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Gearing Up for NY Restaurant Week With The Mercer Kitchen

Where: 147 Mercer Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10012

If there is one place that can get away with sitting you underneath an active sidewalk with the possibility of plaster falling into your food, then it is Mercer Kitchen at The Mercer Hotel. A magnet for hungry hipsters in Soho, Mercer Kitchen owes its fame to the fashion set who regularly make The Mercer their hideout of choice. With Restaurant Week quickly creeping up on New York, we decided to do a little sniffing around the scene by hitting up a Sunday brunch.

Since The Mercer is something of a legend among New York hotels, you can imagine that the room rates are sky-high; think $495 a night for a courtyard-facing room during low season, and an extra $200 if you stay during any of the high fashion holidays (if you can get a room). Luckily the Mercer Kitchen accommodates a more casual and less indulgent crowd. Typical brunch meals, like our goat cheese omelet and roasted potatoes, cost between $10 and $15, or opt for a 3-course prix fixe meal available year-round, at $24 for lunch or $35 for dinner.

For once, the place wasn't packed to the gills for brunch--probably because everyone has reservations for next week--and we were able to scope out a mixture of downtown kids and older tourists. The food didn't blow us away, but at least it's an economical way to bask in the glow of The Mercer and fill up our bellies at the same time.

[Photo: jeffsb*]