Speaker 1: Shout out to Four Charles Prime, besides REO's original location,
Speaker 1: which is in Harlem, which is the most impossible reservation. Frankly,
Speaker 1: you can't count that because it is not a reservation.
Speaker 1: Someone has to own a table, so it doesn't count.
Speaker 1: It's the hardest seat at a restaurant. The hardest public
Speaker 1: dining establishment to dine at in the country is REOs,
Speaker 1: because you can't dine at unless you own a table.
Speaker 1: So let's put that to the side. Second, I would
Speaker 1: say probably in the world used to be French laundry.
Speaker 1: I would say in the world maybe, but certainly in
Speaker 1: New York, Four Charles Prime is the hardest seat to get.
Speaker 1: It is nine tables. Last night we sat at the
Speaker 1: largest nicest table because all the tables seem to be
Speaker 1: two tops or four tops. If you've ever seen or
Speaker 1: heard of the waiverly In in New York was like
Speaker 1: a famous iconic place where there's Minetta Tavern. There are
Speaker 1: these club like leather booth cozy, dark, moody places in
Speaker 1: New York, a little speakeasy ish, a little gangs of
Speaker 1: New york Ish, and the po at the Palm D'antana's
Speaker 1: in La used to be like a bigger, more commercial
Speaker 1: version of that, like but these are like these cozy
Speaker 1: little places like the Cozy Cauldron. Let's call it okay.
Speaker 1: And so for Charles Prime, I've been wanting to go
Speaker 1: to because it's a thing you've seen on social media.
Speaker 1: They poke the egg and the egg goes on the burger,
Speaker 1: and it seems like there's pomp and circumstance and it's
Speaker 1: a whole thing. And so in my mind, I'm thinking
Speaker 1: there has to be a level of pretension. Like when
Speaker 1: you go to Polo Club, which is the second hardest reservation.
Speaker 1: It's as hard, but there are more seats, So by
Speaker 1: definition of it's an easier resolution because there's more, there's
Speaker 1: more real estate, so Polo is more like it's slightly fancy.
Speaker 1: They have a burger and they have a rubin, but
Speaker 1: it's slightly fancy and it's got a level of Upper
Speaker 1: East Side even though it's midtown like pretension. But I
Speaker 1: like it. I like it meaning it's like it's special
Speaker 1: and everyone's nice, but like you feel like you've arrived
Speaker 1: at something that is sort of elite, not snobby, not snobby,
Speaker 1: but it's not. It's it's what's the word aspirational. It's
Speaker 1: not really that accessible attainable once you sit down, it is,
Speaker 1: but it's aspirational, but like you sit down and you're like, wow,
Speaker 1: this is something, we're at something. Okay. So that's what
Speaker 1: Polo is, which I love and I love the girls
Speaker 1: there and the people there and it's amazing. Okay. So
Speaker 1: that's Polo and the and it's a different similar types
Speaker 1: of like published type of food. For Charles. Prime is
Speaker 1: an interesting thing because it's the most coveted reservation to
Speaker 1: show up and outside there's like a stoop and people
Speaker 1: are actually sitting on it because it was a spring day.
Speaker 1: But there's something very New York about it, very gangs
Speaker 1: of New York, very the New York that I grew
Speaker 1: up in. Like a stoop is iconic. Okay, So people
Speaker 1: are sitting on a stoop and there was like these
Speaker 1: wrought iron windows and like charming townhouses you could be
Speaker 1: in like London, like Nodding Hill or something. Okay, you
Speaker 1: could be in London. And then there's and there's a
Speaker 1: little table right outside. I don't know if you can
Speaker 1: eat at it, but that's so cute right outside, like
Speaker 1: it looks almost like it's like a set, just a table,
Speaker 1: a two top, right outside the window of this little, dark, cozy,
Speaker 1: cavernous townhouse. And like people were there each time that
Speaker 1: I when I walked in and walked out, just two
Speaker 1: people sitting there. I don't know if they were having drinks.
Speaker 1: That's part of the bar. You can't really eat on
Speaker 1: the street, I don't know. Then you see this guy
Speaker 1: and I hear his accent. I hear his British accent.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was Cockney or if it
Speaker 1: was just straight up British because I didn't speak enough.
Speaker 1: But you hear this British accent. And he's wearing a
Speaker 1: tweed cap, which is again very like Peaky Blinders, Peaky Blinders,
Speaker 1: Gangs of New York, very like Irish. And so he's
Speaker 1: outside and he's like cast. I don't know if he
Speaker 1: wears that hat every day, but like he's been cast
Speaker 1: for this role, you know. So he's like this handsome
Speaker 1: man outside, very charming, engaging, and again there's a little
Speaker 1: bit of like you on the list, Do you not?
