Restaurant: BG Restaurant (within Bergdorf Goodman)
Cuisine: American, tea
Location: 754 7th Avenue, 7th floor - NY, NY 10019

I'd been anticipating my parents' visit to the city for months and had almost every detail of their itinerary perfectly planned. So two weeks ago, when my mom told me to pick a restaurant for lunch with her best friend from childhood (who now lives in Westchester County), I was stumped. I knew that mom's friend, Bonnie, would be coming from Grand Central and that after lunch, all of us would want to be in the vicinity of the beautiful "window shopping" stores on 5th Avenue. Where does one take her Southern mother and mother's friend for a light "ladies lunch" on a Saturday afternoon? Why, BG at Bergdorf Goodman, of course!

After seeing the picture of BG on the New York Magazine website, I knew that this restaurant would be an instant hit with the ladies. I made a reservation on Opentable for three diners at noon on Saturday, September 29th.

BG is located on the seventh floor of Bergdorf Goodman and is the first sight as you exit the elevator. The dining room is very bright, with large windows overlooking a perfect Central Park view. The decor is rich and elegant without being stuffy; i.e. mirrored furniture and ornate crown molding. The acoustics of the dining room are perfect; there can be many guests at the restaurant at one time and the noise level remains pleasant.Upon being seated, we were immediately handed menus and served a lovely bread basket. I couldn't resist the assortment and grabbed a slice of fruit and nut bread, a piece of olive bread, and half of a boule. The ramekin of butter was room temperature, which made for sheer spreadable joy! Each of us perused the wine list (conveniently included in the same menu with the food) and chose a glass of white. Once our wines arrived, we ordered our lunch; all having decided on the same entree! I know this is a totally boring and unadventurous thing to do, but who can resist a croque monsieur? (For those of you who don't know, the word "croque monsieur" is French for a "ham and Swiss" sandwich. The difference is that it's prepared grilled with the cheese melted on top of the sandwich instead of inside of the sandwich.)

The croque monsieur was served with a side of mixed field greens lightly tossed in vinaigrette. The sandwich was made with thinly sliced white bread, salty serrano ham and Gruyere cheese. Prior to grilling, the bread was doused with a thick layer of butter and grilled to the most beautiful golden brown, thus creating a perfectly crispy crust and warm interior. The mild and salty ham was a perfect match to the strong Gruyere cheese. We were all very pleased with our meal.I highly recommend BG and hope to return in the near future for afternoon tea. My only complaint about BG would be the outrageous price tag for our lunch; I almost had a coronary when I received our bill, but the steep price certainly comes with the territory.

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Until we eat again,

Lindsay, The Lunch Belle