Happy Birthday RRR!

Thursday was RRR's birthday and lucky for me she was in NY for the evening. Birthday girl gets the restaurant choice so RRR chose L'Impero on the far east side of midtown in Tudor City.

We were joined by Marcello and after waiting a bit at the host station for our 7:30 reservation; we were seated some time after 8pm. The host decided to make it up to us by seating us at a beautiful table on the "mezzanine" level of the restaurant overlooking the main dining room. I was impressed by the decor. The room was tastefully modern yet romantic with a shiny white ceiling and high votive holders on all the tables in the lower dining room. It was like watching a theater production from the balcony.

We decided to go for the $64 prix fixe menu which included a choice of "susci" or an "appetizer" (two separate sections of the menu), pasta, an entree and a dessert. Quite a bargain in Manhattan and the portions were generous. When Ms. Foodie doesn't clear her plate, you know there's a lot on the plate!

While we were waiting for our first course, we were treated to a lovely selection of bread and plenty of lemony olive oil for dipping.

I began my meal with the fricassee of seasonal Mushrooms with polenta and truffle reduction. The separate baby brass pot contained the brandy sauced mushrooms and there was just a hint of truffle to join the earthy mushroom with the creamy polenta in perfect harmony. Marcello went with Scott Conant's version of susci and had the marinated Pacific Yellowtail with sea salt, olio di zenzero and red onion; one of the few dishes to be completely finished!

And finally the birthday girl had the slow braised short rib of beef with horseradish, vegetable and farro risotto. This short rib was a perfect way to say farewell to braised "winter meat"; it was lean, stringy and fork-tender. The farro was pleasantly light with finely diced baby zucchini and carrots throughout the dish. I can't decide which app was the standout here - they were all fantastic.

Our meal continued at a leisurely pace with the arrival of our pasta course. Marcello may have picked the best one with a creamy homemade noodle with mushrooms and parmigiano. (Sorry the name of the pasta escapes me!). RRR chose the strigoli al nero di seppia with a ragu of calamari, capers and shallot salad. The capers and shallots elevated this dish head & shoulders above your standard Italian squid ink pasta - I think I am forever spoiled...

Finally, I broke my vow not to eat foie gras on U.S. soil and had the duck and foie gras agnolotti with moscato passito di sardegna reduction. The presentation was beautiful, however, I was surprised to find the texture of the duck to be ground; I was expecting stringy pieces of meat. The foie gras was good, but I am not sure it was imported which is what I was told by our server.

Our meal rolled on with the arrival of our entrees. I had the seared skate with rosemary braised chickpeas and caponata. The tartness of the caponata was balanced by the savory earthiness of the rosemary. The skate was perfectly seared and it was a welcome change from the standard skate in brown butter sauce found on most menus.

Marcello had the lamb loin with polenta-speck dumpling, red cabbage and pear-golden raisin puree. At this point, he was pretty over our forks poking around the table so we did not get the opportunity to taste this dish. RRR had the roasted orata rossa with cauliflower, bottarga and caper 'salmoriglio' . Another refreshing take on fish and her dish once again included farro.

A plate of mini cookies were brought to us along with our dessert and I found the mini chocolate chip cookies to be the standout with the mini Linzer tart a close second. My dessert choice was the Meyer lemon torta di ricotta with honey gelato, cranberry compote. The cookie base gave a nice crunch to the tart creaminess of the lemony ricotta custard and was a bit more imaginative than a lot of desserts I've encountered in some time on the NY dining scene.

Marcello had the delightful chocolate caramel mousse with vanilla bavarese and grappa stewed blackberries and was a good enough sport to let our spoons invade his personal space.

And finally, last but certainly not least, RRR had the warm chocolate tart with frangelico gelato and hazelnut brittle. The best part of this dish was the Happy Birthday written in chocolate at the top of the plate.

While L'Impero is a bit off the beaten path, it is certainly worth seeking out if you are looking for innovative high end cooking in a refined yet relaxed atmosphere.