Thoughts of a Middle Aged Man

For our trip to New York, I did a lot of investigating of restaurants to complement our daily adventures. I wanted to go to Babbo’s, Mario Batali’s place in the Village, but we couldn’t score a reservation, so I secured a reservation at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay’s flagship place. Its on 5th and we drove past it in the cab, as its exterior is very understated. Now as you may remember, I wasn’t a fan of Bobby Flay, but changed my mine after trying some of his cookbooks. The place was packed for a Sunday evening. First let me tell you what I expected and then let you know what I found.

I guess I expected a more refined restaurant. What we got was a more casual place. It included top notch service, but the service was more friendly than I expected and the interior was more understated and casual. The noise level was high. Now don’t get me wrong, all of this was great, just not what I expected.

We were early, so we grabbed a seat at the bar, watched a very busy bartender make our drinks and things got started well. Once seated, our friendly server informed us that there we no specials for the evening and being Sunday, I understood. We started with a couple of appetizers. We love Queso Fundido, so we ordered Bobby’s goat cheese version and the waiter also suggested the shrimp tamale. The Queso Fundido was good, but adding a little sauteed chorizo would have made it better. There was nothing special about the shrimp tamale. The shrimp and the sauce were bland and the tamale was dry. Again not bad, but I think we expected more.

We each ordered something different for dinner and we agree to share three sides. My wife ordered the steak with the Mesa Grill Steak Sauce. Yep, the same sauce I raved about in a recipe post and I have posted the recipe on my recipe site. The sauce at the restaurant was different than the one I made. Theirs had more ancho and mine had more horseradish. Annette and I agreed that we like mine better. Again it wasn’t bad, it just not was was expected. I ordered the duck breast with a carrot habanero sauce. Again the duck was well prepared but the sauce was understated. I expected more heat and floral flavor from the habanero. The sauces that had the boldest flavor were the red and green chili sauce my friend had with his ribeye steak. The hottest was the tenderloin which had a peppery heat and not a chili heat.

All in all it, was a great, expensive meal, with a nice atmosphere and attentive, friendly service. I guess I expected something different. More bold colors (on the food and in the restaurant) and more bold flavors that he is known for by combining chilies with fruit or other sweeteners for balance. Now the question is were my expectations wrong or was the restaurant have having an off night, or do they tone things down for a New York City crowd? Is his Mesa Grill in Las Vegas different? I know its confusing. I know one thing. I am going home to make the Mesa Grill steak sauce soon, so I see if my version is better than his. Would I go back? I would with slightly different expectations. At least that would help prove either the flavors are toned down for the restaurant as compared to his cookbooks, or it was an off night in the restaurant.