Legit Marathon Meal at Veritas

On a recent weekday night I made it over to wine super restaurant Veritas for a business dinner. Veritas had always been a restaurant I heard of, but I didn't know anyone who had been there. They were a top wine destination in the city, but that's about all I knew about the restaurant across the street from Gramercy Tavern.

Entering the restaurant we are met with a gorgeous bar, packed with a variety of well dressed men and women, sipping vino and enjoying the newly added bar menu. We sunk into a comfortable booth in the back, with a great view of the somewhat quaint dining room. A party was taking up a good portion of the room as others ordered wine by the glass, with a lucky table donning a magnum. The menu here is prix fixe only in the main dining room, meaning you're not going here for the recession special. On the contrary, you're getting some pretty fabulous food, service and more for about $90 a person, excluding wine of course. Cheap? Nope. But it is fairly priced, something I really only noticed AFTER we ate. The soup amuse, which I surprisingly cannot fully remember, was delicious and a great start to the evening.

My courses were comprises of Frogs Legs, Veal Sweetbreads and a Rhubarb Tart Tartin. The Frogs Legs were sauteed with baby chanterelle mushrooms, and served with a fresh garbanzo puree, parsley coulis and fried spring onions. The tiny frogs legs were extremely tender, and at 6 to 7 per dish it was quite the starter. I would have preferred a slightly thinner puree, but that would be my only complaint. My Veal Sweetbreads entree was stellar, the best bite of the evening. Served with a spelt risotto, white asparagus, and morels, it was rich and reminded me of the changing of seasons, from winter to spring. There was a potent rosemary scent throughout the sweetbreads and the sauce was prominent, without overpowering the perfectly prepared vegetables. I would get this again, heck I would get this many times over.

My dessert was good, but I found the Rhubarb Tart Tartin overshadowed by amazing petit fours. A serving plate of 6 different tastes graced our table along with a nicely plated cheese plate. Each petit fours was a work of art, with my favorite resembling a remarkably small cream puff. In such a small bite I sampled 6 very unique desserts, a quite impressive end to the meal.

To top it all of the wine was as expected, impressive and abundant. From a sparkling rose to the dessert wine, each wine paired well with the courses, with a particularly good Italian red, which stole the show (I'm trying to get the name). In full disclosure, the restaurant treated us well, providing us with a great table and extra attention on the wine front. With that said, it's hard to believe the restaurant not providing stellar service. Some dishes may make you yearn for more, others may merely be okay, but more likely than not you can expect a solid meal worthy of any special occassion, just plan ahead and block of a few hours of your time.
43 E 20th St, New York, NY 10003, 212-353-3700, Price - Expensive ($95-150/person), Reservations - Recommended