So you know how Le Grainne Cafe was this casual French bistro? Well Table d'Hote...isn't. Yes, it is French, and no, they will not turn you away in jeans and sneakers, but it is less "Let's grab a crepe," and more, "I'll have the seared salmon with accompanying roasted shallot risotto and greens."
Thankfully, the ambiance is not pretentious. On account of the small size of the room, the hutches that serve double duty as decoration and wine storage, the framed drawings of fruit and women lining the walls, the wood chairs with straw seats, the half curtains covering the bottoms of the windows, and the restaurant's location on a quiet side street on the Upper East Side, Table d'Hote is neither bustling like Paris nor decadent like the Riviera. Instead, it feels more like the countryside - cozy, inviting, and informally elegant.
The menu is divided into firsts and mains, but the mains are further categorized into tasting and entree portions. Although smaller than the entree sizes, the tasting portions are not exactly small. On a recent visit, I ordered a bowl of cauliflower and blue cheese soup (a special appetizer that day) and the tasting size of the quail. The plate was loaded with rosemary and ginger stuffing, swiss chard, and a well seasoned bird. The waiter explained the entree size would have come with the same amount of stuffing and greens but with two birds instead of the one. My order was the appropriate size for my appetite, but perhaps it would not have been sufficient for someone who had skipped the appetizer - for someone who had sadly worked through lunch that afternoon - for someone who had not just consumed the beer I had just consumed at the Central Park Boathouse.
As is fitting of a delightful restaurant on the Upper East Side with quality food, a suitable wine selection, and attentive service, the prices are moderately expensive. However, price-fixed menus are available at brunch, lunch, and dinner, so it is certainly possible to enjoy a reasonably priced meal - rendered all the more enjoyable and somehow more scrumptious by the reasonable price.
So head over with that out-of-towner who asked to visit the Guggenheim, that couple you and your wife met while wine tasting in the Hamptons, or your partner of 35 years. If you are gamblers by nature, you can go to the fewer-than-30-seats restaurant without a reservation. Though a craps shooter in casinos, I am less of a risk taker when it comes to dinnertime and suggest calling ahead.
Table d'Hote - 44 East 92nd Street, between Madison & Park Avenues
Thankfully, the ambiance is not pretentious. On account of the small size of the room, the hutches that serve double duty as decoration and wine storage, the framed drawings of fruit and women lining the walls, the wood chairs with straw seats, the half curtains covering the bottoms of the windows, and the restaurant's location on a quiet side street on the Upper East Side, Table d'Hote is neither bustling like Paris nor decadent like the Riviera. Instead, it feels more like the countryside - cozy, inviting, and informally elegant.
The menu is divided into firsts and mains, but the mains are further categorized into tasting and entree portions. Although smaller than the entree sizes, the tasting portions are not exactly small. On a recent visit, I ordered a bowl of cauliflower and blue cheese soup (a special appetizer that day) and the tasting size of the quail. The plate was loaded with rosemary and ginger stuffing, swiss chard, and a well seasoned bird. The waiter explained the entree size would have come with the same amount of stuffing and greens but with two birds instead of the one. My order was the appropriate size for my appetite, but perhaps it would not have been sufficient for someone who had skipped the appetizer - for someone who had sadly worked through lunch that afternoon - for someone who had not just consumed the beer I had just consumed at the Central Park Boathouse.
As is fitting of a delightful restaurant on the Upper East Side with quality food, a suitable wine selection, and attentive service, the prices are moderately expensive. However, price-fixed menus are available at brunch, lunch, and dinner, so it is certainly possible to enjoy a reasonably priced meal - rendered all the more enjoyable and somehow more scrumptious by the reasonable price.
So head over with that out-of-towner who asked to visit the Guggenheim, that couple you and your wife met while wine tasting in the Hamptons, or your partner of 35 years. If you are gamblers by nature, you can go to the fewer-than-30-seats restaurant without a reservation. Though a craps shooter in casinos, I am less of a risk taker when it comes to dinnertime and suggest calling ahead.
Table d'Hote - 44 East 92nd Street, between Madison & Park Avenues
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