Today on this beautiful Friday, after a long week of work and bad or no lunches I decided to treat myself to the XYZ around the corner.

Here amongst the business men and the beautiful people people of the W hotel, botoxed wives and old money lunching ladies, I found my little heaven, in the corner of the room with my book.

I asked my waitress to get me out of here in one hour and I was so pleased that she respected my time without rushing me but making sure that I was leaving on time.

I started with the beet salad with poached pear and almonds vinaigrette. I was amused by the perfectly shaped balls of goat cheese looking like marbles on my plate. I have to say that the presentation was very impressive and took the beet salad (one o my favorite) to another level. I would have like to see a bit more cheese, but that’s because I am a gourmande!

The dressing made with  hint of cinnamon, was at first strange and then made perfect sense.

I followed with their hanger steak with greens and roasted potatoes. The meat was perfectly cooked and tasted amazing.

The only thing I wasn’t a big fan of was the ketchupy sauce on the bottom of the plate. A jus would have been enough.

Summary: Bill for 1: $42.89, a bit pricey. I like the food with no doubt, but I have to admit this a bit too fancy for a lunch, unless it’s on the company expense’s account! The service was great, the food will bring me back, maybe the ambiance is a bit too uptight for me. I have been to 3 Michelin star restaurants where I felt more at home than this place.