First Taste
Tables for Two
As a glance at the best-seller lists will tell you, Tuscany and Provence are the travel destinations most often featured in New Yorkers' fantasies. Now that vexsome choice of cuisine has been solved at Medi by Roberto Ruggeri (Bice) and Roger Verge (the venerable Michelin-starred chef of Le Moulin de Mougins, where such dining demigods as Daniel Boulud and David Bouley once trained). Don't choose -- have them both. The room is full of the sky blues and sunflower golds of Van Gogh in architect Peter Bentel's (Gramercy Tavern, Craft) airy interpretation of a Mediterranean feel. The food delivers powerhouse flavors from the Southern French and Northern Italian canon. Verge contributes a dish I call eggs a la eggs -- his signature "Golden Egg" served on an island of mashed potatoes and cauliflower surrounded by a moat of herbed creme fraiche and topped with a whopping tablespoon of caviar. Veal scottata (carpaccio) with truffle oil and porcini from the Italian side completes a fine plat of starters. First courses include bright, iodiney, and lobster-rich fish soup straight from Verge as well as pici spaghetti with porcini and truffles that is as Tuscan as a hillside in Lucca. For a main course, think about a mega-lobster (four pounds; split it with a partner) with a velvety thermidor-inspired sauce and, hiding under the sliced tail, a mound of warm shredded cabbage and carrots that gives a crunchy counterpoint to the rich sauce. Also for two, a whole roast leg of lamb is served in a copper pan with caramelized fingerlings, shallots, and Provencal herbs. A simple menu, hearty portions, refined technique, and two pros at the helm make for a bold midtown restaurant with great promise . . . once they get rid of the Gipsy Kings on the sound system. -- PETER KAMINSKY
Medi
45 Rockefeller Plaza
212-399-8888