We weren’t quite cool enough to go to this joint for dinner or drinks, but brunch provided us with a good sense of what this place might be like on a bustling Saturday night, and boy what a scene it must be. Starting with the 15 video screens above the bar that show still images of patrons as they push their way through the revolving door into the restaurant all the way to the glowing glass bathrooms, this bar/restaurant is a true architectural and visual marvel. One part Jetsons and two parts modern art masterpiece, we would pay ten dollars for a beer just to stand at the beautiful bar with its green/white opaque glass floor to ceiling cabinet backdrop. Inside these cabinets lay the fuzzy outlines of what must be very expensive bottles of wine and champagne. The whole restaurant gives you the feeling that you have entered a space ship or a funky futuristic fashion show (we can only imagine the label whores who crowd the bar for late night Cosmos.) The food isn’t cheap, but is certainly tasty and plentiful. One surveyor claimed the eggs benedict were the best she had ever tasted. The garlic and thyme roasted chicken with truffle mashed potatoes was equally stupendous. Apparently Brasserie was first opened in 1959, and closed in the 90s for five years to be remodeled. The time was well spent, as we think this place will be around for another long while. [MF]
100 E 53rd St.
