Well, against my better judgement, we went to Lenny’s last night (only their second night open), and I was pleasantly surprised. I guess already operating several successful restaurants made the opening go fairly smoothly.
The place itself remains unchanged since it was North, and it is very attractive with its black and white decor and lots of windows. I will say, there are some glitches with service, but not that many. The first person who came to our table I think was the official drink order taker. He had a dour expression and I kept wanting to snap my fingers in front of his face to wake him up. When my husband asked him if they had a wine by the glass list and found that they don’t, DH asked what reds they had. The server responded with type and got a bit upset when my husband wanted to know which Cab they had. But it all worked out. There are lots of servers milling about, seemingly keeping an eye on all tables, and most were good. Some were only pretending to pay attention! But the “captain” I guess, who takes the orders was excellent and service for the most part was good.
The food. First thing they bring is the bread and that did not knock my socks off. Standard sesame seeded Italian bread, not warmed, and a ramekin of butter. I was wondering what I was going to have – I was not in the mood for steak. I know, I was at a steak place, but they also have a fairly well rounded menu. Well, my query was answered when the Captain announced the specials, and they had, are you ready for it? My half duck ON THE BONE with orange sauce. I have been looking for that in Northern Westchester forever. And it was excellent. It was succulent and tender. I will say, the sauce could have been a bit more orange, and when I asked one of the roving wait staff for extra sauce he brought the lemon sauce from the chicken. I told him I wanted the orange sauce from the duck and he brought me marinara sauce. I had to get someone else to explain it to him, but I did finally get it. I did not have an appetizer. DH had the beef carpaccio served with arugula, shaved pecorino and red peppers in a truffle vinaigrette. The carpaccio looked a bit gray to me – maybe the acid in the dressing had started cooking it, but my husband said it was delicious. And the truffle vinaigrette, which I did taste on the cheese was very good. Then he had the Tomahawk steak as he has always wanted to try one. It was massive. And delicious. Perfectly cooked to rare with a nice crusty outer edge. We also got the sautéed wild mushrooms, which needed salt. They were ok, not great. They needed some oumph! Now, the tables are nicely spaced but still close and the gentleman with his daughter seated next to us got the French fries. When I commented on how good they looked he let me taste one!! (I am a total French fry HO). And guess what, they were not done inside. Glad I didn’t get them!
We did not have dessert but did have expresso which was excellent. In all, we really liked it and will go back. We have a three time rule - it has to be good three times before we are real fans. Two to go!
