***Restaurant of the Month*** LANDMARC, NYC
Manhattan does not have traditional malls, and depending on with whom you speak, that can be a blessing or a curse! I prefer to see it as the former. With Madison and 5th Avenues, and areas such as Soho, Tribeca and the trendy Meatpacking District, shopping and dining options are abundant in the city just by walking down most major streets! But if you’re in the midtown area and looking for that old “mall” feeling of an indoor escape, you can’t go wrong with the Time Warner Center located at Columbus Circle off of West 59th Street in midtown.
Just the other day, in between business meetings, I headed to the luxurious Time Warner Center to meet and catch up with my Houston family – Donna and Ulysses to be exact – for a quick bite to eat. So much happened in February, my dining-out schedule was limited, so by default, Landmarc, the shopping center’s epic bistro is March’s RESTAURANT OF THE MONTH!
I had only visited Landmarc once before, however had never eaten there. But sometimes, it’s the company and conversation that can make a restaurant special and memorable. And such was the case lunching there this week! I’ll forever cherish Landmarc now because it’s the spot I spent with Donna and Ulysses in February 2012, sharing and recounting fond and cherished memories of the best entertainer in the world – Whitney Houston. (See my February 13th B&B tribute to Whitney here).
The Time Warner Center boasts some luxe stores such as Hugo Boss, Stuart Weitzman, Williams Sonoma and L’Occitaine just to name a few, but true Manhattanites know that although there’s even a Whole Foods in the basement, The Time Warner Center is really all about their restaurants! In my opinion, the best restaurant in the city, PER SE, is in the Time Warner Center, and if you want a lavish and outstanding jazz experience, it’s all about Jazz at Lincoln Center, which is located on one of the top floors (also the location where I got to preview Whitney’s last album I Look To You)!
But the Houstons and I wound up at Landmarc, a cavernous like bistro-style steakhouse. The dinner menu offers chops and pastas, but we went for lunch and I had the burger with gruyere cheese. The bun was not toasted enough and the burger, which was too done for my taste, barely fit the bun, but the fries were deliciously salty and were thick cut – bistro style! But again, this experience was not about the food. The burger was $16, and they tacked on another $2 for the cheese!
I did enjoy Landmarc and look forward to going back… Hopefully, next time I will be able to score a seat by the window where I can overlook the city and take in the breathtaking views of Manhattan! I’d love to go back for dinner and try some of their meals under dim lighting in the excessively-styled capacious restaurant. The service was friendly and welcoming and the prices were moderate for lunch… However, I did glance at the dinner menu where the prices seem to soar – but quite apropos for the locale! Shoot, dinner at the neighboring Per Se is a $300 minimum per person!
Landmarc, which has another location in Tribeca, opened their TWC location in 2007. Again, one does not go to the Time Warner Center to visit Landmarc, but if you can’t get a spot in one of the other top restaurants the “mall” has to offer, or want a break from shopping, Landmarc is a great place to grab a quick bite in a formal setting! It’s laidback, it’s easy dining, and it’s unpretentious luxury – the ideal dining experience for a mall without the traditional food court.
BJC.
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