Dining at Petrossian in New York City (East Coast Trip part 7 of n)
The Southern leg of our trip at an end, my wife and I braved the wilds of Southwest Airlines and got back into New York a couple of days ago. Our anniversary is essentially this week, so we decided to spend it in one of my favorite cities on the planet: New York City. With about 8 million people, 200 million rats, 600 billion cockroaches, and at least 300 bazillion cigarette butts on the ground, it’s hard to feel any sense of solitude in NYC. But that’s partly why I love it here. You’re right on top of everyone else and everything nearly all of the time. And you’re probably eating a bagel or a slice of pizza while you’re at it…at least, I am.
I had almost forgotten how different NYC is from Seattle, at least culturally and psychologically. For example, what is it with people who don’t know how to use the word “actually?” I had this problem a long time ago; I think I said “actually” in nearly every sentence for a while until I realized I was doing it and I also realized how pompous it made me sound. I wonder if the woman at the next table tonight at Petrossian understood that you should really only use “actually” to contradict someone else’s request or suggestion. She kept saying “actually” as she ordered, as if she were contradicting herself…very strange.
Yes, we dined at Petrossian, home of expensive caviar, delicious seafood, and Russian clientele who enjoy bringing escorts with them to dinner. And why not? If you want to spend $600 on caviar for a callgirl, you’re welcome to do that in NYC. Anything goes in the city that never sleeps, or never got any sleep until they made honking a $350 offense. Seriously.
Anyway, Petrossian is a freaking awesome restaurant in NYC. We got in from Islip via Southwest and a crazy car ride, checked into our hotel, got cleaned up and dressed up, and then enacted one of my favorite big city rituals: We got a taxi. I really enjoy hailing and taking taxis to points within a city. I only enjoy this process in proper cities, such as NYC or London, because in smaller towns it always feels a little too personal, amost as if the driver has had about three fares in his life before you showed up. That’s not quite as professional and enjoyable. I suppose much the same argument can be made for callgirls, but I’m beginning to stray from the purpose of this blog entry.
So, Petrossian is an interesting place. They have amazing fine china, fine silverware, a terrific bar with Erte engravings in the mirrors, and a wonderful waitstaff who know what you need before you do. Now that’s classy. The waitstaff wear suits and ties, or tuxedos, and they are exceedingly gracious and open to your needs as a diner. They also make suggestions, should you need one or two as I did. I asked which meal the waiter would recommend, the sea bass or the tuna. I got the sea bass at his suggestion.
Our meals were stunning. Here’s what we had to eat; I had two Kir Royale long drinks with my food:
- We split the Selection of Salmons to start; we live in Seattle, so we had unnaturally high expectations with regard to this salmon. The Selection of Salmons exceeded my expectations. We received 4 cuts of salmon, all prepared in different ways, with salmon roe and tiny triangles of toast. Exquisite.
- I had the Savoy cabbage-wrapped Chilean sea bass, with leek fondue, roasted fingerling potatoes, and a truffle/lobster sauce. Wow. Now that’s some good sea bass! It was almost like delicate lobster meat because of the manner of preparation.
- My wife had the seared halibut, which blew her mind. As she put it, she wanted to lick the plate clean, in part because of the wild chanterelle mushrooms that garnished the plate under the halibut. I tasted a bit and loved it.
- For dessert, I tried one of the house specialties: chocolate terrine with armangac. Not bad; I thought the flavors were a bit confused overall, but how can you argue with such good, thick chocolate?
- My wife had the assorted homemade cookies; the lemon shortbread cookies won her over for sure, although the rest of the cookies were also delicious.
Overall, Petrossian gave us a terrific anniversary experience. I also enjoyed myself because, as I looked at the other couples dining that night, I was particularly proud of my own relationship decision. Not that having a Russian callgirl is a bad long-term choice. It’s just a little too expensive on my salary….