When Laurent Tourondel launched Skirt Steak next to L’Amico, his other venture, the lines in front of the restaurant, result of a Tik Tok fortunate publicity, discouraged me to try it right away. So it was time to try. The concept is not unknown: salad, steak and fries as the sole menu, has been what Le Relais de Venise has been proposing for decades. But Laurent Tourondel made it hyped (or Tik Tok did). The differences between Skirt Steak and Le Relais de Venise? In a nutshell:

The salad at Skirt Steak is bigger, with no walnuts and not overdressed. You wonder if the portion is not meant to fill you up so you would not ask for too many fries that are unlimited.
The steak is skirt steak (duh!) while it is sirloin at Le Relais de Venise. In both restaurants, the only temperatures are rare, medium, well done.
If you are vegetarian, Le Relais de Venise has a cheese plate, while Skirt Steak has a cauliflower steak that was quite good, sitting on what seemed to be the same sauce as the steak.
The portions are equivalent, except that they serve the steak at once at Skirt Steak whereas you have two servings at Le Relais de Venise.
Both have pretty good fries: crispy, cooked all the way through, the ones at Skirt Steak (unlimited) being slightly thicker than the ones at Le Relais de Venise (not unlimited, but a good serving).
Last is the sauce: Skirt Steak proposes a black pepper béarnaise that is quite good, well balanced so the pepper is not overpowering and you still get hints of tarragon. I smothered the fries with the sauce like I use to do at Le Relais de Venise, my favorite way of eating these fries.

The steak was quite good, tender, juicy, with a nice char. The presentation looks less spectacular on the skillet with just one portion, but is still an exciting experience. For $28, it is a pretty good deal but one should not leave without trying one of their desserts. Well, they are quite smart because they have a dessert cart that you cannot miss as they roll it through the dining room. So, I decided to try their Paris-Brest, a pastry made with choux and a hazelnut cream in the center. This was one of my favorites when living in France, but I did not really find any in the US, besides Dominique Ansel’s spin-off called the Paris-New York, where the hazelnut or praline is replaced with peanut butter. Well, the Paris-Brest at Skirt Steak was superb, all the elements, from the chou to the cream, being deliciously made. Worth to stretch your pants for it!

I should also mention their drinks. For lunch, I usually go for a non-alcoholic drink and I truly appreciated the fact that they offer mocktails that are exciting. I had the phony Negroni that was like the Bitter San Pellegrino, while Jodi got the Strawberry shrub.

Skirt Steak is a great place for a casual lunch or dinner. I find it as good as Le Relais de Venise that is unfortunately temporarily closed at the time of this post. Is it worth waiting hours in line? Probably not. Still, I recommend it.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Skirt Steak - 835 6th Ave, New York, NY 10001

Steak Frites at Skirt Steak

I Just Want To Eat!