To paraphrase the refrain from the Beatles song “Eleanor Rigby,” all the happy people, where do they all come from?  If you wish to know one answer, set foot in Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan and be prepared to see a full house of people who are clearly enjoying themselves to the hilt.  Most customers are men—this is a steakhouse—but there are women, too, who feel completely at home in an atmosphere so cordially convivial.
    That begins with the greeting and solicitude provided by owners (and cousins) Ben and Jack Sinanaj (with two siblings, Harry and Russ, along to help them run the place), whose immigrant story of going from busboys to upscale restaurateurs, with stops at Manhattan Grille and Peter Luger along the way, is testament once again to the American Dream come true.  Ten years ago they opened the first Ben & Jack’s (currently closed but due to re-open next year) and their second six years ago, and they have devoted themselves to the religion of the NYC steakhouse, by which the best available ingredients are handled with the utmost respect, simplicity, and consistency, which is far more difficult than it appears when you’re serving thousands of meals every week, all overseen by Executive Chef Admir Alibasic.
    The restaurant, convenient to Madison Square Garden, has two bars—cocktails are excellently made—a long dining room and five private dining spaces, at this time of the year particularly popular.  It’s a classic steakhouse look—ocher-colored walls, dark wood, sturdy chairs, white tablecloths, a wine wall.
    The menu doesn’t differ much from the entrenched Peter Luger model, but it’s more wide-ranging, with far more appetizers and salads, soups, and even a pasta section.   On my recent visit we began with some of the best breaded, fried calamari (above) I’ve had in NYC; what seems so easy to do actually requires a very fine quality of calamari, breading with its own flavor, and a perfect frying temperature to keep that breading intact and every single one of the calamari tender.  Ben & Jack’s version is perfection.  A rafter of oysters were in peak condition, and yellowfin tuna tartare had plenty of flavor. A bacon wedge salad with tomatoes, abundant blue cheese crumbles and Roquefort dressing had a nice icy crispness to the lettuce.  The only disappointment was a crabcake so packed with breading and so devoid of lump crab meat that it was like eating a clump of wet white bread.
    It goes without saying that the USDA dry-aged Prime beef is why people come here, and the sliced porterhouse for two (right) and a very well-marbled, very juicy ribeye  had exactly the char I asked for while remaining perfectly medium-rare within, and that char makes a big difference.  I also ordered a four-pound lobster, streamed and cracked but left in the shell, and it was a very meaty critter indeed, accompanied by a big bowl of clarified butter.  (By not having the waiter de-shell the lobster, the meat stays warmer.)
    Side dishes in a steakhouse can mean the difference between a good one and a great one, and at Ben & Jack’s they succeed across the board, not least with their mixed platter of very crisp, wholly greaseless cottage fries and onion (left), both full of flavor on their own, not from the oil.  A portion of sautéed spinach was almost generous enough to justify a tab of $11.95.
        Desserts do nothing to differ from so many other steakhouses that, like Ben & Jack’s, ship theirs in, but the cheesecake is the way to go.
       The wine list is, obviously, richest in red wines, particularly American, but with some fine Italian offerings as well.  The white wine list needs bolstering.
    It seems impossible not to enjoy yourself immensely at Ben & Jack’s, especially since the two men whose names are on the door and their cousins are there to make sure you do;  after all, there are no such people as Smith & Wollensky, Peter Luger is long gone, and too many other steakhouses are now chains with names like Ruth’s Chris and Palm.  You go to Ben & Jack’s, they get to know you, they want you back, and they’ll have your cocktail ready by the time you open the menu.

Open for lunch and dinner daily; Appetizers and Salads: $3.95 - $20.95; Steaks and Seafood: $30.95- $42.95; Sides: $6.95 - $11.95; Desserts: $9.95  Prix fixe at lunch $29.95. 

