customers’ sides or setting bananas Foster aflame. But old-fashioned theatricality is now flaring up throughout the city. Which is nice, because sometimes when we’re out, “we just want to be entertained.”
Porter House Chef Michael Lomonaco re-embraced tableside theater when he finally found a traditional French duck press last fall. The preparation of his canard à la presse culminates when he brings a marinated, just-roasted duck to the table, presses the carcass to release its juices, then prepares on the spot a sauce of foie gras and port that’s ladled over the sliced meat. 10 Columbus Cir., (212) 823-9500
Quality Italian This offshoot of nearby Quality Meats has gotten considerable attention for its $58 chicken Parm, which is carved tableside with a pizza cutter. But for real fireworks, order the lobster diavolo. First cooked out of sight in a spicy tomato sauce, the lobster is carried to the table by a waiter who flambés it in chile-infused vodka until it emerges a “gorgeous fiery red.” 57 W. 57th St., (212) 390-1111
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Eleven Madison ParkThis Gotham standard-setter has added so many tableside stunts that it’s “blurred the line between dinner and theater.” Our favorite trick involves wines over 25 years old: Instead of trying to remove the cork, the sommelier cleanly beheads the bottle at the neck using heated tongs. 11 Madison Ave., (212) 889-0905
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can the NBA survive FBI’s gambling investigation?Talking Points A casualty of the ‘sports gambling revolution’
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
