Room 21
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Jerry Kleiner (Red Light, Marche, Opera, etc) knows how to razzle-dazzle ’em. Room 21, his latest project, follows his favorite scenario: reclaim a space with headline-grabbing potential and give it an over-the-top makeover as a destination restaurant in a soon-to-be-hot neighborhood. In this case, the backstory–printed on the menu–involves a Prohibition-era warehouse owned by Al Capone, Eliot Ness’s first bust, and an escape passage ending in a door labeled “Room 21.” The renovation channels an old Chicago bordello: velvet drapes, alligator-pattern banquettes, clusters of hanging lamp shades, huge potted palms, and an eye-popping color scheme of pinks, greens, reds, and black and white. (There’s also a lovely walled garden that’s less noisy than the earsplitting dining room.) Kleiner’s chutzpah extends to $15 martinis and a $44 rib eye, but he’s also savvy enough to offer a $12 burger and a better-than-decent bottle of Penfolds shiraz for $18. The generally pricey wine list, with bottles up to $650, gets high marks for its user-friendly organization. As for the food, my meal was mixed. Mildly seasoned tuna tartare let the flavor of the silky cubed fish shine, but crab risotto cakes, highly recommended by our server as “made with lump and backfin crab,” tasted mostly of rice. Entrees arrived lukewarm, but the steak Diane–at $19, the least expensive steak–was perfectly cooked (rare as ordered), coated with subtle cognac sauce, and served with a mountain of crisp salted fries. I found the roasted halibut fillet rather dry but liked the sweet corn puree, mushrooms, and crisp sugar snap peas that came beneath it. Of the three desserts, chocolate-filled beignets with chocolate mousse outclassed a sludgy apple-blueberry crisp. Long waits between courses and food runners who wandered the room looking for the right tables were among the signs that the service needs work. This week word came of executive chef Aaron Whitcomb’s departure; a replacement is in the works. –Anne Spiselman
Cordis Brothers Supper Club
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