Blue Fin

Last Monday my former co-worker, Scott, who taught me all my initial event planning knowledge, was in town staying at the W in Times Square. He is starting an environmentally friendly clothing company specializing in kid's clothes and had a meeting with the factory reps from India. I love how entrepreneurial he is. We were going to meet for drinks, but ended up doing dinner at Blue Fin. Thank God as I was starving and don't have a tolerance at all.

He started with the Yellowtail Ceviche as his appetizer and insisted I taste it. It was beautifully presented and decently flavored, but it was surprisingly dry for ceviche. Having first encountered this dish in Ecuador, I suspect I have abnormally high expectations. Our entrees were much better.

He had the Wild Striped Bass with Lobster Risotto, Melted Leeks, and Lemon Sweet Peas; it was very rich (buttery) and light at the same time. The peas made it feel like a summery dish. I had the Chilean Bass (bad for the environment, I know!) with Artichokes, Dates, and I can't recall what else as it has been removed from the menu...with good reason as it seemed heavy for June in spite of the delicious flavor. Both fishes were perfectly cooked.

We split the most creative dessert on the menu, a variation on a smore: chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, and graham cracker ice cream. The chocolate aspects and the strange marshmallow-like, yet not at all, topping didn't do anything for me. The ice cream was very unique though and given the option I would order that part of this dessert again. It tasted more like marshmallow than the topping but was actually vanilla rolled in graham crackers, which gave it a unique, crisp effect.

The W is so chic. I'm glad I got to check it out! My favorite part of what I saw was the lobby; it was completely surrounded, ceiling too, with a waterfall/fountain type thing that created wonderful shadows on the floor. I totally want to stay at a W one day. I'm sure they can't compare to the Le Meridien in Cyprus, but it is a much more reasonable goal.

Location: 1567 Broadway (at 47th Street)
Hours: Sun-Mon 7:00a-11:00p, Tues-Thurs 7:00a-11:30p, Fri-Sat 7:00a-12:00a
Cost: $$$