The Best Thing We Ate Last Night: Oyster Pan Roast at The John Dory

By James Mulcahy

One of our favorite NYC pastimes is restaurant hopping, and we especially like to do it at the Ace Hotel, because we can hit three spots without leaving the building. We usually start out with drinks and a snack at the John Dory, and then have a beverage in the lobby bar while we wait for our table at The Breslin. That was the plan, anyway, until the servers at the Dory put April Bloomfield's oyster pan roast down in front of us. A few slurps of this epically rich broth, and we never wanted to leave our stool at the oyster bar.

Meaty oysters lie underneath the liquid - which is pretty much the closest you can come to butter soup in our book. The whole thing is topped off with a piece of toast that's smeared with savory uni butter. The dish, one of our favorites in The Big Apple - pretty much sums up Bloomfield's style. You know that it's gotta be no good for you, but you still slurp up every last drop. Oh, and if you need some help with the slurping, order a side of parker house rolls, that are seemingly made to sop up every bit of the soup. If you're going to indulge, there's no reason that you shouldn't pack on some carbs as well.

Photo: wallyg via Flickr