Cuisine:

• Others
• American

Porter & Frye Description:
The Ivy Tower, a 1930 Art Deco curiosity, sat empty and forlorn for years until it was brought back to life as part of a luxury hotel-condominium project. The planners wisely left the base of the dainty six-story tower to Porter & Frye, and the restaurant makes the most of its host, using the street level as a bar and café and the level below it---accessed by a glamorous glass staircase---for a see-and-be-seen dining room. Chef Steven Brown, one of the city's top culinary practitioners, spins been-there, done-that ingredients into exciting must-haves: ahi gets charred and dressed with hot Asian peppers and cool preserved lemon; celery is the star ingredient in a Green Goddess-tinted bisque topped with smoky pork belly and crisply puffed wild rice; surf 'n' turf becomes grilled lobster paired with a sizzling New York strip. Breakfast is a bit of an overpriced disappointment, but lunch draws a prosperous-looking crowd that heartily enjoys the cleverly repackaged Reuben and lobster roll sandwiches, the Caesars built with charred romaine, and the grilled pizzas topped with first-rate ingredients. Service is observant and accommodating, and the wine list pours more than 40 well-chosen options by the glass, short pour and bottle.


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