Speaker 1: Because by definition, there's a nine table place that's the
Speaker 1: hottest place in the United States of America, if not
Speaker 1: the globe to get a reservation barring like some micheling
Speaker 1: crazy like wild thing Elbouli in Spain, which is like
Speaker 1: a hard reservation, but I actually think this is probably
Speaker 1: harder or as hard. So now you pass this guy
Speaker 1: and you walk in and there are these handsome bartenders
Speaker 1: around this like craft cocktail looking bar to the left.
Speaker 1: So Horause used to have like a little bar cart
Speaker 1: that came to your room, and it just it feels
Speaker 1: like moody, sultry, and like you just picture that they're
Speaker 1: gonna have like you know, burnt rosemary that they're rimming
Speaker 1: a glass with and like bitters and like you know,
Speaker 1: like just candied oranges and ginger. It just looks like that. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you have these handsome guys to the bar and
Speaker 1: they're like the bar boys, but they're men. And then
Speaker 1: you sit down in this cozy booth with of course
Speaker 1: the like big menu that's like got the script and
Speaker 1: it's the base script and like you know, you're picturing
Speaker 1: you're there. You're moody, right, and these little little like
Speaker 1: four top booze and two tops and it's a small place.
Speaker 1: You're in a living room, but you're private somehow you're
Speaker 1: in a living room that's small. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: think it's a thousand feet. No, that a thirteen hundred
Speaker 1: feet I no, I think it might be eight hundred
Speaker 1: feet right the dining room maybe maybe six fifty eight hundred.
Speaker 1: It's small and Edwin the server comes over. He's dressed
Speaker 1: impeccably in like the vest and the shirt coming out.
Speaker 1: He's dressed immaculately, and you soon realize it's not a uniform,
Speaker 1: like they're all just sort of dressed, but there's like
Speaker 1: a code like I guess you have to wear like
Speaker 1: a black sort of vest suit or something. I don't know.
Speaker 1: But he's got like a gorgeous yellow pocket square and
Speaker 1: tie and like he's he's just but he's friendly and approachable.
Speaker 1: And this is where it gets interesting. There's nothing stuffy
Speaker 1: about this coveted reservation. It's like a chill, relaxed vibe.
Speaker 1: It's giving this version the New York like pub fair,
Speaker 1: Italian meat steakhouse like REOs, because you get to Raos
Speaker 1: and it's super chill, you know, like it's hard to
Speaker 1: get there, but you get there, you sit down, it's
Speaker 1: super chill. This is slightly more formula because there is
Speaker 1: like there is a process to it all, which I'll
Speaker 1: get into. But it's chill and it's warm, and it's engaging.
Speaker 1: It's approachable and like once you're sitting down, you're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: I belong here. I'm good, I feel comfortable. I don't
Speaker 1: feel like, ooh, you're here now you need to feel
Speaker 1: a certain way. And it's pretentious. So the service is immaculate, Okay,
Speaker 1: the people are nice. So now you get to the food,
Speaker 1: and there's this salad that's baby Romain and it's just
Speaker 1: people talk about it on social media and it's avocado
Speaker 1: and it's a basic salad. It's basically like just a basic, nice, fresh,
Speaker 1: crispy lemone with a mustard dressing on the side if
Speaker 1: you want it. Salad like just very fresh and straightforward.
Speaker 1: And a lot of these places that have these coveted
Speaker 1: reservations are fresh and straightforward. It's not like, you know,
Speaker 1: foam beat moose Like, it's not like pretentious where they're
Speaker 1: over ambitious. It's just a good, straightforward. Then we get
Speaker 1: into the shrimp scampy, which is sizzling, think like escargo sizzling,
Speaker 1: but like shrimp, you know, with a big chunky, crispy
Speaker 1: pieces of bread, and that too is very good, but
Speaker 1: very straightforward, but like delicious and buttery and amazing. The
Speaker 1: star of the universe is the carbonara because not unlike
Speaker 1: the Palm chain, which is known as a steakhouse, the
Speaker 1: Palm is an Italian restaurant. They have steak with chicken,
Speaker 1: parmesan and a lot of Italian dishes. This is a
Speaker 1: steakhouse with a heavy Italian influence, so there's carbonara on
Speaker 1: the menu, but it is better than any carbonara in Italy,
Speaker 1: in any place in Italy that I've ever been, it's
Speaker 1: this like I think it's Buccatini. It's at the thick
Speaker 1: round pasta that is chewy al dente squares of bacon.
