TELEPAN |
|
| 72 West 69th Street | |
| Manhattan, NY 10023-5212 | |
| 212-580-4300 | |
|
Hours:
Lunch, Wed-Fri Weekend brunch Dinner daily | |
New American. Bill Telepan, whose last big show was midtown's JUdson Grill, is now performing near Lincoln Center. He has earned top billing.
Telepan fills two townhouses with full flavor and refined style. The chef's sharp, market-driven cooking refreshes, entertains, satisfies.
Cozy chaos occasionally reigns in this subdued setting, with dining areas shaded in green. Service can be both pressured and cool, from the first phone call to the front-desk wait. By the time you're seated, however, the attitude shifts and mood improves.
Telepan constructs a menu of starters and entrees, with a middle course that falls into its place for portion-size and style. Pick and choose according to your appetite.
But do try the homey, lush dish of coddled eggs, with scrapple, collard greens and a slightly sweet pork sauce; or eggs-in-a-hole, finished with smoked salmon, asparagus and lemon. Poached eggs get their due here, whether served with roasted asparagus and frisée; supporting hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, or gilding the "pea carbonara," a rich riff on the Roman dish, with pancetta and fettuccine.
Spring vegetable-and-bread soup, spurred by pancetta and olive oil, also is worth sampling. Take an Asian turn with yellowtail sashimi, paired with cured tuna, mint and farro tabbouleh. The roasted blue prawns and house-smoked trout with buckwheat blini are respectable, but trail all this. Instead, try the savory chickpea pancakes with spiced carrots and kale.
Telepan's menus change seasonally. But "lobster-braised" wild striped bass, accented with a solitary little claw and a hint of vanilla in carrots; and monkfish "paprikas," completed with kielbasa and barley-stuffed cabbage, deserve longer stays. Parsley-breaded scallops, boosted by Meyer lemon; and king salmon with baby fennel and a fennel vinaigrette, also make you want to extend spring.
A themed course-in-pork, with fine confit, loin, bacon, oregano-spiked sausage and beans suitable for cassoulet, is a delectable, balanced little quartet. Just as good: the combination of roasted, dry-aged sirloin and braised short ribs, with a bone marrow-potato puree, garlic and spring onions.
Well-chosen, ripe cheeses from the mild, evocative Twig Farm Goat Tomme, a goat's milk beauty, to Cato Corner Farms Hooligan, a creamy and pungent raw milk number, mandate a plate.
You could follow the cheeses with a boozy, oloroso sherry custard tart, with caramelized blood orange; a soothing coconut rice pudding with pineapple sauce; steamed chocolate cake; or a spirited quince granita parfait with prosecco.
Reserve your seats early. --Peter Gianotti
Telepan fills two townhouses with full flavor and refined style. The chef's sharp, market-driven cooking refreshes, entertains, satisfies.
Cozy chaos occasionally reigns in this subdued setting, with dining areas shaded in green. Service can be both pressured and cool, from the first phone call to the front-desk wait. By the time you're seated, however, the attitude shifts and mood improves.
Telepan constructs a menu of starters and entrees, with a middle course that falls into its place for portion-size and style. Pick and choose according to your appetite.
But do try the homey, lush dish of coddled eggs, with scrapple, collard greens and a slightly sweet pork sauce; or eggs-in-a-hole, finished with smoked salmon, asparagus and lemon. Poached eggs get their due here, whether served with roasted asparagus and frisée; supporting hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, or gilding the "pea carbonara," a rich riff on the Roman dish, with pancetta and fettuccine.
Spring vegetable-and-bread soup, spurred by pancetta and olive oil, also is worth sampling. Take an Asian turn with yellowtail sashimi, paired with cured tuna, mint and farro tabbouleh. The roasted blue prawns and house-smoked trout with buckwheat blini are respectable, but trail all this. Instead, try the savory chickpea pancakes with spiced carrots and kale.
Telepan's menus change seasonally. But "lobster-braised" wild striped bass, accented with a solitary little claw and a hint of vanilla in carrots; and monkfish "paprikas," completed with kielbasa and barley-stuffed cabbage, deserve longer stays. Parsley-breaded scallops, boosted by Meyer lemon; and king salmon with baby fennel and a fennel vinaigrette, also make you want to extend spring.
A themed course-in-pork, with fine confit, loin, bacon, oregano-spiked sausage and beans suitable for cassoulet, is a delectable, balanced little quartet. Just as good: the combination of roasted, dry-aged sirloin and braised short ribs, with a bone marrow-potato puree, garlic and spring onions.
Well-chosen, ripe cheeses from the mild, evocative Twig Farm Goat Tomme, a goat's milk beauty, to Cato Corner Farms Hooligan, a creamy and pungent raw milk number, mandate a plate.
You could follow the cheeses with a boozy, oloroso sherry custard tart, with caramelized blood orange; a soothing coconut rice pudding with pineapple sauce; steamed chocolate cake; or a spirited quince granita parfait with prosecco.
Reserve your seats early. --Peter Gianotti
