The Charles On West 4th, The Ultimate Dining Experience
[The Charles' Menus]
Last night, Rachelle invited me to join her and 2 others for a meal at the newly opened restaurant called “The Charles” on West 4th street. I don’t get out much, so I totally missed out on the Waverly Inn bandwagon that Chef John DeLucie (who was a consultant at the Charles) made so hip, and figured that things would be different this time around. I was not only going to try the Charles out, I was going to be one of its first guests. Things were looking up for me. So, I threw on my favorite jacket and headed down to West 4th to see what Chef John McAllister (Soho Grand) was made of.
[Interview With Chef John DeLucie]
More story below:
The former Les Deux Gamins bistro space’s window are now boarded up with newspaper. It looked like a closed restaurant, and there was no sign in sight. This is of course, on purpose I’m sure, one of those things that the restaurants I couldn’t get into before I met GofG do for reasons unbeknownst to me. Apparently the decoy didn’t work. When we opened the doors, the place was PACKED with quite a stylish crowd. They were running a bit behind on our reservation, expected of a place that just opened, so we hung out in the (small) bar area where my company got a good laugh at my name which is composed of two verbs: “Hunter Walker”.
The intimate eight-seat bar area had a wine list that was expectantly pricey and decidedly lacking in medium priced bottles. (Or maybe I really don’t get out much as stated earlier). Apparently it is under the direction of the owner of Clo, the wine bar in the Time Warner Center.
We were seated comfortably in the corner, nestled away in a booth with a velvety banquette. For starters we tried the Octopus, Lamb Skewers, and Tuna. They were all excellent. Dinner consisted of steak, cod, duck, and Branzino, the latter one being just so-so compared to the rest. The best part of the whole meal (besides learning what “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Desperate Housewives of NY” were - we were sitting across from Kelly Killoren Bensimon I was told), was the Chocolate Cake with Rosemary. We fought over the last bites of this baby and debated ordering another.
Now that I’ve gotten the food out of the way, I must take a bit and tell you how much I enjoyed the MUSIC at The Charles. From Steve Wonder to The Police and everything in between, I distinctly remember my table rocking the casbah with the Clash.
John has said that his menu at The Charles is a work in progress. I included photos of the ones from last night above, but I hope to be returning soon for Round Two to see how things have evolved. We ended the night at some place called “Rosebar” where I was once again made fun of for never going to. I really liked the artwork, and the dark and stormy.
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November 6, 2008 12:31pm
interesting bathroom (not sure how i feel about the urinal), but agree that the chocolate cake is delectable
November 6, 2008 2:37pm
where are the pics?
To paraphrase, “leave a lady a bit of mystery!”
November 6, 2008 5:16pm
I have eaten there before & after the Executive Chef John Mc Allister left the restaurant and the food has suffered since his departure.
November 9, 2008 6:00pm
yeh, you really should get out a little more…. this reads like it was written by a 45 yr old woman with four cats
November 10, 2008 11:58pm
I just thought this guy is a wanker who got a PR script to rehash. This thing plagiarizes all the other crappy “reviews” on the net.
As we were the first in, I’m not sure who you think we could plagiarize.
November 13, 2008 5:14pm
this place is a mess. The chef left and the management is a disaster. Went there last wkend and i cant imaging this place being open for more than a year
January 30, 2009 10:21am
how do you make reservations?
February 7, 2009 11:23am
does anyone know the phone number or email to get a res
April 3, 2009 7:16pm
Time to take the silly newspaper down already?.
Maybe not be an eyesore and have some respect for the neighborhood and neighbors. Oh, and it would be great if the too-cool-for-school patrons stopped blocking my walk home from the grocery store while they congregate and smoke as their towncars idle.