A return to Le Pavillion, Daniel Boulud’s Michelin 1-star at One Vanderbilt across from Grand Central proved the consistency of his attentive service and food.

Like other of Daniel Boulud’s restaurants, service at  Pavillion is as extraordinary as expected from the moment we arrived at the elegant dining room until we were on our way to The Summit, located in the same building.

A postcard saying “Happy Birthday!  Thanks for celebrating with us” welcomed us as we were seated. We started with cocktails, perusing the menu and nibbling the fabulous basket of breads with the softened butter. We were hooked on the thin crisps, being offered a refill once we had almost eaten it all.

This Michelin 1-star restaurant offers both a 2- ($78) and 3-course lunch menu ($95).  We opted for two 2-course and — since we didn’t want to miss a dessert — one 3-course.

Our apps included the sweet corn veloute came with baby zucchini and crispy Anson Mills polenta; fragrant and spicy pasta puttanesca with shrimp, ‘nduja (pork sausage) and bottarga (salted fish roe); and my perfectly cooked wood-fired octopus with mussels, squid, saffron, in a saffron-scented tomato-kimchi broth. One was more delicious than the next!

Our entrees were also good. The seared flounder came atop purple-eyed peas and heirloom broccoli (spigarello) in a delicate pecan-dill pesto. Two of us had the black truffle sea bass sitting on spaetzle with braised leeks, chanterelle mushrooms and a black truffle-infused red wine jus.

We ended up with two desserts as the kitchen sent out a lime meringue (vacherin) filled with coconut sorbet and mango coulis sporting a lit candle in addition to our chocolate lovers’ heaven, their chocolate noisette. Dessert is a must.

When you’re looking to celebrate anything, I highly recommend a lunch visit.

Happily satiated, we headed around the corner to The Summit’s entrance. Tickets start at $42. This tourist attraction offers three viewing floors with the highest outdoor observation deck in downtown New York. I recommend with out-of-town guests looking for panoramic views, where you can grab a drink and sit to savor the skyline.

La Pavillion
Midtown
One Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212.662.1000
lepavillionnyc.com

SUMMIT
One Vanderbilt tourist attraction
45 E 42nd St
New York, NY 10017
summitov.com/