Good Eggs: Caviar Service at Bogie’s Place in Downtown Crossing

Photo by Ted Morrison
Styling by Jessica Weatherhead/Team

You might not be surprised to find highbrow caviar service at L’Espalier or Mooo. But at a mini restaurant tucked away in the back of a bar—well, that’s a little more unexpected. And yet that’s precisely what the folks behind the Downtown Crossing hangout JM Curley have done at Bogie’s Place, a new 20-seat, 1920s-themed steakhouse concept nestled inside what was once the bar’s petite private-dining area. (The speakeasy-style windowless den was named after the actor Humphrey Bogart.)

The menu is dominated by à la carte steaks, of course, but the $120 caviar service is the true showpiece: a one-ounce portion of American sturgeon roe flanked by buckwheat blini, shots of sippable Fair quinoa vodka, and a platter of finely chopped red onion, sour cream, chives, egg yolk, and egg whites. “We thought it would be really cool to follow through with the era we’re pulling from,” says chef Sam Monsour, explaining the extravagant traditional presentation. “We’re paying homage to the history of the American restaurant.”