New York: Where to Eat: Relaxed but Refined: Café Gray

Café Gray

After earning three stars in the uber-formal Lespinasse in the St. Regis hotel, Swiss chef Gray Kunz traded a dining room fit for Versailles for its antithesis: a glass box brasserie in the Time Warner Center. The cuisine lightened up along with the surroundings but remains exceptional. Favorites include wild striped bass with tomato-jicama salad and lemongrass and braised short rib of beef with soft grits and meaux mustard. Jerry Seinfeld eating lunch in a booth appears as relaxed here as if he were sitting at Tom’s Diner but with much more interesting menu selections. For the past few years, Café Gray has been my favorite restaurant to bring friends who really love food and want to relax in an informal dining room. The open kitchen, which affords the culinary crew a better view of Columbus Circle than the diners, lends a bustling, intimate air to the meal. Tip: The chef’s table is behind the kitchen in a private dining room with a window overlooking Columbus Circle.

EDITOR’S NOTE: CAFE GRAY, WHICH OPENED IN 2004, CLOSED IN THE SUMMER OF 2008. TO EXPERIENCE CHEF GRAY KUNZ’S CUISINE, MAKE A RESERVATION AT GRAYZ.