NYC Restaurant Week is in full swing here in Manhattan, where several restaurants are offering up some scrumptious deals on their best plates across the city. One in particular that caught our eye is the elegant and sophisticated Gaby Braserrie Francaise, located inside the lush Sofitel on 45th street between 6th and 5th avenue. I stopped by there with a friend a couple of days ago to try out their options (going on until August 18th), and was quite pleased with the selections they provided.
We stopped by Gaby Braserrie Francaise a little over three years ago and were just as pleased then as we were the other night. The restaurant itself compliments the overall ambiance that Sofitel provides, which essentially brings out the best from the French culinary world onto your plate and then into your mouth for full satisfaction.
Chef Robert Hohmann, who comes to us from The Roosevelt here in NYC, was recently appointed the new executive chef of Gaby Brasserie Francaise and is a fellow Johnson and Wales University grad to boot. If anything, the dishes that he provided us excelled our already fabulous thought process on what makes this place so great, and I look forward to seeing what he has to offer.
Pricing wise, Gaby Braserrie Francaise has hit it out of the park with its selection for NYC Restaurant Week. At only $42 per person, it is a steal with the quality dishes and ingredients they are providing you (more here). You get an appetizer, entree and dessert, and there is a bevy of options to choose from. Here were the highlights for us.
The Pan-Seared Dayboat Scallop (a small additional charge, but worth it), was a great choice in their appetizer round as the scallop itself has a great supporting cast. It comes with sauteed beech mushrooms, toasted sage and roasted corn Veloute (sauce). For an appetizer this small (only one scallop) to really stand out says a lot, and it does with every component working extremely well with each other.
Moving onto their entrees, I really got a kick out of their Cider-Glazed Duck Breast, with confit baby fennel and white grits. Duck is one of my favorite meat types to have this time of year, and the cider glaze they put on the perfectly cooked duck was absolutely amazing. I’m not the biggest fan of grits, however it paired well with the duck and made this for a really delicious meal.
For their dessert, both the Apple Galette and Lemon Curd work. The latter I prefer, as it comes in a mason jar of sorts and has balsamic roasted strawberries inside of it to balance the tartness of the lemon itself. When you mix sweet with tartness, it makes for a killer combination. Overall, they provided a great meal and I can’t wait to see what’s next for them.
For more information on Gaby Brasserie Francaise, please check out their official website.