Are you looking for a summer rooftop terrace with a view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center?Duomo 51 is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner or cocktails. Finding the restaurant is not the easiest as there is no sign outside, as of yet. Duomo 51 is located on the seventh floor of the DoubleTree Hotel directly across the street from Rockefeller’s Center.

You take the elevator to get up there and it is under renovation and dirty, but once the elevator opens there is an expansive dining room that leads into the glass-enclosed terrace, with views of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The terrace features a retractable roof and heaters. On either side will be cocktail bars and chairs that over look Rockefeller Center.

Duomo 51, opened a month ago and it really needs time to get the kinks out. The terrace is not finished and seems a little sterile. The servers are not exactly trained. When my first server poured my water, he got more on my phone, glasses and table and then walked away without cleaning it up. When I asked for a paper napkin he reached over and took the cloth napkin and didn’t even wipe the top which would have had more water flying, until I asked. Thankfully I ordered a drink and that was perfection. Lost in Rome ($20) is Vodka served with a blueberry Puree, lime, mint and ginger beer served in a shaker.

The menu is Tuscan-Italian inspired, so for appetizers we started out with Burrata ($20) with tri colored Herman’s tomato’s lightly glazed with balsamic and olive oil. The Burrata melted in your mouth and was delicious with the sun-dried tomato olive oil served with the bread. Delicious.

The fabulous olive oil with sun-dried tomato’s

We also had the Gamberi al Brandy ($25) grilled shrimp with cannellini beans, fresh tomatoes, and cognac sauce, but the sauce is non existent, so basically grilled shrimp with beans, that lacked flavor. Yeah for the delicious olive oil infusion.

I ordered a Malbec, Aymara ($15) that had a nice balance and body.

For our main course we shared the handmade pasta Carbonara style ($27) Spaghetti here is served with organic egg, pecorino cheese, smoked pancetta and ground pepper is offered. When the cheese was served it was not freshly ground and the dish lacked peas and had too much salt, so nice but not great.

We also ordered Dover Sole (MP) prepared table side. This delightful fish was lightly sautéed and was served in a lemon sauce, but not enough of it. Also though the fish was deboned, it was not served to us. They offer the wrong utensil, so when serving myself the fish slid off the spoon, but the dish itself was something I would order again.

For dessert homemade Ice Cream with warm berries ($12) and a homemade Panna Cotta with fresh berries ($12). Both of these were truly wonderful. My guest had a cappuccino ($6) with a heart on top, as well. It was a terrific ending.

Duomo 51 offers elegant private event spaces with many different attractive setups based on the size of the party and occasion and you can have a party up to 130.

The lavatory/bathroom is located down a flight of long basement stairs and is not so clean. Also on the elevator down there is no L button instead you have to push G for ground. All 6 of us in the elevator thought that stood for garage. Still there is much to admire about Duomo 51 and look forward to trying them again in another couple of months. However if you are planning an Easter brunch, this just might be the perfect place for Brunch.

Duomo 51: 25 W 51st St., 7th Floor

Patsy’s Italian Restaurant has been known for years as the restaurant made famous by Frank Sinatra, and his family still enjoys dining here whenever they are in town. George Clooney’s aunt, cabaret singer and actress Rosemary Clooney, was once quoted, “Patsy’s is still the best Italian restaurant in town. I make a pasta pilgrimage there every time I return.”

Other long-time high profile patrons who consider Patsy’s Italian Restaurant their Manhattan dining room include, Tony Bennett, Michael Bublé, George Clooney, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Tony Danza, Jennifer Lopez, Liza Minnelli, Al Pacino, Rihanna, Martha Stewart, Ben Stiller, Oprah Winfrey, and many others.

Celebrity Chef Sal Scognamillo

We all had the pleasure to join Celebrity Chef Sal Scognamillo for a very special Private Lunch on March 18th hosted City Guide and Eli Marcus.

Eli Marcus,George Pettignano

Chef Sal shared some of his riveting stories about celebrities, sports stars and others famous guests. Ha also told us a few one-of-a-kind frank Sinatra stories about Frank’s exclusive table near we were seated.

Popular entertainer George Pettignano, a cousin of Bobby Rydell, sang classic tunes from the 40’s to 70’s ranging from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Beatles, Elvis & more!  George, as a former Hollywood stunt man, shared some of his classic stories

Eli Marcus

Everyone enjoyed a great meal and then danced the afternoon away!

Eli Marcus, Celebrity Chef Sal Scognamillo, Errol Rappaport

Errol Rappaport, Celebrity Chef Sal Scognamillo,Eli Marcus

Steve Garrin, wife, George Pettignano

Colin O’Leary Celebrity Chef Sal Scognamillo,Rena Sylvester, Eli Marcus

Colin O’Leary,Rena SylvesterErrol Rappaport

On Thursday, April 27^th, Executive Chef Bryce Shuman of the Michelin-recognized Sweetbriar, formerly of Eleven Madison Park, and The Sylvia Center, an organization founded in 2007 to address diet-related diseases in under-resourced communities across the five boroughs, will be hosting a 15^th anniversary celebration fundraising event at their Art of Cooking Benefit.

Throughout the evening, The Sylvia Center will celebrate its founding supporter, Great Performances Hospitality Group and honor Wendy Dessy of Proskauer. The inaugural Miriam and Carl Stern Community Partnership Award will be granted to Jeannette Bocanegra of Justice for Families, a partner organization in the Bronx. The event will also feature students from three of The Sylvia Center’s Teen Culinary Apprenticeship programs in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, who will create their own dish that will be featured during the event’s cocktail hour.

The Art of Cooking Benefit will take place at Hudson Mercantile (500 W 36^th St.) with cocktails being served from 6 pm – 7 pm and a sit-down dinner by Chef Bryce Shuman and programming will be from 7 pm – 8:30 pm.

Photo by ADG Photography