When eating with foodie friends, it's de rigeur to over order, share, nibble off each other's plates, and generally get lost in conversation and that's a perfectly good description of my final lunch in New York. Service was never rushed, helpful and proactive but not pushy. Even in an incident that will surely require dry cleaning, the staff showed themselves to be consummate professionals.
Here's what we ordered to share, the Modern Liverwurst, with pickled vegetables. It was a very refined version and there was plenty to share.
An Alsatian thin crust tart with creme fraiche, onion and applewood smoked bacon. I adored this and could have eaten one for lunch with a salad. It was a combination of crisp crust, creamy with melting onions and smoky flavors.
I must admit I ordered the homemade Alsatian country sausage with turnip choucroute and whole grain mustard because I feared I was not going to have time for a Papaya King dog. Turned out I had two of them at the airport. Really, there is no comparing the snap of a garlic hot dog to a homemade sausage except to say both were delicious, succulent and tremendously satisfying.
My final entree was one that most of the table also ordered, the finest duck confit I have ever eaten with a lovely pool of passion fruit sauce. It was tender, crisp, and so rich that sadly I couldn't eat the whole thing.
Last but not least, we had an order of beignets with various sauces. They were light and puffy and positively wonderful. And how could we not order them when an order worked out to one per person? Really, the food, service, not to mention charming company, were without fault. Thank again to Alice for making all the arrangements.
A few more blogger reviews of the Bar Room at The Modern:
Alice Q. Foodie
The Gastronomer's Guide
Manger La Ville
Yaokui
The Amateur Gourmet