Dowling’s at The Carlyle

What can you do? You’re an incurable romantic when it comes to New York. Your Manhattan is black and white. The Chrysler Building is front and centre of your skyline, the full moon speared on its silver spire like a cocktail onion ready for a Martini. Which reminds you, you haven’t had a really great, really cold Martini in far too long. It reminds you that you should go uptown to The Carlyle. “It is the heart, always, that sees before the head,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, for whom the hotel is named. And when it comes to the newly re-vamped restaurant, he’s absolutely right. Loving Dowling’s happens as soon as you step into the eclectic, 1940’s-inspired dining room where manners are old-school and ties are encouraged. It’s first and foremost about heart, not reason – though, there are also good reasons. There’s Steak Diane, for heaven’ sake. Wheeled out into the bustling room on a trolley, to be flambéed table-side, to oohs and ahs from fellow diners as the air fills with the scent of Cognac. So what if your partner’s scallops are getting slightly chilly while your steak is still cooking? Why focus on timing when you can sink into dreaming? Have another glass of Champagne. Look around. The room has undergone an upgrade, but not an erasure of 90 years of history. Who’s been here before you? Starlets in mink and diamonds and the Sugar Daddies who bought them shrimp cocktail. Artists and writers, captains of industry, celebrities and royals, all tucking into oysters, just as you have, all part of a timeless moment of conversation, conviviality, and hospitality. A collage of paintings, photos and graphics catches your attention. Can you spot the five never-before-seen works by Ludwig Bemelman whose famous murals adorn the near-by bar? Or did another piece of table-side theatre distract you; a waiter expertly filleting a Dover Sole, swathed in a buttery sauce? The menu is orchestrated by chef Sylvain Delpique, formerly the executive chef of the now shuttered 21 Club (note to fans, he brough the chicken paillard with him). It celebrates a by-gone era of American dining, which feels absolutely right in this storied space. There’s a wedge salad – blue cheese, bacon, tomato, just as it should be. Shrimp cocktail with brandy cocktail sauce. Steak tartare. Foie gras terrine. One modern addition that more than holds its own? Waffle fries, perfectly suited to dipping into a silver jug of warm Bearnaise. Reviewed by Katherine Knowles