57 at the Four Seasons
As you may know, I am a huge fan of brunch. I mean, there is nothing better than huevos rancheros at Cookshop, an order of blueberry pancakes from Clinton St. Baking Company, going to ANY of McNally’s restaurants for eggs benedict, or waking up and going to Norma’s for the Waz-Za. Seriously, I’m a huge brunch junkie. I’m a fan of sweets for breakfast (although I’m not averse to having an order of scrambled eggs and bacon), so a place I definitely wanted to check out was 57 at the Four Seasons. It was on my list for quite some time, but the brunch is a little on the pricey side, so I decided to wait until my mom came to town to take her there!
We started out with a bread basket – a mixture of whole wheat, pumpernickel, challah rolls, and some creamy butter:
The whole wheat rolls were definitely better than the challah; they were moister, chewier, and had a bite to them whereas the challah roll was a bit on the stale side.
For brunch, I went with the buttermilk waffles, berries, and vanilla cream:
My main problem with the waffles were that they weren’t dense enough. I didn’t want something as chewy as Le Petit Belge, but I definitely thought there would be more substance to the waffle; they were too airy. On the plus side, the vanilla cream and the berries were awesome!
My mom ordered the grilled salmon with vegetables (not something I’d order for brunch, but I suppose my mom likes ordering fish for brunch – see Mesa Grill):
The salmon was meaty and tender and the vegetables were cooked with bacon (it’s never a bad idea to cook vegetables with bacon, right?)
The third dish we ordered was the traditional eggs benedict with market greens and an herb vinegarette:
It’s pretty difficult to mess up eggs benedict (although I suppose hollandaise is quite difficult to get right). The hollandaise sauce rivaled something you’d get at Balthazar – the perfect consistency to go with the gooey egg yolk that drips into all of the nooks and crannies of the English muffin.
So, why did I only give the restaurant 3 grace faces? Well, I don’t think the dishes were anything special (as in, I probably would never go back), and I didn’t think any of the dishes warranted their prices (each dish was around $20, although the salmon was closer to $30). For brunch, that’s pretty steep, unless you’re going to Norma’s and getting a plate that could feed an army. 57 is beautifully decorated and is in a very open space, but I don’t think it’s worth visiting for brunch.
