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by Barbara Penny Angelakis
 La Carne Grill
340 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10016
212.490.7172
Only in New York City would it be possible to find a family friendly, multilevel Glat Kosher Steak and Sushi restaurant boasting a Spanish name, a Mexican Executive Chef and a French dessert menu. Just south of center city, on Lexington Avenue at 39th Street is such a restaurant. La Carne Grill is hidden behind a handsome curtain draped façade, with just the name emblazoned on the awning over the door to mark its presence in this restaurant-crowded enclave of the city.
The extensive menu of raw fish offerings, with both appetizer and entrée selections, and grilled steaks, poultry and assorted cuts of Lamb, Veal and Duck with all the accompanying vegetables and starches normally found at a steak emporium, should appeal to any appetite. A well stocked bar and kosher wine list should take care of the liquid requirement for a relaxing, unrushed dining experience. However, La Carne Grill’s wine list could benefit by the addition of more kosher wine producers whose wine is superior in taste to the present offerings but not necessarily higher in price, such as the Yarden line from Israel or the Cuvée du Centenaire, from the Côtes du Rhône.
The prices on the ala carte menu are in line with other steak houses in the area  and for those who only eat kosher food, the 24/7 presence of a rabbinical authority certifying authenticity is priceless. All food deliveries are monitored and the food preparation is overseen to insure standards are met.
We visited La Carne Grill on a Monday evening and the place was jumping with a sound level to match. The main room on the first floor was crowded and one of the private party rooms on the second level had been opened to accommodate the overflow. General Manager Gabriela Rosenblatt told us that the restaurant has been full for dinner ever since it opened two years ago. In a city that literally offers any type of food, at any price range, and in any neighborhood, that is a testament to the need for a high quality kosher restaurant, and La Carne Grill fills that need.
We wanted to try one atypical dish and one that the restaurant was known for. Our waiter explained that there were no signature dishes per se, but that all the  steak cuts were house specialties. In fact, to assist diners in making their selection, the menu displays a butcher-shop style illustration of an animal with the kosher beef cuts pulled out to demonstrate where each cut resides. This is not a surprising image since La Carne Grill’s owner Eddie Allaham’s family has been in the meat business for over 100 years.
I choose to sample the Spicy Tuna Dip appetizer from the sushi bar and the Port House Steak from the grill. Manos choose the duck risotto and the La Carne Grill filet. Both appetizers were top notch and generously proportioned. The risotto was properly al dente with chunks of savory duck mixed with roasted corn and asparagus slices and dressed in truffle oil. The tuna tartar was served in a glass over shredded romaine lettuce into which was stuck romaine and radicchio leaves. Scoops of guacamole and tomato-onion salsa along with wonton chips and a small portion of both gari (pickled ginger) and wasabi (Japanese horseradish) completed the dish that I found to be delectable. The tuna was freshly minced and blended with untypical spices, which I assumed to be influenced by Chef Angel Ramirez’s Mexican background.
The steaks arrived at table grilled exactly as we requested, medium for me, black and blue for Manos. For those uninitiated into the realm of kosher meat these pricey, dry-aged steaks, would be a disappointment but for the cognoscenti the steaks were of the highest quality, properly cut and prepared. Kosher meat is traditionally stewed because the manner of butchering and preparing leaves the  meat chewy, for this reason the kosher steakhouse is a rarity and a good one is a miracle.
The deserts at La Carne Grill were indeed sent from heaven… kudos to the talented pastry chef Sam Cheikh. Passion & Raspberry Parfait was a delightful confection of layered velvety white chocolate parfait with passion fruit and raspberry coulée and the Feuillantine aux Mangues is starfish-shaped puff pastry, horizontally sliced and stuffed with fresh mango slices caramelized and the best imitation of whipped cream ever (this being a kosher restaurant, you can not serve dairy with meat). The espresso coffee was prepared perfectly with correct amount of crema over a strong but not bitter brew. The service was friendly, the ambience was welcoming and the food was of the highest quality.
© December 2007 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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