George Martin Restaurant

Busy. Busy. Busy. This past Saturday my girlfriend and I made a reservation, based on a friend’s recommendation, at the flagship restaurant of the George Martin Group of restaurants. Initially we attempted to make a 7pm reservation but were told they were taking for 9pm at that moment. Upon arriving at 8:50 we were told that the restaurant was running behind, that they would try to seat us as soon as possible, and recommended taking a seat at the bar for the time being. The bar was packed with an overwhelmingly middle aged crowd either enjoying drinks with friends or waiting for tables as well. After ordering two Heineken Lights we began to observe the subtle but tasteful décor. The dark colored bar stretched possibly two thirds the length of the restaurant with a similarly colored shoulder high wall dividing the bar section from the dining room complete with more stools and ledges to rest drinks. The area was tight but afforded enough room for the more dexterous to easily get a drink even with the crowd.

After about forty five minutes I approached the hostess to ask about our table. She apologized for the wait and confidently said we would be seated in the next 5 minutes. Sure enough, in exactly the time it took to enjoy a cigarette and return, the hostess was ready to show us to our table. As she sat us and handed us our open menus she apologized once more for the wait and insisted on purchasing our first round of drinks.

Perfect. At this point my girlfriend and I were uncomfortably hungry, annoyed because of waiting almost an hour, but still smiling and acting polite. Whether it was because we were polite or not, the fact that she offered to make our first round of drinks on the house displayed an immense amount about how much this restaurant cares about their customer satisfaction. Not only was the hostess aware that they were at fault for this, she apologized vehemently for it as well as took initiative to solve it. Had I known I was about to eat one of the best steaks of my life I probably would not have minded waiting almost an hour without free drinks, but the free first round was a positive first step in what I was previously beginning to think was going to be an average dinner.

As you can probably tell by now, from my description of the bar as well as the overall image of West End Café I was unable to verbally paint, critiquing décor is definitely not my strongest point. However, I plan to perfect these skills by scaling my décor focus down to a smaller, more specific area of the restaurant’s I choose to dine at; the bathroom.

Luckily, I remembered to inspect the men’s facilities at George Martin and was pleased with what I saw. Only one urinal and one stall seemed like limited personal drainage space when compared with the size of the restaurant. I am not positive that this was the only men’s bathroom, there seemed to be an upstairs section, perhaps for catered events, that I would assume had its own facilities. However, this particular bathroom seemed well kept with clean floors, walls, sink space, and a minimal amount of dust accumulation on the overhead fan which implies even that was cleaned often. On the taupe walls there hung some small picture frames of various settings, including an originally placed frame of the evening’s specials just above the urinal. Above this frame hung a small LCD television but I could not tell you what channel it was on. Instead, my attention was focused on what I will call the genius placement of a specials menu as well as the largest of the frames in the bathroom which contained a beautiful painting of a woman lying in front of a vanity mirror in a robe which was falling off her body subtly revealing the top of her right nipple. Suggestive, provocative, and, in the eyes of the mother of a ten year old boy, possibly pornographic yet I found the painting elegant, discrete, and tasteful.

Now the food. Recently my girlfriend and I have been unsuccessful in our attempts to avoid appetizers. Appetizer menu item portions are normally developed on the basis of at least a four top having a small taste of something to whet their appetite prior to entrée. Unfortunately my girlfriend and I are rarely in the presence of another couple whom we agree upon being agreeable enough to dine with. Therefore, when we order these appetizers we are normally eating double the intended appetizer portions and as a result we normally can not finish our entrée’s. Either that or the restaurant needs to wheelbarrow me to the curb just to turn the table.

Unfortunately, just as we decided not to order appetizers and finished ordering our entrée’s, a server walked past with the Asiago Dusted Zucchini Fries. Almost immediately after this another server walked passed with what I was averting my eyes from most on the appetizer menu, Polenta Crusted Calamari. My stomach rumbled in a weird way then sounding like it was calling me an idiot.

I was able to beat the no appetizer depression with another Heineken Light and the anticipation of having my steak. I ordered the Espresso and Ancho Chile rubbed Filet Mignon, just typing the name makes me shudder. It was perfectly constructed dish with whipped sweet potatoes that offset some of the spiciness from the anchos and a Wild Mushroom Merlot sauce. One of my favorite ways to enjoy filet mignon is when it is treated as a blank slate for flavors. The tenderloin or filet mignon has the lowest fat content of all the other cuts and therefore has the least amount of natural flavorings which normally originates within that fat. Some chef’s choose to brine their more lean cuts of meat to draw out more of the natural flavor but I only like to do this with thick chicken breast I plan on cooking unpounded. By choosing to make a wild mushroom merlot sauce for this filet the chef executed the dish brilliantly by complimenting the earthiness of the espresso dust. If executed incorrectly the two would have been competing with each other for their own individual “high-note”. It was also served with steamed broccoli which was cut into perfectly fork sized florets making it one of the most enjoyable meals I’ve had this year.

My girlfriend ordered the petite 8oz filet mignon served with mashed potatoes and a port wine reduction. From what I saw, the reduction could have been a little more pronounced on the dish and from what I tasted, the mashed potatoes may have been lump-less but definitely needed more moisture of some sort. She still enjoyed it all the same.

If I were in NJ on a Friday morning and heard that George Martin in Long Island were doing the Espresso Ancho Chile rubbed Filet Mignon that night, then there’s a strong possibility I may be taking a road trip that afternoon.