lamb’s club | Johnny Prime

Amphora recently opened in the flatiron district. After The Lamb’s Club closed, Chef Jack Logue and basically his entire team shifted gears and got to work opening this new spot. It’s a shame that The Lamb’s Club closed, as the space was really beautiful, but I’m happy that we can still get Jack’s food elsewhere.

Amphora is set up around three tasting menus: three, four and seven courses – all available with wine pairings. They do offer some great cocktails as well. We tried the “As Per My Latest Email” and “O.O.O.”

We opted for the four course menu, with an added main, but before the first course comes you you are treated to a few tasty bites and slurps. First is this truffle and rosemary broth. Delicious.

Next is a trio of amuses: a sturgeon cigar, a tomato, and steak tartare. All excellent, but I obviously liked the tartare best.

Then there is some nice warm rosemary brioche with yogurt butter. Super interesting! I loved that butter!

For the first course, we chose the tri-colored beets with goat cheese and the bluefin tuna crudo with watermelon tomato ponzu. Both were excellent. My wife liked the beets better, but I preferred the tuna.

For our next course, we tried two pastas: sweet corn agnolotti and raviolo vitello tonnato. Again, both excellent. Two very different stuffed pastas. One leaning a bit sweet from the corn, and the other more savory. The white wine pairings with these really brought out their unique flavors.

We tried all three of the mains: Atlantic black bass, Rohan duck and citrus Wagyu rib eye. Believe it or not, I liked the fish the best here. It was just so light and flavorful, perfectly cooked, and paired with a nice selection of squash and zucchini.

My wife preferred the duck, which was perfectly cooked with crispy skin on top and nicely rendered fat. Paired with a little tartlet of cherry and also some liver mousse.

Finally, the beef was perfectly cooked and served with potato and mushroom. Absolutely stunning.

For dessert, we tried the milk chocolate mousse with hazelnut and praline, along with the “peaches and cream” (olive oil sponge cake, peach sorbet, and sabayon). Both were great, but we preferred the chocolate mousse.