Messa

Frommer's Review

The daring, much-talked-about 21st-century design of this restaurant is sumptuous: white on white, with polished white marble floors, drapes, and long white communal tables with polished burl tops running down the center of the dining room, lined with columns of white upholstered arm chairs. The basic effect is Roman banquet hall meets Vogue and Architectural Digest. The decor and long tables draw the crowds, and you might not be comfortable with the scene at Messa unless you are designed as professionally as the restaurant itself. This is talented Chef Aviv Moshe's personal restaurant, so it won't have a turnover of chefs, but the menu choices (some touched with the chef's Kurdish family traditions) change daily. Some menu items are great; others are an acquired taste. Among the best appetizers is a dish of calamari served with lentils and bits of finely chopped, smoked goose breast in cauliflower cream; main course hits include the seafood toast -- grilled coquilles St. Jacques and shrimp served on thickly sliced toast with anchovy butter, and a good vinaigrette salad on the side -- or the ravioli stuffed with shrimp, mascarpone, and figs. The wine list is carefully planned, and there's a dramatic black on black designer bar to see and be seen in.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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