Augustine - New York

I really want to give this place five starsIt's a beautiful restaurant with a really nice barService was also on spot.

Hubby and I have been staying at The Beekman since they opened late last summer and were really looking forward to our first chance to try Augustine. I

Food: We ordered the whole lotDry aged ribeye was packed full of flavor, cooked perfectly to a pink medium rare, solid peppered outer crust.

On our very first visit to NYC almost a decade ago now, we recall a very early wintry morning traipsing through the Financial District, before the crowds descended on the brassy bronze bull sculpture, before the traders and suits commenced business on Wall Street and Broad Street, before the commuters flooded the trains and ferries. Perhaps, quite unlike any other part of Manhattan, there is a very pervasive sense of history in FiDi. Maybe, it’s the twisty labyrinth of new roads and cobblestone roads. Maybe, it’s the way the sun timidly filters through laneways between the tightly-spaced buildings, a mix of old drinking taverns that once saw seafaring voyagers, intermingled with sleek contemporary spaces that house hundreds upon hundreds of office workers. Ten years later today, as our day-time work is situated in this area, we sadly, scurry from FiDi as soon as the work day is done. On occasion though, such as when we visited the glorious Manhatta, these Dessert Correspondents have been tempted to spend our off-work hours in FiDi, albeit with slightly thumping, PTSD-like anxiety. And, Augustine — with its exquisite afternoon tea cakes — is certainly one such place that deserves re-visits — it is an escape to one moment in Vienna in New York.

Augustine has a certain charm to it. It’s based in the heart of Financial District in the Beekman Hotel which bodes an art deco feel which is not typically associated with the neighbourhood. In the restaurant, there’s hand-painted tiles which are plated across the walls, vintage mirrors, a main antique clock and wooden tables covered with white paper and a red leather banquette flows through the edge of the restaurant’s interior. It’s a mix of an eclectic French bistro, New York lunch diner hipster club lunch spot; and the crowd mirrors the diversity of the vibe.