Last week, my wife and I had the pleasure of dining at the renowned Reserve Cut in Manhattan. This was our first visit to New York City since the year before Covid, so it was a long time coming. Our meal was off the charts and the staff was amazingly attentive, kind and patient.
From the minute we walked in to the spectacular ambiance, you can feel that this isn't just another restaurant. I took my wife there for a date night and its not one we will likely forget. The maî·tre d Alessandro took such amazing care of us. We were lucky enough to get seated right next to the kitchen. The "wall" is all glass and you can see the chef's and the staff preparing each and every dish. Its an amazing table. We started off with some campaign, and my wife was pleasantly surprised. Its great to feel special and like going out means something. Our first course was a sushi "quartet" including Yuzu Striped Bass , Blackened Tuna Bite, Tuna Uzusukuri and Tuna & Black Truffle. Now I like sushi, but I came to a steakhouse and ordered it, was I crazy? NO WAY! The sushi was AMAZING. Flavor was bursting in my mouth and even though we ate 4 rolls, we still had room for more. It was seriously the best sushi I ever ate. The sushi was paired with a glass of the Chateau Rubin Rose.
Our server Jay brought us our next course, a special non menu from the chef. A Salmon special with radish, micro cilantro, cucumbers and strawberries from Japan. The Salmon was sooo soft, we were trying to figure out how it was cooked as there was no grill or sear marks on it. Turns out I was right, it was sous vide in a water temperature controlled bath to perfection. The strawberries were a welcome addition. It was mildly sweet and melted in your mouth.
Our next server Miguel brought us a special soup in a shot glass called Tom Kha Gai. It was something I never hear of or tried before but it has some serious flavor. Its made with chicken, garlic, ginger, shallot, jalapeño, mushrooms, scallion, coconut milk, chicken stock, cilantro, cane sugar and lime, all in the little shot glass. Yet another of the chefs amazing tasting inventions. Another server Wilem brought us the special wagyu carpaccio with hot stone to cook in on with little dishes of molten salt, paprika, teriyaki and the Short Rib Tacos which is hickory smoked prime beef, grilled pineapple salsa with house BBQ sauce. It was so much fun spicing and "grilling" the wagyu on our heated stone, like a cool activity for adults. I am also a major fan of tacos especially pulled beef and these were mouth watering. The pineapple salsa was the perfect topping adding some freshness and bright flavors to our mouths.
Miguel was back with a special reserve wine made specially for Reserve Cut and goes great with their meat. Then came Alessandro with a special table side service. A piece of Fillet Mignon finished in the pan table side with some margarine (usually this would be butter in a non kosher restaurant) garlic, shallots, peppercorns and some other spices finished off with the special house sauce. We got some flambe action and we really enjoyed the show and not to mention the smells were so enticing. The dish was served with some bone marrow and flaming rosemary and thyme We were also served Roasted Free Range Chicken with duck fat infused pommes pave, star anise glaze, truffle jus which was served with burning sticks of wood which really made the dish pop. Both were so tasty and amazing, we were having foodgasims and had to take breaks and just watch the action in the kitchen.
To close our this amazing meal our server Jay brought us dessert consisting of a Lemon Meringue Tart served with fruit sorbet and Peanut Chocolate Pavé featuring espresso sauce, sweet & salty nuts. Both were amazingly fresh, tasty and great pallet cleansers.
All in all 5 stars on the food, 5 stars on the service. I will defiantly be coming back again soon.