ROSÉ CHAMPAGNES MAKE FOR A MORE FESTIVE HOLIDAY
By John Mariani

    Far be it from me to perpetuate the idea that Champagne is only for holidays, business deals, weddings and World Series wins, but the December holidays are upon us and drinking a good Champagne seems almost requisite. And to my mind there is none better or more celebratory than rosé Champagnes, which once had a reputation for being “the pink stuff.”
      In a historic sense, rosé Champagne is something of an anomaly, for the goal of a Champagne maker is to produce as fine a white wine as possible, even when using black pinot noir grapes. Rosé wine, still or sparkling, can be made by macerating the red grapes at pressing to achieve color, and it's tricky business that van easily go wrong. Champagne is that rare appellation that allows rosés to be made by blending in red wine, and today 90 percent of the rosé Champagnes are made this way.
      Despite rosés’ perky image, the top Champagne producers have for some time now put the same diligent efforts into their rosés as into their blanc des blancs and prestige cuvées, and the astronomical prices can be about the same. But there are now so many superb rosés in the market selling for well under $100 a bottle that the idea of spending $200 and more for a vintage rosés seems a bit excessive these days.
      Also, I find that so many of the top-of-the-line roses are deliberately made to be bone dry, which I think robs them of the component of fruit that is essential to any wine, sparkling or not.  Thus, I found Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d’Or Rosé Brut (the 2005 vintage runs about $150) more than austere, even a little soapy.    Nicholas Feuillatte Brut Rosé non-vintage ($40), unlike the 2002,  is a sleek, gorgeously constructed wine with perfume and ripeness. If this is a workhorse Champagne, it’s from very fine stock indeed.
    The two rosés that make me happiest, at any time of the year, are, first,  Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Brut Rosé (2005 is $175), a favorite of James Bond in the Ian Fleming novels, both for its exquisite, silky color and its judicious balance of fruit and depth of pinot noir flavor, though I think it's getting drier every vintage; and second, but equally enticing, Charles Heidsieck Brut Rosé Reserve  ($70), a non-vintage, with deep salmon-pink color married to floral, almost rose-like notes, with a good ballast of citrus in tandem with the fruit. It's got definite heft, owing to using 20 percent seven or eight year-old reserve wines in the final blend and maturing the wine for three years.  I enjoyed it with a fish of coddled eggs and white truffles recently--a match made in culinary heaven for the holidays.
      I will admit to being in thrall to Perrier-Jouët’s 2004 Fleur de Champagne Brut Rosé, whose signature style has always been to balance fruit and citrus flavors with enormous finesse. Unfortunately, it sells for $200-$300 a bottle. 
    A much more palatable price for a very fine non-vintage Champagne is Drappier Brut Rosé ($60) made from 100 percent pinot noir, using the saignée  ("bleeding") method, by which some of the red wine is macerated for three days to become more concentrated and ferments separately to produce this full-bodied rosé.
      G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut Rosé non-vintage ($50-$65)—good old Mumm-sy, the Champagne you always see in movies being splashed about. Its former predictability has evolved into admirable consistency in a style that has depth and celebratory sparkle.
      Bruno Paillard Rosé Brut Première Cuvée non-vintage ($60-$75)—The charm of this pretty rosé is in its adaptability to so many foods, from lobster to chicken, from smoked salmon to light desserts, and its high color is a joy in itself.
      Henriot Brut Rosé non-vintage ($50-$60)—If you expect fruit in a rosé, Henriot delivers gushers of it, which makes it a fine aperitif to kick off the evening and ideal with holiday sweets and cookies, even dark chocolate.
      Louis Roederer 2009 Brut Rosé ($60)—Absolutely luscious, downright creamy, for me is the very essence of a rosé Champagne.
      Ayala Brut Rose Majeur non-vintage ($50)—Since Bollinger bought this small estate in 2005, it has improved greatly with a style in direct contrast to Bollinger’s staid, classic austerity. Ayala is a light-bodied Champagne that everyone should enjoy a glass or two of before dinner but perhaps not enough body for afterwards.