Speaker 1: I like it more like a sort of like thin
Speaker 1: where it melts in, almost panchatta. But people love the
Speaker 1: cube bacon and it's the sickest dish ever. I would
Speaker 1: just for my personal taste, give it a quarter of
Speaker 1: a point half a point off, because I like a
Speaker 1: bacon that like melts in almost the way it does
Speaker 1: in like a vodka with onions, you know how, It's
Speaker 1: like there, but you wouldn't know it's there. But you
Speaker 1: taste it. The carbonara is sickening like this carbonara is
Speaker 1: as good as carbones, spicy RIGATONI pasta like that. That's
Speaker 1: what you need to understand. It's insane. Then we get
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna give the shrimp like a good solid
Speaker 1: eight and a half. And I'm gonna give this this
Speaker 1: carbonar like a nine and a half. And then we
Speaker 1: get to the burger, which is pomp and circumstance and
Speaker 1: a process and the oozing of the egg and the whatever.
Speaker 1: It melts. It's a double smash burger, but it melts
Speaker 1: like a regular burger. It just melts. Now, I love it.
Speaker 1: I will not give it the raining title that red
Speaker 1: hook has, and I cannot explain why it is Davoon.
Speaker 1: It's just a little more melty where the red hook
Speaker 1: is like an actual like some version of a traditional
Speaker 1: classic burger. The sag Harbor Tavern burger is the same
Speaker 1: as the red hook the Billy makes. But this melts.
Speaker 1: This is extraordinary. I mean that's we were splitting hairs.
Speaker 1: We're talking nine versus a nine and a half. I mean,
Speaker 1: it is a melting, gorgeous, stunning specimen of a burger.
Speaker 1: The star is the French dip. It's the kushed of
Speaker 1: the French bread. The inside is like melting and chewy
Speaker 1: like of the bread and then the meat melts. But
Speaker 1: it's that jew that Sausu're dipping it in that has
Speaker 1: like a depth of flavor, like it's like got a
Speaker 1: depth of like some version of a wine reduction, like
Speaker 1: some spice. I don't know what's in there, but it's
Speaker 1: like deep. It goes deep. It's got layers like that
Speaker 1: is a very serious sauce. It's dipped in, Okay, very
Speaker 1: serious prime. We did get the end cut, but you
Speaker 1: can see what the normal part of the prime rib
Speaker 1: is because there's a pink part that's not the end cut.
Speaker 1: The end cut is like the briskety, chewy like flavory, salty,
Speaker 1: pistrami ish corn beefish like briskety end. But so that
Speaker 1: was good. Ironically, it's for Charles. Prime was good. We're
Speaker 1: gonna call that like an eight, but not like a ten.
Speaker 1: And the filet good. These are the things it's known for.
Speaker 1: But like, it's good. It's solid, but I would not
Speaker 1: say that that's their star. The broccoli, the charred broccoli.
Speaker 1: It's like who cares it's gonna be broccoli, but it
Speaker 1: like melted and was lemon and lemony, and it like
Speaker 1: look like it was gonna be like just hard and
Speaker 1: for the flavorless it like hits. It's like tender and devoon.
Speaker 1: Green beans are we're actually a fail like I want
Speaker 1: and I would like to be honest, so I can't
Speaker 1: just praise green beans wear a fail. I feel like
Speaker 1: we have more things. Oh, chicken under the brick. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give it a solid eight. I need to tell
Speaker 1: them this and this I'm saying emphatical. This is not
Speaker 1: an opinion. This is a fact. It comes covered in
Speaker 1: a sauce that has gorgeous like garlic, and the sauce
Speaker 1: is delicious. I was literally mushing my baked potato. And
Speaker 1: the sauce sauce needs to be served on the side
Speaker 1: because Poyo al matone, which is under a brick, by definition,
Speaker 1: it's flat and crispy. That's the attraction to it. You're
Speaker 1: like taking an entire chicken and making it so it's
Speaker 1: all crisp. So to have the sauce on top doesn't
Speaker 1: make any sense because it's like sad crisp. We need crisp, crisp,
Speaker 1: and maybe a drizzle of the sauce or the sauce
Speaker 1: is like underneath, and then this is placed on top.
Speaker 1: But we cannot the top us to be crisp beer,
Speaker 1: and that I'm gonna give a good like eight because
Speaker 1: the flavor is there. But here, oh God, dear God,
Speaker 1: the dessert, there's nothing to say to describe. They admit
Speaker 1: that the coconut cake is from Veniros, which means that
Speaker 1: I now have done a review of Veniros, which is unbelievable,
Speaker 1: because the coconut cake is extraordinary. It's a cream cheese frosting.
