VinDivine

Bar Americain

152 W 52nd St (betw 6th & 7th)

New York , NY 10019

(212) 265-9700

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VdV Rating: 4

Food:   Ca/american

Ambiance:  Fancy & Scmancy

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PRO: Lots of good menu items, quick, friendly service, very good food
CON: Stephanie March was nowhere to be seen

So we just grabbed a bite here before heading to JFK to return back to sunny SF. We recently reviewed Bar Americain so this’ll be a quick update on a few more things we tried. We hit the late lunch hour, 1:30 or so on MOnday and the place was doing a pretty good biz. Good for us? Plenty of room at the bar! Our server, GGGG, was friendly, happy and a blast to boot. So what’d we belly up to the bar for? read on.

Vidalia Onion Soup, Parker House Crouton, Blistered Vermont Cheddar ($10). Bobby Flay always likes to put his own twist on a classic. Dig it! Sometimes it works, sometimes it blows. Well, this dish works. It’s way different from traditional French Onion Soup, but hey, he didn’t say it was French Onion Soup, did he? His version of Onion Soup uses his fave onions, the Vidalia. I mean, he has a serious hard-on for this variety. Talks ‘em up on all his TV shows, in his cookbooks, you name it.

Here’s the difference between his soup and the Frog’s: He uses Vidalia onions (are you listening?), which are more sweeter (that’s right, I said it), that the white or yellow onions in French soup. He also uses a blend of both beef and veal stocks. And, if that;s not enough he uses Cheddar instead of Gruyere! Sacré Cour! The cheese actually melts and mixes in with the rest of the soup, which along with the dual broths makes for a really creamy soup. Excellent, but if you’re looking for a traditional French Onion Soup, you may be disappointed. We loved it.
Cobb Salad w/ Rotisserie Chicken ($19). Yeah, yeah. Roughage. We needed some. This Cobb is gorgeous. Just look at it. Great sized portion, the chicken is excellent, nice and chunky and tender, and the bacon is fresh Applewood. really fresh ingredients make for a tasty salad. Comes with both Honey mustard and Buttermilk ranch dressings. We mixed those bad boys up and poured it all over. Nice combo. Weird – no cucumber.

Red Snapper, Cabbage Slaw, Salsas & Flour Tortillas ($26). These ain’t no dumpster tacos, bitches. You know: fish tacos made from the scraps that would usually be tossed…in…the…BINGO! The Dumpster! And for $26 bones they better not be, either. Ya get 2 healthy servings of perfectly cooked Snapper, tender, flaky and yummy. Almost a shame to put them in a tortilla shell. But we went with it. The combo of the fish, slightly sweet, crunchy slaw and either the traditional tomato/pepper salsa or the sweet + heat mango salsa were kick ass.

OK, this place just keeps on keepin’ on. Unless you are completely anti-establishment and can only dine at holes in the wall or indie spots, give this place a try, suckas!

VdV Rating: 4

Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:45a-2:30p; 5p-10p (11p on Thus, 11:30p on Fri)
Sat 11:30a-2:30p; 5p-11:30P
Sun 11:30a-2:30p; 5p-10p

Bar Americain
152 W 52nd St (betw 6th & 7th)
New York, NY 10019-6004
(212) 265-9700

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