Eating Fulton Five’s chocolate and espresso crusted filet mignon

As soon as I heard the words “chocolate and espresso-crusted filet,” I was obsessed with getting a taste of it.

Chocolate has been my lifetime dessert of choice, and I have one specific vivid memory of falling asleep while chewing a filet at only three years old — my parents carrying my limp, still-chewing body out of the restaurant as I savored that steak. 

I made my reservation at Fulton Five, named after its location at 5 Fulton Street, for two: my meal partner — or mom — and I. The chocolate-espresso steak they offered was eagerly kept in mind. 

We were only one of two parties in the restaurant at the time of dining, as I secured my reservation as early as possible in order to guarantee my steak. The lime green walls of the tiny restaurant echoed the strumming of a classical guitar.

Our waiter brought us bread and olive oil. The bread was perfectly crispy on the outside, with a warm gooey inside that made me even more excited for my impending steak. If the restaurant’s plain bread was that great, this steak was going to be amazing. 

Time passed — this was an up-scale Italian restaurant, meals are not hurried — and my mom and I noticed a stinkbug about to crawl onto my back. Cowering in fear, we begged our waiter to usher it outside, which he did. 

Not long after, my steak and my mom’s pasta arrived. 

The asparagus accompanying my steak was deliciously salty and juicy from the nearby steak, and the mashed potatoes, while not my favorite, were a good contrast to the stronger flavors of my steak and asparagus.

Speaking of the steak, which was perfectly crusted by the chocolate espresso “breading,” it was absolutely the most flavorful steak I have ever eaten. The outside had the sort of “grisly” flavor that appeals to something evolutionarily ingrained within mankind, while the inside was a smooth buttery flavor. The contrast made for a flavorfully-diverse meal. 

My mom’s pasta — which was a special with white wine sauce, red peppers and prosciutto — had equally as interesting a flavor profile. That pasta was delicious in an otherworldly way — one that other Italian restaurants can only dream of. 

A meal with chocolate and espresso-crusted steak as an entree would not be complete without dessert, so my mom and I split a slice of chocolate cake with raspberries. I will say that it did not taste like steak, which is definitely a good thing when it comes to dessert. The cake too had a diverse micro-palette of its own with sour raspberries and sweet, earthy chocolate. 

Fulton Five was a great experience for my dining partner and me. The service was good, the atmosphere felt very European and relaxed and the food was unique and delicious. 

And most importantly Fulton Five quenched my constant craving for chocolate, even if just temporarily.