NoMad on 28th and Broadway in NYC

[B Lawrence]

The dining room at the NoMad Hotel (http://www.thenomadhotel.com/) was open for "friends and family" last evening and Wilfred van Gorp and I were fortunate to attend. It was the first evening serving non staff. Will Guidara and Daniel Humm have another hit as far as I'm concerned. They've created close to a four star experience from day one. It is a relaxed, somewhat informal atmosphere, very hip with a little background noise and cool music. But it's very comfortable and the food and service are just what you'd expect from these two Eleven Madison Park veterans....incredible. I wish I had taken photos of the various courses on the tasting menu which was offered to us...the only patrons last evening to be offered the tasting menu (certainly because of Wilfred!).... because any description I'd give here wouldn't be sufficient. Let me just say that the food was extremely creative and absolutely delicious....certainly showing it's Eleven Madison Park heritage. The service was terrific too. In addition to being highly professional and accommodating, the staff treats you like you are the most important diner in the room. I genuinely feel like the staff believes they've had a successful night at work if you've had a great time and leave happy. Will and Daniel kept asking us if we could reserve judgment on everything while they got it all running smoothly....sorry, I can't comply.....what needs to be running more smoothly? It's a home run already! I understand that they will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's unique and surely a place to put on your list of restaurants to visit when you're in NYC.

[Marshall Gelb]

Sounds fabulous......Next time we are in town?

Cheers!
Marshall

[B Lawrence]

That would be great Marshall.

[Diane Kessler]

Thanks for the sneak peak, Bill. It is certainly on my list.

[Ramon Cabrera]

On my radar now. Thanks Bill.

[WvanGorp]

I echo what Bill has said. Maybe the best summary would be to share an email I sent to the principals about the other night: (cut and paste)

1) The service for the F&F event was the most polished, glitch free experience I have had at ANY F&F opening, bar none. It was as if the restaurant had been open for 6+ months, and it was just humming (pun intended) along. A well oiled engine. Just purring was the service. I couldn't believe it. Once, when a staff (not sure his title) member saw us sitting between courses he said "Its been a while since your last course [we didn't care], let me check on your next course." Very impressive. Also, it wasn't flooded with guests as many F&F can be. Just purring.

2) The food was astonishing. Very reminiscent of EMP yet different, but not EMP light. Food is very creative and really astonishes by texture, taste and temperature. As I said this reminds me of a change in culinary culture in NYC in a similar way to Ruth Reichl's first review of Jean Georges and what he was doing flavor wise.

3) Love the layout. I'm going to move into the library.

Huge hit, guys! You should be very pleased and proud.

[M.Kaplan]

Anyone check out the rooms? Coming to NYC in May and my favorite, The Crosby, has become prohibitive.

[Daniel Moritz]

Was at Nomad on Friday night with another couple and it was sensational. Totally different from EMP, but really fantastic. Will was there and joked that we ordered the "baller menu"...aka the tasting menu plus the whole chicken. Everything on the tasting menu was served quasi family style. Aka it came on a central platter but with individual portions for the most part. There were some real treats - an egg dish with quinoa was amazing. The chicken is out of this world. Dessert featuring a strawberry and rhubarb pie with bay leaf ice cream was off the charts. Service great. You can tell its the same people behind EMP but they are really creating a whole different environment. Highly recommended.