A Gourmand's Life

It is hard to imagine that the movers and shakers behind restaurant development at the Time Warner Center ever envisioned an armada of strollers docked outside one of their venues on a Saturday evening. Yet that is actually what I encountered at Landmarc last Saturday. Lest you believe I am about to launch a diatribe against children in restaurants, I was there myself because I needed a place to go with my five-year old, having been too harried and uncertain during the day to make a reservation. Landmarc, with its no reservation policy and seating for 300, fit the bill.

However, even more incongruous than the strollers parked outside the restaurant is the décor inside. Landmarc positions itself as a family-friendly neighborhood restaurant with relatively gentle prices and a wine list that leads with affordable half-bottles. Those attributes are in stark contrast to the design, which features an incredibly dark, lounge-like atmosphere accented with post-industrial chic décor. If supermodels had children, this is where they would take them.

As for the food, chef Marc Murphy tries to please everyone. The menu runs the gamut from bistro classics to pasta to burgers, with very little invention along the way. Mussels with shallots, parsley and white wine are as good as our farmed mussels can get, which isn’t that good. The Filet Mignon may not be prime but it is cooked well and is accompanied by a credible Béarnaise and a nicely dressed mixed green salad. The side dishes we sampled, Sautéed Mushrooms and Green Lentils, were done well. However, the wan and tasteless fries were embarrassing for a bistro.

The best dish of the night, Crispy Sweetbreads with Haricot Verts, suggests that the list of house dishes is the way to go here, as they represent Murphy’s only forays off the beaten, commercial path, towards more authentic bistro cooking. And that is the problem with Landmarc. While all of the food is executed well (no mean feat with 300 seats) the conception of the menu - when combined with the ambience - produces a strangely bloodless result, like a bistro filtered through the executive minds of Cheesecake Factory. Do we really need Fried Calamari with Tomato Sauce, Burgers, Caesar Salad (with or without grilled chicken), daily pasta specials and a kid’s menu (including cold cereal, no less)?

There is no doubt that Murphy and his crew can cook. Perhaps one day they will cook what they like.