When Gretchen moved to Boston her first question, which she asked Ann and me in all seriousness, was “what will I eat?” We teased her about it, because of course there’s food in Boston. But we did see her point. New York does have one of the best food scenes in the world, and once you get used to that it’s hard to leave.

So when Gretchen came back to NYC to visit we went to her favorite restaurant, Gramercy Tavern, to catch up over courses and courses of food.

I had never been there before and loved how the restaurant felt both warm and inviting as well as elegant and upscale.

You can choose to dine in The Tavern, which is a little more casual.

Or you can eat in The Dining Room, like we did, which is fancier and has a better menu.

We all decided to try the Seasonal Tasting Menu which has six courses for $160 (hospitality is included). Unlike at The Modern, this time the menu listed each course so I knew exactly what to expect!

The restaurant brought us a few dishes to hold us over until the first course arrived.

Then it was time to begin the tasting! We started with Marinated Scallops served with heirloom beans, grapes and kohlrabi.

Then we moved on to the Grilled Calamari with corn, pole beans and spiced almonds.

Next we had Arctic Char served with cauliflower, apples and chiles.

Since Ann and Gretchen don’t eat gluten, the waiter kindly allowed them to choose a different item on the menu to substitute for the next course.

Gretchen picked the Mushroom Chawanmushi with sunchokes, hazelnuts and kohlrabi.

Ann selected the Wagyu Beef Tartare with shiitake mushrooms, pine nuts and turnips.

I, on the other hand, continued with the tasting by trying the Squid Ink Lumache served with lobster, chorizo and peppers. It was one of my favorite courses (sorry Ann and Gretchen)!

We then had Duck Breast & Sausage accompanied by lentils, celery root and cabbage.

Finally, even though the tasting menu came with dessert, we decided instead to select our own off of the dessert menu. They were all so pretty!

Overall the food was good, and I loved how flexible they were when we wanted to substitute the tasting courses with other dishes. Plus the atmosphere was fabulous (and so was spending time with Ann and Gretchen)!

To find out more information on Gramercy Tavern, and to make a reservation, click here.

Come back and visit us again soon Gretchen!

~A