He needs to create a menu that his kitchen team can execute flawlessly. Without one, it's nearly impossible to cook for 200 at the same level as for 50. It's not that Citrin isn't capable. As it stands now, a meal can vary from the sublime to the merely ordinary. First impressions are extremely important.
Bread is a choice of fragrant crusty dinner rolls or slabs of deliriously buttery brioche.
I enjoy his earthier starters, such as a green lentil salad embellished with wisps of mache and raw-cured duck prosciutto. But ravioli with dried tomato and goat cheese seems dated. Main courses are generally better than the starters. Yet when I order the sauteed skate wing one night, the delicate taste and texture of the skate are buried beneath an onslaught of disparate flavors. Slow-cooked salmon is as soft as satin, its subtle nuances overwhelmed by overly sweet diced root vegetables.