East River Views

More family was in town this past weekend so large amounts of eating ensued. Friday night's reservation was at restaurateur Tom Colicchio's new project, Riverpark. Situated on the bottom of a new modern and sleek office building on 29th and the river, the place was first and foremost hard to find. 29th street does not go east under any circumstances, until now. For future diners, please note that to find Riverpark, you need to enter 29th street at 1st avenue and a driveway headed east will appear. Walk/drive all the way down the driveway until you hit the restaurant and office building.


After a slightly confusing cab ride, we found our destination and arrived only slightly late for our reservation. Unfortunately, we weren't able to score the one table for large parties next to the windows to enjoy the east river views, but we did have a great round table in the middle of the floor. The restaurant is beautiful, with high ceilings and funky architecture. It will be even better when it gets warm again because they have a huge deck for outside seating.


The menu changes almost daily so there were no specials and I was extremely disappointed when I saw that the pumpkin tortellini had already been switched out for something new. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, how can you take something pumpkin off the menu? Instead I started with the lobster and artichoke salad and shared the hamachi crudo with Lindsey. The crudo was great with pomegranate seeds on top and fresh pieces of hamachi (yellowtail). The lobster salad was good but not the favorite of the night. Maybe if it was served with different lettuce I would have liked it better, but I'm not a fan of frisee I guess.

Next we did a three way share with the duck, scallops and sturgeon. It was our first time trying sturgeon and it's just a flaky white fish but thicker like a swordfish. It was served with sunchockes, fig and some raddichio. The combined taste was interesting and good. The scallops were delicious with hen of woods mushrooms, butternut squash cubes and a kale chutney. It was perfect for the windy evening on the river. The portion was usual for scallops, 4 large scallops and the kale chutney was something different but also good. The duck was my favorite, cooked medium rare served with mushrooms and more pomegranate seeds. Pomegranate seeds add a great flavor to any dish in my opinion. They're perfect for the fall, healthy and tasty.

Dessert was amazing, credit to their dessert chef. We got the beignets served with two dipping sauces. A cranberry compote and vanilla custard. They were lightly fried and airy but definitely don't compete with the beignet masters down in New Orleans. We also got the apple crumble that melted in your mouth.

Our waitress was great, and for being so new my only complaint was that our drinks took a little longer than expected.

I should also note that if you're in the mood for some delicious food by the water but don't want to break the bank, Riverpark also offers a cafe type menu featuring burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, lasagna and other less expensive menu items. You get to experience the same dining room, service and views but with a cheaper bill at the end!