Summer Associates Lunch Series - Café Gray

My first experience with Café Gray was not great. I thought the room looked like the old Taiwan airport, the cafeteria area, and the kitchen took up the prime spot of the space, the seats by the windows overlooking central park. I guess you can say that by placing the open kitchen there, you have a view of chefs busy working highlighted by the backdrop of Central Park, and that in a way, is picturesque in itself. There is also seating near the bars too, which I would much rather prefer if I am only eating with another person, since that space is more private and intimate, and although in the same color scheme as the main room, felt more classic. My favorite part of the restaurant in terms of decor was the walkway leading up to the bar, kind of like a rich person's foyer, with books and mirrors and dark chocolate cabinetry.

The food on my first visit, was a little on the salty side. I had the short ribs of beef the first time around, which I heard was pretty good (from Citysearch reviews or some sort, and also recommended by the waitress). However, the beef, albeit tender, was salty which tends to rob away the beef’s natural flavor. This time around, I ordered the brown sugared pork loin because New York Magazine has said that Café Gray does the best pig in town. Although the dish referenced to in that article was different than the pork loin I ordered, I figured, why not give it a shot and it might be good. I managed to drag 3 other people on the table to order the same dish as I did, hopefully they didn’t’ regret it. I thought the dish was good, and much more enjoyable than the first time I dined here. Maybe eating on the firm and not paying for the meal has something to do with it as well. Whatever the reason, the pork loin was moist and tender, but I was surprised how what seems like a dainty portion of pork loin was also quite fulfilling and rich. Kind of sleepy afterwards finishing the whole pork loin. The appetizer of beef tartare was just average, in my opinion. Too much of the beef was marinated or drizzled in a spicy sauce that again robs away the beauty of the taste of the raw beef.

I was a big fan of Gray Kunz when he cooked at Lespinasse at the St. Regis in New York. I remember that day fondly, as it was the second expensive restaurant I have ever been to in New York. It was on February 13 of 1998, the day before Valentine’s Day. I remembered that I don’t care much for the English looking dining room, but the meal was fantastic and I was introduced to many combinations of ingredients that essentially blew my mind. I always remember my experience that day, but I am not sure whether I have painted a picture of what Gray Kunz’s cuisines should be, since I was only beginning to leave the McDonald’s and Wendy’s and fried chicken food that I was used to and had only started to learn what cooking was all about and why people uses the term culinary arts. I remember the first expensive / up-scale restaurant I went to in New York, Les Celebrites in the Essex House, headed up by Christian Delouvrier, who now is the executive chef at Alain Ducasse in New York, the same exact space as Les Celebrites. That day, I discovered that even vegetables can taste great, and I literally cleaned every plate that was put in front of me. I never knew food can taste this good. I thought the chef there must be a genius, but then at the same time, McDonald’s and Chinese take out never tasted the same to me ever again, so I was screwed on that front. However, now I visit Alain Ducasee (last time was around April of 2005), and the food doesn’t taste that great anymore, even though Christian Delouvrier is the one heading up the kitchen. I mean, it was good, but it was no where near my expectation and the price point. The food was not memorable; it did not distinguish itself from the many other top restaurants in New York (well, the one memorable aspect about my experience there that time was meeting Alain Ducasse, who was there that night and came by and asked us how the food was, and I really wanted to tell him that it was really just okay, but I thought that might be rude since in the table next to us, this young man was telling Alain Ducasse that he was a genius).

I think now, after having eaten at many of the top restaurants in this city, there are very few restaurants that I would remember. There are many good restaurants, but most of the time, their dishes doesn’t have that magic that, 5 years from now, I will still be able to tell people what I ate, and describe the exact sensations that I felt when I ate that dish. The pork loin we had today was good, but it was not memorable. Oh, I guess what is memorable about this meal though, was seeing Anderson Cooper in the table next to us. Pretty good looking guy, looks young, but with white hair. I wonder if that hair color is real? He seems too young to have white hair. He was eating with this woman who was also an anchor for CNN, don’t know her name though, but apparently is engaged/married to Rush Limbaugh. Oh, we were there on Tuesday, May 30, 2006.