Restaurant review - Cafe Gray

Cafe Gray is one of the restaurant collections at the Time Warner Center. Riceman and Leigo went there this weekend to celebrate an anniversary and a birthday. The restaurant has a gigantic open kitchen near the windows. We requested a table near the kitchen, and watching the chefs at work is a spectacular event by itself. For first courses, we ordered the VEGETABLE RATATOUILLE (coulis of two tomatoes and pine nuts) and RISOTTO with mushroom fricass?e. The ratatoulle is a cool summer dish with two vibrant colors that Riceman totally enjoyed. Leigo felt that the Risotto was nicely presented but a little heavy for summer and it tasted a little too salty. For second course, we had SHORT RIB OF BEEF with soft grits and meaux mustard, and wild see bass on top of a sea of chopped heirloom tomato. The short rib dish was their signature dish, for the first few bites, it tasted great, but it became too heavy after that. The sea bass was good, but not dropping jaw awesome. For dessert, we had CHOCOLATE - PASSION FRUIT SOUFFL? with pineapple gratin. It’s very nicely done with a crispy outside and melting hot inside. The passion fruit syrup was a great compliment with the rich dark chocolate. The dessert was the best compared to other dishes.

In short, we find the food OK, the service SUPERB, decoration GREAT. In Zagat rating system, this is what we would have given Caf? Gray: Food 21 / Service 28 / D?cor 24. One suggestion, when making the reservation, got to request a seat near the kitchen.