Aureole
The rating scale of 0 to 100 reflects our editors’ appraisals of all the tangible and intangible factors that make a restaurant or bar great — or terrible — regardless of price.
Read more about the new ratingsLocation
135 W. 42nd St., New York, NY, 10036
212-319-1660
Known For
The lowdown
We suppose it’s no surprise that Charlie Palmer’s relaunched Aureole flagship restaurant in midtown (the original, overly ornate town house quietly closed in May 2009) appears to have been designed, to an almost depressing degree, with today’s profit-strapped restaurant market in mind. The boxy, double-height room occupies the shank end of the Bank of America tower on 42nd Street, just beyond the blinking, fluorescent glow of Times Square. Both the pint-sized dining room, and clamorous, oversized bar area are appointed in the familiar poshly featureless hotel-lobby style, and with a couple of exceptions (pork-belly sliders, a decent midtown burger), most of the menu is still stubbornly frozen in the ye old Charlie Palmer heyday of fruity tasting entrees, lots of truffles, and endless, candied iterations of that old gourmet warhorse, foie gras.
What you need to know
DrinksFull Bar
Noise LevelCivilized