A Steak to Build a Dream On

Since our New York vacation last month, my husband has been dreaming of steak.
In the almost 30 years we've been married, he's never dreamed of steak before. To calm him down, I had to promise that we'd return to Le Marais - the New York restaurant, not the Jewish district in Paris - for our anniversary in October. I picked New York as our vacation destination for one reason - kosher restaurants.
For me, a trip is not a vacation if I have to haul food along and worry about preparing meals. Last year, we spent Labor Day Weekend in Cooperstown. That worked out because it was an overnight trip. Cereal and deli will do me for two days; not for four.
Once we decided on New York my main task was selecting restaurants, no easy feat. Most of our friends never get out of Brooklyn when they visit the five boroughs, and Brooklyn is a place I try to avoid like the plague. Everyone thinks they have God next to them on the passenger seat giving them the right of way. Every time I have to go to Brooklyn for anything I promise myself, never again. So to find places to eat in New York, I checked Shamash.org, which has the most complete listing of kosher restaurants along with real people reviews. The first place on my list to check out was Abigael's on Broadway. Their chef has a TV show, and even people who only go to Brooklyn have heard of them. To my surprise, the most recent reviews weren't so hot. One of the reviewers said, "My wife prefers Le Marais." That was good enough for me.
After checking into our hotel, we spent the afternoon at the Jewish Museum, where we had a nice kosher lunch. We decided to walk back to the hotel, and since Le Marais was on the way, we stopped in.
We were starving after our long walk, and my husband pounced on the bread. We were thrilled by their very extensive wine list - none of the kosher restaurants in Philadelphia has a liquor license. We ordered a pitcher of Sangria, which very refreshing, but not too sweet.
Then we got down to business. My husband ordered the large rib eye, and I chose the Steak Au Poivre. We both ordered medium, and that's exactly what we got. Both steaks were juicy and full of flavor. I loved the peppery crust on mine. I even ate the fries - the first time since I began my Atkins diet six years ago. Neither of us eats dessert, but the steak was dessert enough. The service was fine, also. The waiter did his job promptly without being too friendly or pushy.
I was somewhat buzzed from half a pitcher of sangria, but it was a great meal. Le Marais is 150 W. 46th St. And we plan a return trip in October. It turned out to be a place of great significance in our life. When I told my son-in-law about our New York adventure, he said, "That's where I proposed to Simcha!"
Next up: Abigael's. Yes, we went there anyway.