Speaker 1: I can tell. It's not one of those with like
Speaker 1: the burnt coconut toasted coconut, which I don't like the toasted.
Speaker 1: It's like a melty, gorgeous, gorgeous coconut cake. I have
Speaker 1: to compare it to Savannahs and Edgar's and Ina Gardens
Speaker 1: and the one at Christmas that Tom Cruise gives out.
Speaker 1: But it's it's it was excellent. They have a lemon
Speaker 1: merangue pie that is like mile high, like the merangue
Speaker 1: is like four miles four miles high. It is such
Speaker 1: a good cake. I mean such a good pie. It's
Speaker 1: out of control. The chocolate cream pie. The chocolate cream
Speaker 1: pie is like a dense, chocolate rich moose in an
Speaker 1: Oreo cookie crust. They do crust swell whoever the crust supervisors.
Speaker 1: I'd like the cs to get raised. The crust supervisor
Speaker 1: at four Charles deserves a fucking a wax figure made
Speaker 1: of them. And Madame Tussau is okay because the lemon
Speaker 1: meringue pie has a crust as a kushture of the
Speaker 1: gram Cracker. There's nothing that's sobbed out about it. And
Speaker 1: the chocolate cream pie is Oreo and the crust is
Speaker 1: like a wall of crispness. Okay if you don't it's
Speaker 1: and it's a rich, chocolate rich sickest Like that was
Speaker 1: a start half. I mean the Sunday half Uch Sunday
Speaker 1: hack and you go wrong. I don't know about the
Speaker 1: ice cream that was there was something else. There was
Speaker 1: one more thing that we got that was insane. The lemon.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm missing some. The dessert is davuon d'voon.
Speaker 1: I could almost give like tens on the dessert, like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get the desserts there's a ten for the chocolate.
Speaker 1: The rest is like nine and a half. Like it
Speaker 1: was like sickening, Like the dessert is disgusting, Like I can't.
Speaker 1: I was like, this is a discuss. I can't. I want,
Speaker 1: like I don't have it now. I'm aa taste everything,
Speaker 1: eat nothing I get in, I get out where I'm
Speaker 1: like fixated and I'm trying to be a supermodel. I
Speaker 1: have something coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm
Speaker 1: like sitting at the table, like I know you're talking
Speaker 1: to me five other humans at this Mother's Day dinner,
Speaker 1: but I really don't give a shit because I just wan.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about my relationship with that cake over there
Speaker 1: and is there still more? And is there not? And
Speaker 1: can I take it home? And am I gonna have
Speaker 1: it tomorrow? Can I sell myself? It's a muffin? And
Speaker 1: can I say it's for breakfast? And what do I do?
Speaker 1: And how do I have it next year? And like
Speaker 1: next week? And like I have to leave it, And
Speaker 1: I was like thinking about my relationship to this cake,
Speaker 1: this pie. I was like, what am I gonna do?
Speaker 1: Like I don't we have to leave each other now
Speaker 1: and it's over soon and I just want to go
Speaker 1: back and say I want to hug one more time,
Speaker 1: but then I'll get upset and I won't be able
Speaker 1: to get out. And it was it was psychotic. The
Speaker 1: chocolate cake and I need to, like I literally said
Speaker 1: at the table, I want to take all you know
Speaker 1: how like they have like a turd duck in or
Speaker 1: like they mix all the shit together and they take
Speaker 1: like a cheesecake and they put like one flavor of
Speaker 1: each cheesecake in one round thing, so it's like a
Speaker 1: I just wanted to I was like, how do I
Speaker 1: get all these desserts in like a little tupperware. There's
Speaker 1: four compartments, big toperware, and like put them put each
Speaker 1: part and like bring everybody together and go to a
Speaker 1: hotel room and touch myself. Like how do we make
Speaker 1: that happen? I want to go to a hotel room
Speaker 1: with all the four Charles Prime rib desserts and touch myself.
Speaker 1: Is that weird and awkward and a fetish? I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I will not be putting into my dating profile,
Speaker 1: or maybe I will. Anyway, the meal was it was
Speaker 1: just it was just a lovely experience and the people
Speaker 1: were nice and I loved it, but I'm not like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I have to wrap a rubber band
Speaker 1: around my arm. I have to be back there tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I did it. It was amazing. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: go back live for it. And Edwin is my friend.
Speaker 1: That's what I got. Thank you. Posters want to go
Speaker 1: to beat Off the Stern