The Setai Opens Its Very Own Steak House

By Mark Goldberg

Don’t confuse The Grill at The Setai with The Restaurant at The Setai. The Grill is new — open only since December — and, as its name implies, it’s a steak house. The room is a melding of slate, teak and imported Shanghai brick, with some tabletops lined in mother-of-pearl. Rich banquettes and leather-covered teak chairs complete the open look, surprisingly seating more than 200 diners comfortably.

Don’t be put off by the price of the wines (starting at about $80 and rising into the thousands), but do expect them to be exceptional. After all, each one was sampled and selected by accomplished Sommelier Sergio Caceres before being added to the list.

A nice Grill touch is the antipasto brought to each table. Natural and simple in presentation, it includes roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes, corona beans, Persian feta cheese, Langurian olives, semi-dried tomatoes and grilled eggplant. From there, it’s a simple segue to appetizers.

The Carpaccio of Smoked Beef ($19) came from a whole tenderloin that had been dry-rubbed with garlic, fennel seed and thyme, then cured in brown sugar. After cold smoking, it was finished in the oven, then dry-aged for two days. The finely sliced result offered a pastrami-like consistency and a flavor enhanced by a truffled sherry vinaigrette. A Caesar Salad ($14) was classic in its makeup. The romaine was fresh and crisp, the dressing light enough not to interfere. And the shaved parmesan was a highlight. The Jumbo Scallops ($25) were lightly seared in clarified butter, keeping them tender on the inside with a grilled cover. A nice addition was the citrus salsa of grapefruit and orange segments in a light olive oil, sugar and salt and pepper blend. Completely unique was the Braised Bacon ($18). This Applewood smoked treat was braised for four hours in chicken stock, cooled, then sliced. It was then oven-roasted and tossed briefly on the grill to further enhance its flavor. Yes, it’s beyond fatty, but trim that away and the meat is wonderful, like a moist and smoky corned beef.

Chef de Cuisine Michael Steinemann orders all his beef from organically raised, naturally grown stock from the Niman Ranch. So expect the 16-ounce New York Strip ($50) to be prime and perfect. It’s grilled to order, with the wonderful flavor of the coals. The 16-ounce Boneless Rib Eye ($48) is even more tender with an unprecedented taste. The Four-Bone Rack of New Zealand Lamb ($35) was surprisingly a bit tough, even though it was ordered medium rare. But the cowboy cut 12-ounce Veal Chop ($45) was rich and tender and seasoned exquisitely.

Speaking of seasonings, The Grill offers six sauce selections to go with your beef order. These range from a rich wild mushroom cream with brandy to an anti-cucho. While there is no charge for the sauces, unlike at some other steak houses, just take a little of one or another — on the side — because the meat is very tasty without them.

Being a steak house, The Grill is totally à la carte. All sides are $10 and, while our mashed potato puree, asparagus and especially the creamed spinach were all quite tasty, we would have liked a bigger serving of each so we could share them at table.

After such a quality meal, we found the desserts ($12 each) to be totally uninspiring. The Dark Chocolate Mousse tasted too much of cocoa powder and not enough of chocolate. The Caramel Pecan Pie was loaded with crunchy pecan halves, but the crust was soggy and tasteless. The Cheesecake, with its mixed berry sauce, was acceptable as was the Crème Caramel. But since this was The Grill at The Setai with Setai prices, we expected more.

The Grill is in keeping with the rest of The Setai and, judging from the active, happy, youthful crowd filling all the tables, it will be around for a long time to come.

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