In Country, Part I

Geoffrey Zakarian's Town was such a success that he opted to follow up with a sister restaurant dubbed Country.
I guess that passes for humor within a certain stratified set.
(The same set that regularly rides the bar car to Greenwich and prays for the day that the NASA scientists who bought us Tang are able to fuse Mayo, Dewar's, and Wonderbread into a single medium. Then... ascendancy... the second coming!)
Regardless, slouching towards Madison Square, Country is snugly situated the Carlton hotel on the Northwest corner 29th and Mad. (Surely, the neighboring Roger Wiliams is not too happy about the newer, trendier competitor!) The opening, actually the construction, of Country has been in the works for quite a while with a gut renovation that ran long past schedule. The result is a wacky warren of tables, sidetables, and bars beginning in the lobby and continuing up, down, and sideways through a tremendous space walled with francophillic molding, pickled wood, glass balcony guards that scream shopping mall (protecting a restaurant that screams food court), and generically hip, but uncomfortable furniture delivered in shades of chocolate ranging from 50 to 85% Cacao. I experienced some difficulty decoding the designated purpose for each area, not to mention finding the restrooms which are practically in the hotel's business center... however, the ability to fax in the facilities gives new meaning to "bathroom reading!" My odious odyssey reached a zenith when I entered the elevator to discover that nearing one half dozen, the floors give the list a run for its money. Each level is denoted by a series of letters that must have been spit out by a vintage Enigma machine.
The NSA cast-offs who serve as maitre-d'hotels (yes, plural,) decoded the layout for me explaining that there is a restaurant, a cafe, a bar, and a champagne bar contained within the complex.
I opted to stick with a visit to the Champagne Bar for the evening.
The Champagne Bar was one of at least three actual "bars" in the venue, but it is really more of a seating are with room for about 16 people. While waiting for the menus, we debated whether the cracks in the Starck-ish furniture were a design feature or not. (They were.)
When the menus manifested themselves melting from the hands of an equally generic upscale, black clad waitress, the furniture began to look better. Country is far more upscale, than, say, a Bubble Room, but the latter establishment actually delivers on the promised Bubbly. The former offered about ten, Fourteen Dollar Champagne (or sparkling wine) based cocktails made with fresh ingredients such as three types of mint puree or the bitters that seemed to be prominently displayed at each of the many turns. However, I can find cocktails at plenty of places and my interest was in the namesake, Champagne, and the list assembled by Sommelier David Sturno "in collaboration with Nick Mautone and Chef Zakarian."
Well, to quote some PE, "Don't believe the hype!"
The standard suspects such as Moet and Krug dutifully stood in the lineup, along with Bollinger, a personal favorite; yet, auspiciously absent was anything unusual. For example, where was my true love, Billecart-Salmon? Or even a Duval-Leroy?
The list was short and simple: disappointing for a self declared champagne bar.
The rest of the leather covered binder was devoted to other standards of the genre, the cognacs, and a civil selection Calvados. In short, I found myself in the type of establishment that one frequents to impress those who are impressed by cost and theory, not taste!
The service was satisfactory, and about midway through our "meal" we were presented with a cast iron pan about six inches in diameter, offering some hot pastry stuffed with spinach and Gruyere. The first of these canapes that I sampled was a kitchen error; the stuffing had been forgotten, and it was siply hollow: a perfect metaphor for Country's Champagne Bar.

In our next installment, we will address the question, "Does Doug Psaltis have a career left after the foodie fatwa issued following his Frey-esque memoir, The Seasoning of a Chef?"
Hint: Well, he's now the executive chef at Country.