My BF Michael and I decided to pop downtown to Au Cheval for an unscheduled late lunch last Friday when his workday was done and I knew I could have my phone on standby if need be since it was a double holiday. Au Cheval NYC is the sister restaurant to the OG Au Cheval Chicago where the crowd goes wild for the burgers and the stand-in-line diehards wait upwards of THREE hours for a table. (Au yes they do!) This is also a cousin to the famous you-can’t-get-in-no-matter-how-hard-you-try teensy bistro, 4 Charles Prime Rib in NYC that has been on my LBB restaurant bucket list for years- but so far I’ve been unsuccessful in crossing the coveted threshold.
I checked Resy to see if Au had open tables and shocker– they did! But I wasn’t willing to shell out $2.50 per person just to guarantee our spot. (Is this what’s happening now– we are required to pay for reservations?? Au I think not!) With various lunch times that appeared to be open, we crossed our fingers and subway’d it down to Canal Street, weaving our way along the uninhabited and super creepy Cortlandt Alley to the corner of Walker Street. Amazingly Freddy Krueger did not stalk us, but honestly I would not have been surprised if he had.
We entered the space from the Cortlandt side and were welcomed to a wider than expected rectangular room with exposed brick, big windows and an open kitchen. It smelled heavenly! We were seated immediately but in fairness, the place was decidedly jammed. The “brunch menu” was bigger than I thought, but we had pre-gamed our choices already anyway. We kicked off our ditch Friday with a little bubbly, my style.
Our friendly waiter stopped back over to see if we had decided. Au yes. With a big grin I ordered the Double Cheeseburger with pickles, dijonnaise, and American cheese, and Michael opted for the fancy Dry Aged Tavern Cheeseburger with louie cognac sauce and cheddar on squishy brioche. We couldn’t pass on the fries because they came with a side of garlic aioli.
It was a relaxing day and we chatted easily enjoying the downtown ambiance. Our food arrived to oohs and aahs. In this case the pictures might be better than any words I could have chosen. Mine before I de-bunned the sucker…
The one I didn’t get because at some point putting a fried farm egg and two thick slices of peppery bacon is just TOO much…even for me!
His…
And ours!
Imagine the most luxe burger you can– rich, umami perfection, tender, buttery, juicy. And fries– super crisp with a smooth garlicky dipping sauce. Au My Gawd! (It tastes even better if you say that line like you are the character Janice from the hit TV show Friends!) This is seriously the best burger I have ever had! And although I was hungry and inspired, I did not finish my entire portion. So I happily offered my remaining few carb free bites to Michael who polished off the balance of my double stack with no issue at all. (Sharing is caring!) We were two very happy campers indeed.
We spent the rest of the daylight hours strolling around SoHo, grateful for the quality time together… and trying a little cardio shopping to burn off some of those au-some calories!
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