Park Avenue Summer: NYC Restaurant Week Summer 2012

This past Friday, as a break from the dreaded calculus, Mom and I decided to indulge in another NYC adventure. Recently, this has been our new "thing." I come home after class on Thursday, relax, do a bit of hw, and then on Friday, we go into the city to do something fun and/or different!

After hearing me rave about Restaurant Week, my mom turned to me Thursday night and said, "Hey! I want to do Restaurant Week too!" For that reason, the two of us started to peruse restaurants, looking for a nice place for lunch. I find that when my parents and I are in the city, we tend to just stick with the same restaurants, but we have recently been making an effort to branch out. Mom and I intended on also visiting the Neue Galerie on the Upper East Side, so we focused our search to restaurants in the that area.

After about an hour or so, we settled on "Park Avenue Summer." Not only did the menu look delicious, but we were really impressed by the restaurant's concept. "Park Avenue Summer" is also "Park Avenue Fall," "Park Avenue Winter," and "Park Avenue Spring." It seems that in accordance with the season, every three months or so, the restaurant completely reinvents itself. This means new menus reflecting and utilizing products of the season, as well as a brand new interior design that embodies the season. How cool is that?!
100 E 63rd St, NYC

The restaurant is super cute! Since we are in summer mode, the restaurant ambience was super relaxing and inviting. Pastel yellow walls, nature-centric and beachy decor...it was really lovely.
Mom and I struggled to decided what we wanted to eat for lunch. Everything looked amazing! The ingredients used are locally produced. In the end, we both decided on a glass of sangria, which was chock full of berries and oh so delicious! For my meal, I ordered mussels with squid ink pasta served in a fra diavola sauce (appetizer), salmon with a crispy taro and cucumber salad (entree), and the chilled praline parfait with chocolate crumbs and caramel (dessert). 
I really enjoyed my starter, however, I do have a few thoughts. The mussels and pasta mixed together, whilst delicious, are sort of tricky to eat. Moreover, I thought the fra diavola sauce was a bit too spicy. I love spicy food, don't get me wrong, and I know that the sauce is supposed to be spicy, but I don't know that it's a good idea to compromise my taste buds so early in the meal. Still, it was really yummy and I cleaned the bowl!
Before I even comment on the taste, let's just take a moment to admire this gorgeous plate! The vibrant colors are so amazing! I loved everything about this dish. The salmon was cooked and prepared perfectly and the citrus of the salad balanced amazingly with the heaviness of the avocado puree. A really splendid dish and something I wouldn't hesitate to order again! 
And finally, dessert! This dessert was very tasty, but a bit rich for me. I love chocolate, but I don't love super sweet things. I thought the chocolate bits at the bottom were a bit awkward to eat since there was stuff sitting on top, and I didn't love the caramel sitting on the bottom. If the caramel had been drizzled on top, I think this would have been better. Otherwise, the cream and the chilled praline were delicious! Not to mention the cookie.

Overall, mom and I enjoyed our dining experience at "Park Ave Summer." The service was quite good and wait staff were really lovely. Despite some of my comments, I really really did enjoy my meal. It was delicious and I really appreciated the effort made to showcase summer foods. Well done! I can't wait to come back again in August or in September, when they become "Park Ave Fall"! 


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