Review: L’Avenue at Saks

Food

Audio By Carbonatix

Manhattan is a magical place especially at Christmas time. There are so many places to go and beautiful decorations to look at. And on Sundays during December, Fifth Avenue closes down to become entirely pedestrian so the people can take in the tree at Rockefeller Center and the light show at Saks Fifth Avenue and all the other beautiful decorations up and down fifth Avenue from 47th to 57th. My kids love to go in and especially see the Rockefeller Christmas tree, so we started to make it a tradition.

We like to go in on Sunday and have brunch and walk up and down Fifth Avenue to see the windows and the tree. There are plenty of places to eat, especially around Rockefeller Center. Our favorite thing to do is have brunch at L’avenue—the restaurant at the top of Saks Fifth Avenue. It has beautiful views overlooking Rockefeller Center to the west and to the north, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The food and cocktails are amazing. It’s warm and cozy and a nice respite from the cold and the crowds down at the tree.

This Sunday, my family and I all had items off their brunch menu. My sons ordered the Bacon Eggs Benedict, and I ordered the Eggs Norwegian— an eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. My husband had a mushroom omelette, and my daughter had cinnamon French toast.

The French toast my daughter ordered was rich with a crunchy cinnamon sugar crusting, as well as some berries and whipped cream to compliment it. She also tried a mocktail from the menu—a lovely, spiced apple soda.

We then ordered their holiday-themed desserts, and they were not only delicious, but presented beautifully. My Sapin Chocolate was a Christmas tree-shaped cake with two smaller present-shaped cakes. The server grated some meringue “snow” over the top of the tree at the table.

My son ordered the Christmas Ornament—a cake inside a chocolate “ornament” orb that the server poured a chocolate sauce over and the orb melted to reveal the dessert inside.

I have begun to look forward to our Rockefeller/Fifth Ave city day even more than I used to now that we have made our brunch at L’Avenue a tradition. The food, cocktails, and ambiance are elevated, but not so much that you can’t bring kids and enjoy it casually. And the view is truly fabulous during the Christmas season. I highly recommend it if you are coming to Manhattan during the holidays.