Cafe Carmellini
For Thanksgiving, we decided to try Cafe Carmellini out because their menu seemed pretty decent and had offerings that were present on their normal menu. My partner is a fan of turkey, so I already know what they were going to get. We made a reservation for 12 PM on Thanksgiving with no issues at all. When we walked in, they had us sit at the bar as they were preparing for Thanksgiving service. This restaurant is located inside the 5th Avenue Hotel.
This is one of Andrew Carmellini’s newer restaurants. His restaurants include Westlight, Leuca, and Carne Mare.
Ambiance & Service
The room felt extravagant as if you’re dining in a garden with a patio cover. The decor from the flower and trees give it a nice, relaxing vibe. The lighting is very warm inside, so it brings a welcoming vibe.
The service was good, perhaps due it not being a full room. The wait staff knew how to progress along for the meal.
Food
The special Thanksgiving prix fixe menu was 3 courses: an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert choice. This was set at $155 per person.
The Loibner ($26) was a Gruner Veltliner Federspiel from F.X. Pichler, Wachau, Austria. This was crispy with a lot of minerality to it. I have started developing an affinity for gruner grapes since they have a nice stone fruit flavor that blends well with cold seafood dishes.
The Chartreuse Gimlet ($22) came with green chartreuse, yuzu, and lime cordial. This was pretty sweet for me, and my partner liked it because of the very punchy yuzu flavors along with the lime accents.
They gave us some bread on the side and served it with some olive oil, pesto, and butter.
They also gave us a vase of crispy bread sticks. Some were I think pretzel flavored or parmesan flavored.
The Sweet Crab & Pepper Mille-Feuille was very decadent and sublime. It had a load of crab between the thin crisps. The pepper sauce was not spicy, but it added some nice heat to the dish. There was notable sour tartness to it, which really helped bring out the flavors of the crab. After I was done with the crab, I took some of the bread and soaked it in the sauce.
The Bluefin Tuna Crudo tasted really great.
The Valine ($28) was a Syrah from Jean-Luc Jamet, Rhone, France 2021. This was a delicious fuller body red wine with notable berry and earthy flavors. It definitely had some tannins that linger on the back of the palette. It was great paired with the veal medallions.
The Veal Medallion alla Ossobuco was very tender and flavorful. They left a piece of fat on top of the thicker medallion cut, and it was very flavorful.
The Heritage Turkey was also very tender despite it being the breast. I think it just tasted like turkey, except that it was cooked as if it were sous vide since it’s so moist.
It was served with traditional accompaniments which were gravy, whipped potatoes, and some dark turkey meat with brussel sprouts. The dark meat was seasoned very thoroughly.
The Sticky Toffee Pudding came with aged rum that was burnt on top. This tasted like drenched toffee on top of a wet cake. It was pretty good, and I wished there was more.
The Fifth Avenue Chocolate Cake was very decadent. It tasted like a well balanced chocolate cake, where the ganache was perfectly sweet, and the cake innards were very moist.
Final Verdict
Cafe Carmellini was a surprisingly very good restaurant. The prices aren’t exorbitant, and the food all tasted very good. We definitely recommend folks looking for a peaceful, semi-luxury evening to check this restaurant out.
Yelp Jabs
The crab mille-feuille was much smaller than expected. I guess things do look bigger on camera. It also looked nothing like it did in the IG reel. What I saw had lump crabmeat. Mine was crabmeat but definitely wasn’t lump. The preparation also seemed different than what I saw and the description on the menu which said melon but there was no melon to be found anywhere. Instead it was something with pepper. At $33 for a few bites of crab, it definitely fell flat.
This Elitist was misled by a CBS Mornings Instagram reel. Unfortunately, social media wins again. The crab was definitely sweet, but if you’re looking for a giant mound of crab, this is not the right dish.
I didn’t know what to expect as it was a spot that wasn’t difficult to get a reservation for (a rarity in NYC), but everything we ordered was really good
For most restaurants that are not super popular, it’s actually not too bad to get reservations a week(s) before your desired date. Still, nothing was good as the pandemic where there were a ton of reservations opened at popular restaurants.
Revisions
- Nov 28, 2024 - Initial revision.