Review: Morton's in Clayton

When it's time for dinner, American diners have one huge advantage over their European neighbors.

Beef.  As in steak.  Good beef.  As in steak from Morton's.

The fancy Clayton establishment, with prices that are extravagant and quality that obeys Pollack's First Law, "a restaurant is judged by the prices it charges," has few flaws and recent visits have brought exemplary meals.  We had a major service glitch on a visit last spring, but in any sort of operation run by human beings, strange things can happen.  And a return journey last month showed the glitch to be a rarity.

Morton's is designed to be a men's restaurant, but one that will impress the women who arrive with them.  The intimidation factor seems to have been reduced, and we noted parties of women, and of younger diners, all at high comfort levels. The room is large, with well-separated tables and comfortable chairs.  Portions are super-sized, service is brisk and attentive, without hovering.  Decor includes large, empty wine bottles with glamorous labels, and some now-empty cases, inscribed with the names of glamorous French, Italian and American wineries.

The menu is displayed on a tray, the way that steak houses like to do it.  It makes an impact, too, since hardly anything makes as much of a statement as a huge, thick steak, well-marbled and most tempting.  Giant lobsters also are impressive, but lobsters over two pounds tend to be tough, as hard to chew as their price is to swallow.  And if you don't like to stare at the meat, here's a tip.  The waiter often asks if you are making a return visit, and if you answer in the affirmative, he or she will offer to bring a printed menu that they call a cheat sheet.  A menu hangs from a wall, too.

Selections change from time to time, depending on seasonal availability, or on the popularity of a dish. Everything is a la carte, but remember that portions are of a size whereby any single side dish, like a vegetable, or a potato, will easily feed two people.  So will an appetizer.

The wine list is at the high end, and regular customers often have their own wine lockers for storage of special vintages or labels.  Still, there are some good values at the lower end of the wide-ranging spectrum. And although the idea of spending $40 on a Gallo wine still makes me quiver, there's a Gallo Sonoma zinfandel that's a superior drink with a steak, and the Australian golfer Greg Norman has his name on some splendid wines.  His best, I think, is a shiraz, made from a grape the Australians love on the vine and I love in the bottle.  Its richness, and a deep, berry flavor with a long finish make it a splendid accompaniment.

While the steaks are the centerpiece, like the huge diamond in the middle of the tiara, the appetizers, vegetables and desserts are first-rate, surrounding the beef like a mounting of smaller, but no less perfect, jewels.

For example, Morton's has real jumbo lump crabmeat, and dispenses it liberally, either as a huge crab cake that demonstrates just how good the dish can be, or just as a large amount of crabmeat on a plate.  The cake uses minimal spicing, binding and breading to emphasize the ingredients and their flavor, but that makes them difficult to cook without their coming apart, and this one looked slightly funny with its top askew.  But the taste and consistency were absolutely wonderful.  Crab cakes this good don't need that perfect look. Sea scallops wrapped in bacon are almost too much of a good thing, but it's a wonderful combination.  The scallops were a touch overcooked, but not so much as to bring major harm to the dish.

Salads make a fine appetizer, too, with both the Caesar and the house salad arriving with just the right look, and flavor to match.  The former, with a thick, anchovy-laden dressing applied in the perfect amount, was special.  Croutons were fresh and delicious, perhaps from the onion bread that the restaurant serves – but takes away after the first course, almost too soon to be completely enjoyed – and there was a sufficiency of anchovies, a rare occurrence.  The house salad is standard, but with crisp vegetables and a blue cheese dressing of excellent proportions and richness.

All the meat was – as it should have been – outstanding.  A porterhouse, perhaps the most elegant cut of all, offered beef as tender and tasty on the larger side as on the smaller one, a most pleasant surprise, and the classic filet, beautifully cooked and presented, showed more flavor than many filets we've tried.  The sirloin, thick and tasty, got a little tough toward the end, but it had all the flavor that makes the cut such a delicacy.

Lamb chops were three doubles, perfectly trimmed, tender and with the special flavor that lamb displays. Outstanding.

Baked potatoes, mostly about the size of Connecticut, are excellent, but we rarely order them because there isn't much art to baking a potato.  Several other types  are offered, and we went for some Lyonnaise, which arrive with bacon in addition to the classic onions.  Nicely cooked to be tender inside and with some slightly crisp edges, they were a delight, and it does take some skill for that preparation.

Spinach with mushrooms also was a winner, with the spinach fresh and well-cleaned, freshly cooked and drained with a hit of olive oil and some fresh garlic.  Almost enough mushrooms (the Guru can never have too many, and rarely even enough), as well.  The mushrooms were good enough to suggest the addition of an order of wild mushrooms (even at $7.95) on another visit, and they were exciting.

It's difficult to control an appetite at Morton's, but one possible way is to make an early decision for a souffle as dessert.  Souffles take some time, and the waiter will suggest an order when you select dinner so that the timing will be right – and that's a correct instruction and not a hustle to sell more of them.  However, knowing that there is one in preparation may act as a brake to guard against the constant temptation to overeat.  Souffles come in a lot of variations these days, but the classic Grand Marnier, made with the liqueur that has overtones of orange, remains the best in my opinion, and Morton's prepares it in the classic manner so that it arrives hot and soft and fluffy, with a crisp edge or two.

In my experience, there are times when the soul cries out for steak, and insists on good steak,  a steak that even nears greatness. Morton's satisfies.