Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- I hate prix-fixe pre-theater dining. I hate the 6:30 p.m. reservation. I hate the rush. You gobble up four courses in 60 minutes. You leave half your dessert unfinished. You slip into a food coma midway through the show.

So perhaps that’s why I balked at the $39 set menu at Center Cut, a new steakhouse at the Empire Hotel that overlooks Lincoln Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Jeffrey Chodorow runs the place. That’s right, the guy who brought us Kobe Club has given us another steakhouse.

The prix-fixe menu is served early and late for theater- goers. To expedite matters, the first two courses -- soup and salad -- are served simultaneously. It’s like asking an opera director to show the first two acts at the same time.

I couldn’t bring myself to pair lobster bisque with Caesar salad or Wagyu chili with tomatoes and mozzarella. But it’s a better deal than ordering the $15 soups alone: The passable lobster bisque evokes cheaper versions at lunch kiosks; the chili tastes like it comes from a can.

Chodorow, despite his ownership of numerous restaurants across the globe, still makes entry-level mistakes: The lounge area was frigid, bartenders couldn’t transfer checks to a table, servers disappeared when a bill was needed. My table overlooked the harsh fluorescent lights of the waiter prep area.

Old-Fashioned

There’s a difference between old school and old-fashioned. Old school is cool; old-fashioned is not. Center Cut serves a variety of items that should have died in the previous century. Steak Rossini is flavorless tenderloin ($41) that gets a tiny slab of foie gras. Lobster thermidor needlessly subjects the delicate shellfish to cream and hollandaise and places it atop pallid ziti. Skip the fishy beef tartare and bland poached sablefish. Creamed spinach was watery.

Chodorow’s usual luxurious Kobe is on the menu. Eight ounces of Australian Wagyu costs $78. But most of the meat is “Brandt” beef (it appears 12 times on the menu) which I’m told is humanely raised. But it’s not always humanely cooked. Korean-style short ribs tasted like beef jerky glazed in Robitussin cough syrup.

The $56 Brandt T-bone isn’t big enough “for two.” But it was tasty, tender. Charred on the outside, rare within. Pair it with salty, bacony clams casino.

One hint of genius: The prix-fixe dessert -- hot, soft, giant cookies -- comes in a doggy bag. Too full? Bring them to Lincoln Center. Opera attendants can blame Chodorow for crumbs.

Center Cut is at the Empire Hotel, 44 W. 63rd St. Information: +1-212-956-1288.

The Right Call

An ideal pre-theater dinner is an affordable roast chicken or a torchon of foie gras. That’s partly why West Branch will do well. The chicken is moist and garlicky and just $19; the foie gras is pink and silky. The venue is about 10 blocks from Lincoln Center.

West Branch will also do well because the wildly popular Tom Valenti owns the place. A host quoted us 90-minute waits for walk-ins on a Wednesday. We got lucky by outmaneuvering others for bar seats.

The chef, who wears his gray hair long, looks like a mad scientist who keeps his brain in a glass jar. His meat-heavy flavor combinations are simple and powerful -- just like at his other venue, Ouest, a pioneer fine-dining restaurant nearby. West Branch is the cheaper, more informal counterpart. It’s what an American brasserie should look and sound like: dark, crowded, loud.

What’s better than a plate of pillowy gnocchi on a cold winter night? They’re covered in braised veal breast and ricotta salata. Steak tartare is silky and tastes of fresh olive oil.

Fine Wine

Restaurants like to mark up sparkling wine as a luxury item. So it’s refreshing to see a bubbly rose at $45 per bottle. The carbonation cuts through the spice of a pepper-studded pulled pork and ham Cuban sandwich. The acid brightens a whole boneless trout with tangy lemon caper sauce.

Offal is for adventurous diners. Calf’s liver has a sharp, assertive tang. Accompanying sweetbreads help take the edge off. Duck hearts taste like marinated skirt steak. They’re paired with red-wine braised gizzards, which release a slow, lingering funk.

Finish with creamy coconut pudding.

West Branch is at 2178 Broadway at 77th St. Information: +1- 212-777-6764.

(Ryan Sutton writes about New York City restaurants for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 25, 2008 00:01 EST