Gilt

This gilded Midtown mecca tucked away inside the Palace Hotel has managed to pull off a rare feat in the New York dining scene: they’ve provided a perfectly understated and sophisticated dining experience in the most pretentious of settings.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that my meal at Gilt was one of the top three meals I’ve eaten in New York City. The food was serious without being too fussy, the service was seamless without pageantry, and at the expansive wine list offered the flexibility to go for broke or to pinch pennies.

The seared duck breast was probably the most perfectly executed classic preparation of the dish I’ve ever eaten. The “caviar and eggs” first course was a perfectly balanced concoction consisting of a poached duck egg accompanied by briny caviar and rounded out by the earthiness of Matsutake mushrooms. The red wine braised short ribs were another winner served as three well-marbled distinct cubes of extremely tender rib meat paired with horseradish-spiked potatoes and Hen of the Woods mushrooms. The desserts were predictably rich and photogenic, and the après dinner assorted truffles were particularly noteworthy, delivered in flavors like salted caramel, mint, and almond.

The most remarkable part about the service was that it was perfectly unremarkable; I never wanted for anything until I realized I already had it. I wondered if my server was commenting on my hygiene when he appeared from nowhere with a neatly rolled napkin served between polished silver tongs. My napkin had fallen off my lap. I didn’t notice. He did.

It’s hard to put a value sticker on a meal that has a prix fixe price tag of $88, but I’ve paid more for meals that were nowhere as satisfying.

LOCATION: New York Palace Hotel, 455 Madison Ave, Midtown East

COST: $85 prix fixe, $110 tasting per person

WINNERS: real gold desserts during dinner, Gossip Girl being filmed in the hotel during dinner

LOSERS: real gold plated desserts the next day