Food Blog: Fred’s at Barneys New York

Unforgettable. The lunch at Fred’s on the top floor of Barneys New York in Madison was unforgettable. I was tweeting my morning away while in New York when I get a tweet from @barneysnyfreds gently reminding me not to forget to pop over Fred’s for lunch while in the area.

I said, why not! I was meeting one wonderful NY reader, ChrisHo (abbreviated name), who wanted to take us out for lunch. I suggested Fred’s and she was just as enthusiastic as I was about it.

I’m so glad we did go because it was really a superb lunch. My New York trip would not have been complete without lunch at Fred’s.

Fred’s is apparently the brainchild of the son of Barneys founder, Fred Pressman.

Tweetmate @BarneysNYFreds asked for my name and then had me look for the wonderful hostess, Nikki, and before we knew it, Managing Director Mark Strausman came over to our table to introduce himself. What a pleasant man, and mind you, this man really knows his food.

We had a nice chat with Mark as we munched on frittes– very yummy, non- greasy frittes.

According to Mark, the salads were very good and very fresh, so I was quick to bite the bullet to order myself a nice plate of crab and shrimp (or prawn) salad.

My new friend Chris ordered the seafood salad

While Claudette ordered the fish

I can’t speak for my friends’ food, but I can tell you that the crab and prawn salad is definitely worth having. I can have seconds of this because the dressing’s consistency and mix with the crabs and shrimps was perfect. The salad greens were crisp (as they should be) and not soggy from the dressing.It is honestly one of the best salads I’ve ever had.

A few bites into the salad and a good conversation later, Mark sends over pizza, on him.

This pizza immediately reminded me of that pizza I had while I was with family in Rome. That was the same pizza I had wanted to find but couldn’t find anywhere else after that fateful night in a “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant in one of the streets of Rome.

The pizza was marvelous. It was very subtle, and had no overpowering flavors that would make you reach for that glass of cold drink nearby. I loved the marriage of the mushrooms and the zucchinis. (which by the way, were grown locally– only the egg came from a farm in Vermont). The flavors came together wonderfully. I had 3 huge slices and secretly wanted more, but the salad had filled me up.

It was such a wonderful meal– one worth writing home about (and the meal makes it to this blog)!

ChrisHo and I (photo by CV— thank you!)

Thank you so much, ChrisHo for hosting the wonderful lunch, and a special thank you to @BarneysNYFreds, to Mark Strausman, and to the staff of Fred’s at Barneys NY who really took very good care of us as we dined there.

By the way, Mark Straussman has a blog– food lovers, check it out! http://mstrausman.wordpress.com/

Fred’s is a place I will definitely be coming to for lunch each time I visit New York! For reservations at Fred’s on the top floor of Barneys New York on Madison Avenue, call (212) 833-2200 or email freds@barneys.com

Oh, and before I officially end this post, I just have to add that I saw more than 2 Goyard totes carried by fashionable women that afternoon, one of them belonging to ChrisHo 🙂