It’s so cold these days that not even the potential of a hot meal in a hot restaurant can get many New Yorkers to go out for lunch or dinner, but things will hopefully be somewhat warmer, and the streets much easier to traverse, by the time 2014 Winter Restaurant Week kicks into full gear. Reservation lines are now open for three-course prix-fixe $25 lunches and $38 dinners at some three hundred eateries around the city, available Monday through Friday from February 17 to March 7. Most of the restaurants have posted their special menus online; here are only some of the delights to look forward to: tuna tartare, cornmeal-crusted crab cake, Faroe Island salmon, prime beef short rib, and chocolate ganache cake at ‘21’; house-made country pâté, sautéed skate wing, chestnut gnocchi, and passion fruit Pavlova at Artisanal; soupe de choux fleur, saucisse, gnocchi de carottes, and buerre noisette et ananas coupe at Bar Boulud; garganelli in a tomato and basil sauce, roast chicken in a pomegranate sauce and pomegranate kernels with gratineed mashed potatoes, and mousse of orange bittersweet chocolate at Barbetta; New England seafood chowder, blackened mahi mahi sandwich, and Meyer lemon cake with citrus marmalade and blood orange sherbet at Blue Fin; fegatini di pollo, pane tostato, and pancetta, merluzzo in padella con caponata e finocchi, and crostata di mele, merengue, and vanilla gelato at Circo; Long Island duck ragu, eighteen-hour boneless short rib, and chocolate mousse cake at Delmonico’s; grilled baby octopus, marble potatoes, pickled yellow beans, and black olives, pan-roasted Chatham cod with tomatoes, onions, black olives, and capers, and torta di cioccolato at I Trulli; lahsooni gobi, murglababdar, and rice pudding at Junoon; and smoked barley and mushroom soup, pastrami sandwich and fries, and sour cream cheesecake at Kutsher’s. Among the other dining establishments serving up winter delicacies are B. Smith’s, City Hall, Craftbar, Dos Caminos, Gotham Bar, Les Halles, Mercer Kitchen, Nice Matin, Nobu New York, Pampano, the Red Cat, the Russian Tea Room, Shun Lee Palace, Tribeca Grill, Zengo, and many, many more, but you better book fast. As a bonus, if you register your American Express card, you will receive $5 back each time you charge at least $25 at a participating restaurant.
