THE HARRISON 355 Greenwich St, New York City, NY 10013-2844 http://www.theharrison.com/harrison.php
Why The Harrison? What we found: Well-Prepared Food in an Unfussy, but Elegant Atmosphere
You know the situation: after a long meeting, the people hosting it generously take a dozen or so people out to dinner. Is there any hope for conversation? Will all of the food arrive in a timely fashion? Will the quality be consistent? (Yes, I say, to all.)
Given the organized chaos of our group, I followed along with my ten colleagues to The Harrison for this business-related dinner, complete with intense and quickly-paced conversation. We'd spent the day debating various academic and publication-related issues, and we were ready for good food--and a break, if not a break from more conversation.
The Harrison was not as I had envisioned it. For some reason, I'd expected a dark, rather clubby place. Instead, we found French-style bistro chairs outside (alas, too cold and rainy to dine out there), and a brasserie-style dining experience inside.
Despite the long table, we managed conversation across-boundaries (so to speak), comparing menu choices, talking about politics and events at our respective campuses, occasionally exchanging the bite of something delicious from our plates. The service was
attentive and excellent; everyone seemed to enjoy his or her meal.
The food: I had
the pan-sauteed cod with quinoa (lovely!), starting with the very fresh and
delicious melon salad. I then convinced one of my companions to share
the ice-cream sandwich--just wonderful and surprisingly light as a finish to the meal. One of my colleagues had what she described as a marvelous dish of carefully-prepared lamb; each of the main fish dishes received positive reviews from our genial and occasionally finicky bunch.
In all, everything was quite good and well- and carefully-prepared. This is a pleasant and
very lively (and occasionally noisy, but conversationally managable) place. I likely will return with JB, my spouse (he of the affection for the Scotch Egg at other dining venues), when we're next in New York City.
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