Gild the Lily

It is Mer's birthday this month so she chose the latest venue for our Fancy Supper Club.  Mer admitted to wanting to eat at Gilt since the Palace Hotel, where it is located, is featured prominently on Gossip Girl.  You can't help but watch that show if you live in this city.  I even lived down the hall from one of the actors on that show and was surprised when I saw Blake Lively in the foyer as I was exiting the building.  She really is that pretty even in person.

The hotel lobby is beautiful and the restaurant is equally as beautiful.  It's a place begging to make a grand entrance.

I loved the dark ornate wood in the dining room and the very color-rich painting.  It could not be helped but be noticed.

We were all very tired at dinner but everyone looked lovely.  Mer was recovering from a cold she picked up during vacation, Trish ran the Brooklyn Half-Marathon earlier that day, and I just needed more sleep.

Our amuse bouche may have been the best part of the meal - it was a ramp soup and it may have been my favorite ramp dish I've had this season.  Gilt also served us a selection of breads which were unreal.  The flavors included a manchego pretzel, fig bread, butternut squash bread and an olive roll.  We each choose a couple of breads and picked at them through the meal. 

For a starter, Mer and I ordered the Salad of Spring Vegetables with a selection of raw, fermented, roasted and pickles veggies.  It was good but as you can see the plating was beautiful.

Trish had the Roasted Asparagus with a Lukan's farm egg, cured tuna, nasturtium, and hazelnut. 

My main dish was the Border Springs Farm Lamb with spring onion, morel, wheat berries, and sheep's milk ricotta.  It was good but not memorable.  I had to look at the menu to remind myself what I ordered.

Mer and Trish both ordered with Cod with squid, green almonds, garbanzo beans, and nettle salsa verde.  Again, I don't believe either fell in love with the dish.  When the waiter took the dish away, the green sauce spilled on Mer's dress.  They were great about offering to pay for the dry cleaning and I was impressed how they handled the situation.

It was in between courses that Trish noticed that Pat Sajak was at the table next to us.  I tried to take a picture without being too obvious but I think it was too dark to see him regardless.  He's there though.  

To start our dessert course, we were given a little treat but it wasn't anything memorable.

Mer and I ate the Strawberry Rhubarb with treacle pudding, frozen strawberry sabayon, and peche lambic gelee.  The plating was beautiful and certain components were delicious but not the entire dish.

Trish had the Chocolate dessert with salty caramel gelato.  She was pleased with her selection.

Mer couldn't decide between the Strawberry Rhubarb and another dish so they brought out both of them.  That is always appreciated but by this time we were so full that it was difficult to eat another bite.

And to finish off the experience, we were brought a tray of chocolate truffles and told to sample to our hearts desire.  I loved the chocolate mint because the mint tasted like real mint.  I also loved the blood orange candy.  Our server insisted we take the gold covered almonds.  Everything about this restaurant was beautiful but I wish the food lived up to the beauty.

Overall, Gilt is a beautiful restaurant but the food was not spectacular.  Each dish contained so many components that they had to be eaten all together to make it delicious.  It was almost too much effort to get everything in each mouthful.