Last week I had hoped to impress a friend from out of town (the Dean of the Mathematics faculty from a well known university in Canada) by taking him to DavidBurke & Donatella. When I made the reservation they said I could be in the “lounge”. What they didn’t tell me was that I may as well have had a table in the middle of a subway car in rush hour.
Needless to say I had to run out of there rather than try a New York Jets offensive drive to get to my table. Fortunately for me and my out of town friend, Circus restaurant was just across the street. Great Lo had taken us there at one time (and I feel sure we shall return the favor one day soon).
At Circus we found a beautiful hostess with a great smile ready to seat us, a lively setting without the chaos, and a relatively quiet corner where we could carry on a conversation. The food was also a pleasant surprise. Given the late hour I asked for two appetizers – a tropical salad that included fresh fruit and was delicious; and a plate of steamed clams and muscles in a marvelous broth.
My friend had a well prepared halibut and we topped it off with a nice bottle of Chianti. The prices were reasonable, service was excellent (they were very pleasant about my two appetizer requests) and we appreciated it all the more due to our close call with disaster.
To top off a perfect ending for the evening I slept over at my old friend Peter Lo’s apt. which was only 6 blocks away. Since I had a major round of events at work, this saved me a late commute and early morning return to and from Ridgewood. Not to mention the next day beginning with a nice cup of fresh brewed black coffee and a little chat with Lo before heading out into the concrete jungle.
Circus: (previous review: Forbes (TWIR, September 30, 2005)) … web site, 132 East 61st Street, between Lexington and Park Avenues, 212-223-2566 [MenuPages | NY Metro | NYT | Citysearch]
Post by Roger