42, White Plains

Ensconced on the 42nd floor of the Ritz-Carlton in downtown White Plains, 42 offers panoramic views from the Hudson River to Long Island Sound. It's a surprisingly interesting sight, from our secluded table in a hallway outside the main dining room during restaurant week.

Several tables were set up in the hall between the elevator and the main dining room -- we were tucked into a deuce between a party of 10 or so and a table of six. Besides the view, the decor in the area consisted of a gleaming vintage meat slicer, a gift to the chef.

The location felt kind of like sitting at the kids' table at a family holiday. It could have been intimate and romantic, if not for the bustling traffic and intrusive "dance product" -- jarring disco-esque versions of hits from the olden days, such as Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man."

I started with a very nice French Sancerre, and potato soup with kale and chorizo. The crispy greens and sausage topped creamy soup, a nice contrast in flavor and texture. Very tasty. My salmon fillet entree was served rare, as requested, with lentils, honey mustard sauce and pea shoots. It was nicely prepared, the sauce was more tangy than sweet, the way I prefer. The salmon was very rich and buttery, the pea shoots fresh and crunchy. I moved on to a Rhone with the entree, nice body, not overwhelming. My dessert was a mixed bag -- under-ripe fruit salad topped with a dab of wonderfully tangy grapefruit sorbet. The portions weren't generous, but the quality was excellent, I enjoyed everything, except the eh-level fruit.

One of my routine dining complaints: A teabag dangling in a cup of tepid water should not cost $5.

The service was so-so at best. A waitress took our order and the food and appropriate silverware was delivered by several servers, who inevitably gave us each the wrong thing. At one point, the waitress loudly scolded one of the servers for something he'd done wrong at another table. Hearing someone getting his ass chewed is rarely on my list of criteria for a fine dining experience.

The women's room -- or should I say "woman's," it was a single-user situation -- was nothing special. The dark wood and black fixture decor, paired with fluorescent lighting, made even a minor makeup adjustment difficult to impossible. Who looks good in that setting?! The vessel sink splashed water all over, and it's already taking its toll on the wooden vanity.

Would I go back? I'm not sure. The food was very good, we liked the view, the atmosphere and service left a lot to be desired, but the price was right. We didn't mention the restaurant week promotion when we made our reservation or before we were seated in outer Siberia. The whole thing felt a bit off. Although the food was good, the evening didn't add up to a festive, exciting dining experience.

Update: We did mention the restaurant week promotion when we made our reservation, which I feel was the reason for our banishment to "Siberia". Really, if these places really wanted the restaurant week promotion to result in more traffic, they should not make the diner feel like a poor relative. -The Grumpy Diner -