STK

I just want to take a minute and talk about how cool I was for a night. I went to STK then to Tenjune. Basically the opposite of a normal Friday night, but SO MUCH FUN! We had two of my wonderful friends in town, Kara and Melissa, and decided that we wanted to take them out on the town and show they a trendy, NYC time.

STK (vowels are so last year) is located in the Meatpacking district on Manhattan's West side, and let me tell you walking through there on Friday night is an interesting event. There is a mix of young, cool, hip trendy people, and then older men crusing for these young, cool, trendy girls. Needless to say I stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was fun trying to fit in :)

When we walked up to STK, self-titled "not your daddy's steak house" was not in fact my father's steak house, because at my "father's steak house" we don't have a huge crowd. There were SO many people around, either waiting to get into STK or Tenjune. It was slightly overwhelming, but I quickly found the bar and everything was all right. Dimly lit, and beats bumping STK was alive and in full swing. I couldn't tell if people were there for the bar or to actually eat, but it didn't matter, I was with my group and we were having a great time.

After about 15 minutes of waiting we were seated and began to peruse the menu. STK offers seafood and steak, however, being that the title of the restaurant is "steak" I knew I was going to go with meat. Here is what we ordered:

• Fresh Oysters on the half shell
• Skirt steak
• Strip
• Braised short rib with miso and crispy shallots
• Sole with fresh vegetables and artichoke

As you can tell from my description

above which two were the obvious stars: the sole and the braised short rib. Leah got the sole and it was so flaky, tender and light. They did a really nice job with it, a lot better than I expected. Ah, the short rib. Honestly, it was the best thing at the table in my opinion and maybe that's becuase I ordered it but, nonetheless it was absolutely divine. The meat was falling apart and the sauce wasn't too sweet but all a nice background to the meat. I love crispy shallot on anything so that was a big plus. The radish also added a nice contrast in texture. Kara was sitting next to me and was enjoying the dish so much I basically just pushed it in front of her and let her go to town.

I think everyone agreed that the skirt steaks were ok, but nothing to write about -- so I won't, and everything else was good but not great. If I were to go back to STK it definitely wouldn't be for the food but most definitely for the atmosphere and they know that. STK isn't exactly cheap with most entrees ranging from $20-$30 and drinks $13-$15 a piece...

Overall, you could have given us ramen and it would have been great. Good times, good people, great night. Can you ask for more?

STK

26 Little West 12th

New York, NY 10014