Tag Archives: fourth wall restaurants

Quality Italian Steakhouse and the Pizza Pie size Chicken Parm

20 Nov

We have been meaning to go to Quality Italian Steakhouse since it opened. We loved our meal at Quality Meats a few years ago, and I really loved General Assembly (even though it closed) which are both from the same restaurant group (Fourth Wall Restaurants, who also has Smith & Wolensky amongst others).

On a night before a Broadway musical, we decided it was time to finally try the (in)famous restaurant.

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I actually hadn’t realized that “Steakhouse” was part of the name until I saw the awning upon entering.

The inside had the industrial chic feel that I’m a total sucker for.

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And I really liked the little details, such as the “QI” on the edge of each tablecloth, right where it hung off the table.

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They served parker house rolls, which were pretty good, but not my favorite version of them.

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As we were browsing the menu, the table next to us had a live flambee, which wound up catching the entire table on fire for a moment.  It was quite the spectacle, but was handled with grace.

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We decided to split a few things in preparation for the Chicken Parm that they are famous for (more on that later).

First we tried the Artichoke Maccheroni, which was like baked macaroni and cheese with artichokes in it.  It was delicious, but as a total artichoke lover, I was hoping for more big chunks of artichoke.

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And of course we had to split the corn creme brulee, which is always my favorite part of the other restaurants.  This one was very good, but not quite up to the same quality that I have come to love.  If this was my first time trying it, I would have been impressed. But I know how good it CAN be, so I was a bit bummed that the corn creme was a bit loose and the brulee was a bit charred without being as crispy as I have come to love.  But I’m being far too picky, because it was really lovely.

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Our table was then set with a stand, ready for the chicken parm, with some extra greens and seasoning below.

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And then out it came.  Before I could even flash a picture, they were slicing it up and serving us pieces. (To be honest, the man who was serving our food, not our waiter, made me uncomfortable. I felt like he was in a rush and was very annoyed that I was taking pictures, so he managed to shove spoons in the sides and a pizza cutter into my shot each time… grrrr).

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We were served a slice each.

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And boy oh boy… this was so good. It was everything you wanted it to be.  Perfectly juicy chicken with a crispy outside that wasn’t made at all soggy by the thick layer of slightly charred cheese and crispy leaves of basil. I am pretty sure I moaned as I ate this.

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At one point during our meal, our very nice waiter offered to serve us another slice. When we said we could serve it ourselves (to be polite), he said it was actually much easier to serve it from a standing position.  We questioned this until Mike tried to serve the next piece himself…

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It was a tragedy to see that beautiful piece of chicken parm hit the ground.  I wiped a tear.  A waste of very good food.

I absolutely loved that chicken parm.  It was a HUGE portion for the two of us (we had it for dinner the next day) so it almost made it worth the $29 per person price tag. Yes… you read that right… we spent nearly $60 on a chicken parm.

And you know what? I have 0 regrets.

I have to dock a little bit of points for the weirdly rushes service and for the not quite as great as I’ve had it before corn creme brulee, but that chicken parm… man oh man… I want some more RIGHT NOW.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

General Assembly

24 Mar

We had spent the beautiful, 60 degree day walking all around NYC.  We walked down the High Line, across to Union Square, wandered our way up to a meeting with our mortgage broker, and then popped into Eater’s Heat Map to see if we could find a fun place to have dinner near Midtown East.  No less than 30 minutes, we were walking in to the very new General Assembly, which opened earlier this month.

It was ringing a bell in my brain, but I couldn’t place it until I saw the Quality Meats card on the host desk and realized that both restaurants are from the great restaurant group, Fourth Wall (also of Smith & Wollensky fame).

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The space has a great aesthetic, with a lot of light woods, white walls, and very well placed mirrors.

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A cute private room downstairs.

 

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And their logo stamped on their butcher paper table covers and all tableware.  (I like a good logo branding job… it’s the advertising part of my brain… what can I say).

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Right after we ordered, beautiful warm parker house rolls were served with a basil-like crunch and salt on top and nicely warm butter.  A great start to the meal.

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Our drinks arrived moments later, including a great cocktail called Hop Scotch On the Rocks — Blended Scotch Whisky & Homemade Citra Hop Infused Honey. (Loved it)

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And Mike got a Geary’s beer, from Maine, one of our favorite stops in Portland.

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We started with an appetizer of gnocchi & Viking Village Scallops with a bacon beurre blanc sauce.  Holy smokes! This was insanely good.  Crazy good. Certifiably ridiculous.  The scallops were sweet and perfectly cooked, cut to the same size as the pillowy gnocchi with bacony bits and (I think) fried potato skins for crunch and chives on top.  The sauce was just so damn good.  Buttery and a bit tart and bacony and just… damn…

It was also a good portion for an app (could make for an entree, really, if you wanted something a bit on the smaller side).

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For his entree, Mike got the steak frites, which came with either Colorado lamb or Creekstone beef.  Mike chose the lamb and it was a very good choice.  The fries were nicely crisped and flavorful, and the steak had a beautiful char and hotel butter on top, with a lamby goodness that was hard to beat.

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I went with the Hudson Valley duck confit with gingered kumquats & apricots.

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It had a very nice crispness to the skin and I really loved the gingered, candied apricots and kumquats with it. Mike wasn’t as big a fan, but I’m the duck confit person, and I thought it was great.

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For sides, the Quality Meats superstar was on the menu: Corn Creme Brulee.  It was as good as I remembered it from our last meal.  I really love this side!

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We also tried the crispy artichokes with malt vinegar aioli. I really enjoyed the fry on this, since it was light but added a great crispy. And the crisped basil on top with the aioli made for nice foils to the fry.

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Unfortunately, we were really full by the end, so we were not able to take part in the desserts, which included a tray of custom, fun sounding eclairs.

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We strolled home and it was a perfect moment of dusk which made the city look even more beautiful than it usually does.

 

 

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A great way to end a great day. (I freakin’ love this city)

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Overall, our meal was really fantastic.  From start to finish, there were items that were really good and then a few that were absolutely great.  That scallops appetizer alone is worth the trip to midtown.  It’s pretty close to my office, and I’m thrilled to have a great place to go for nice lunches.  The service was also attentive and speedy, without feeling rushed.  Totally worth checking out.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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