The beautiful bar at Harlow
When you know that the owner of the restaurant you’re having lunch at is the extraordinary Richie Notar, you expect something fabulous. Mr Notar built his reputation at Studio 54 and Nobu—hardly places populated by wallflowers and Average Joes. And his new restaurant, Harlow, continues in that tradition and does not disappoint. The venue oozes glamour, elegance and sophistication.
Even at lunch time as the sun shines down through the atrium and into the blue bar area, which features a lovely fusion of old and new with its original plaster mouldings and modern furnishings, it is the perfect place to head to for a casual business lunch or a respite for girly gossip. The lunchtime menu offers an array of tantalizing choices, so we decided to let the chef take care of it for us and settled on the prix fixe menu.
Our first course was a dazzlingly fresh heirloom tomato panzanella salad with fresh basil, the crunchy bread providing a wonderful contrast to the sweet softness of the fruit. A beautiful piece of salmon crusted with roasted pesto was our entrée; topped with a pretty shaved vegetable salad, it was light but flavorful and satisfying. And then came dessert, not something I normally rave over but this was spectacular—a scrumptious parfait of fresh berries with small pieces of light meringue and vanilla cream. It was soooo good, I would have eaten another one without skipping a beat (but perhaps with a guilty thought.)
Next on the agenda: dinner at Harlow. The dining room is exquisite; think twinkling 1930s chandeliers in a room that William Randolph Hearst built for Marion Davis as a play space. And on certain evenings, I hear that you can sit at the marble oyster bar while the chef Danny Ye prepares mind-boggling specials.
Date, anyone?
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