BLT Prime

A week ago, my friend posted an article about BLT Steak's 7th birthday party on 3.3.11 and to celebrate, BLT Steak and BLT Prime were offering reduced prices on some of their steaks ($33.04), sides, desserts and cocktails (all $3.03). I've been in the mood for steak for some time and this sounded like a perfect opportunity to go. BLT Steak had already run out of reservations but I somehow scored a 9pm rez at BLT Prime. I got Tom to go with me even though he told me he wasn't the biggest fan. Whatever, 22oz RIBEYE!! $3 sides! How do you go wrong??

Unfortunately we found out. The place was PACKED. I should've known better to go to a restaurant where it would be utter chaos. We got a table upstairs away from all of the hoopla but that also meant limited waitstaff. Well, for us at least... you see, our waitress took our order and was never to be seen again until the very end of the meal. Meanwhile, she was tending to all of the tables around us. Tom ordered a glass of wine and I had to ask another gentleman working there to get him one. He apologized for the delay and comped it, which was super nice.

Finally we started getting bread. It came with chicken pate which was served in a little jar and wooden spoon. Delicious. Tom kept talking about this bread basket that was heavenly... and sure enough, a waiter brought out a basket of the 2 largest popovers I had ever seen. It was light and doughy on the inside but still had a warm crunchy cheesy crust. The whipped butter that accompanied the popovers melted so nicely inside. It also came with a tiny card that had the recipe which is posted at the end.

Then came the steaks. Both still in the cast iron pan it was cooked in. The bone full of marrow and half a head of roasted garlic with a pat of herbed butter on top (which I did not like and put aside). Tiny gravy boats of sauce to accompany the steak were presented. For whatever reason, the peppercorn sauce was given to me (I also asked for their steak sauce) and the red wine sauce to Tom. I actually really liked mine, but the steak was so good on its own anyway. So here's the thing... we both ordered ours medium rare, and mine was cooked perfectly, but his was on the medium well side. TRULY the most disappointing thing ever ESPECIALLY in a steakhouse!(I know, I've been there... I'm looking at you SMITH & WOLLENSKY!!) Unfortunately, no one came around to ask how our meal was, and even if they had, Tom wouldn't let me say anything. Sigh. The rest of the sides were ok though. We had french fries (delicious), creamy spinach (a little too rich for my taste), stuffed mushrooms that were too salty, and I don't think I was in the mood for parmesan cheese which topped them, and onion rings which were ok, but wished they were crispy instead of doughy.

I was really excited for the Special dessert- nutella pudding with mini doughnuts. But since our waitress took so long to come by our table, they were out of it when I ordered! GRR. So I shared Tom's chocolate tart with the tiniest scoop of pistachio ice cream and ate the tiny squares they brought out "compliments of the chef".

Sorry BLT Prime. I know you were all really busy but we were already too insulted at that point to enjoy it. It's the 7th birthday, you would think that they'd know how crazy it gets and to get more waitstaff/fewer reservations. The night would've been great if Tom's steak was cooked correctly but it ruined the dinner. He is boycotting them, however I might go back just for the popovers and fries :D


Popovers
Makes 6 popovers
Ingredients
2 cups milk, warmed
4 eggs
2 cups flour
3/4 heaping tbsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese
popover pan

Preparation
Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350F. Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside. Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside. Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.
Once combined, remove the popover pan from teh oven and spray with non-stick vegetable spray. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 3/4 full. Top each popover with approximately 2 1/2 tbsp grated gruyere.
Bake at 350F for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Peter Luger's Steakhouse

I recently celebrated my birthday, and the thing I was looking forward to most about the big 2-5 was the dinner. Tom made reservations at Peter Luger's Steakhouse. The name was always tossed around, and raved about (including from my coworker who talked excitedly about everything from the service to the sides), but I had never actually researched its whereabouts. However, I did have their number stored on my cellphone for the past few years because I once got a call from them asking to confirm my reservation for 8. Wrong number. But I saved it for the off-chance that someday, someone might talk to me about making a reservation and I could impress them by saying "oh, let me make one right now, as Peter and I are like this" and I'd cross my fingers and people might think "Wow, she is so cool!". Of course, this has never happened, probably will never happen; Tom made the rez without me.

Because my birthday falls on St Patrick's Day, it is annoying to try to reserve any bar or restaurant. And according to one experiment in which someone tried to make a reservation for 2, 8pm, at some of Brooklyn's most sought-after restaurants, Peter Lugers was the only one that didn't have any available that night (which could be any night). But luckily, Tom had found one for 5:45 and another for 9:45. We opted for 5:45 so we'd still have the rest of the day to recuperate.

Sadly, we have been notorious for doing things last minute, and we rushed to Brooklyn from the UWS, and from his apt, rushed to the restaurant, thus making me forget to bring my purse and... my camera. I cannot show the size of the amazing porterhouse for 2, nor the creamed spinach, french fries, or more importantly the slice of bacon that could pass for a steak.

Instead, I will have to describe it: A basket of onion rolls and sea salt and fennel seed rolls were brought out with a gravy boat of Peter Luger's own steak sauce and 2 large pats of butter for each of us (yikes, how could they think we'd eat that much butter with our bread?). I ordered slice of bacon which I guess they consider an appetizer because it was brought out before the rest of the food. It was about the length of your average bacon slice, but it was cut thick (about a 1/2")and 3" wide and came in at $3. Totally worth it. The creamed spinach was actually too buttery for me and I had only a spoonful or two during dinner. The french fries were extra crispy and hot, but we could've easily ordered it for 1, instead of 2 as we barely made a dent in it. The Porterhouse for 2 is not a cheap eat ringing in at $85. Then again, it was the most tender, buttery, rare and largest steak I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Our waiter served it on a trivet so that the oil and presumably butter (which I'll just refer to as "sauce") made a little pool on one side of the place and using two big silver spoons, served each of us a huge slice of steak on our plates, drizzled a bit of the sauce on the meat and left. I grabbed my fork and knife.

The first bite was as if I were laying in a field of soft green grass on a 65°F Spring's day, with the sun warming me from above and butterflies dancing around my cheek, feeding me a steak while getting a massage from [insert someone very attractive]. As we made our way through the steak, I knew that I was getting full because I noticed I was chewing it more and more. The 20th bite was not as good as the first, but I could still appreciate it. Actually, I was amazed the waiter pointed out we had left a piece left; I thought it was part of the bone.

According to Tom (and the subsequent research I did), the steaks are dry-aged for over 21 days in their very own dry-aging boxes which means... it grows mold on them (which they cut off, of course). Ack. But hey, if it results in tender meat, then by all means, mold away. I love cheese which is moldy so what do I have to really complain about?

I felt like I had to be rolled out of there after we were done eating. The waiter put the bone into a doggie bag along with the french fries and spinach. Tom didn't let me gnaw on the bone when we got home. Alas, but all in all, a fantastic meal to a fantastic birthday.