08.22.08
Posted in East Village, French, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Spanish, rated 8 to 8.5, small plates at 00:17 by Dominique
[I finished acting school but had to start a corporate project immediately thereafter. They're not so keen on the blogging during work hours, so posts will probably still be slow.]
239 E.5th St. & 2nd Ave., 212-979-1012
Great for: adventurous palates, oenophiles, people with quiet taste in interiors
Tuesday was the first day Commodities Broker and I could get a reservation here – they book up quickly, and there are only eighteen seats. I was pretty excited. It’s a sister restaurant to Jewel Bako, one of my favorite sushi places in New York. In fact, they share a door.
We opted for the $50 five-course tasting and $45 wine pairing, as most of the things we would have ordered were in the tasting. I’d had a really stressful day so we got a head start on the vino with a lovely large flute each of 2004 Llopart Leopardi brut rosé. Our first course was crudo of seasonal bonito with almonds, strawberries, asparagus, shiso flowers and marcona almonds in a red wine reduction. The lightness of the other ingredients, especially the almonds, offset the heavy-tasting fish well. I enjoyed the pairing with a 2006 Chardonnay.
Next, we had a crazy concoction of slowly poached egg, jamón Serrano, chorizo, smoked cheese foam and rice cracker-crusted asparagus. Somehow it all worked. The egg almost melted in my mouth, while the ham was balanced perfectly between chewy and soft. The slight blandness of the broth was a great contrast. It was a bit salty; you’ll need chapstick afterward. The 2007 rioja blanca was another lovely pairing.
I enjoyed our last appetizer of grilled octopus confit over potatos, caramelized cipollini onions, celery and piquillo pepper salad covered in micro cilantro emulsion. The octopus was a bit chewier than I’d like but nicely charred. I generally don’t even like octopus (everything in the eight-legged family is too rubbery for me) so this was quite good – enough that I managed to finish the disturbingly large tentacle, with the help of generous swallows of 2005 Ribeiro blanco.
For the main course we had suckling pig garnished with tomatillo, velvet pioppini mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, lemon zest and Fresno peppers. I really enjoyed the sauce - not so much the inch of fat on one side. But overall it was satisfyingly spicy and salty, with tender yet firm meat. The red Pago Fiorentino pairing nicely soothed the excitement caused by the spices.
Last, we had a terrific twice-caramelized torija (brioche) and raspberries and citrus. The fruit cut the sweet softness of the bread, which was crunchy outside and soft like custard inside. I could have had a bit more of it. Definitely more of the delicious Château Lafon Sauternes as well.
The service and decor matched the food in excellence. Our waitress was lovely, and the chefs were quiet and focused, just like at Ko, but emanating much more good humor. It’s amazing how many completely different beautiful wineglasses they have. Every time we had a new wine, it was a pleasant surprise to see what kind of glass it would come in. The whole place shows attention to detail without looking fussy. The stone tiles make it feel homey, while the quality of the materials keep it refined. After the sodium-fest that was Mercat and the fiasco politely called Fiamma, it was delightful to just have a great meal. I’d come back here any day.
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Our cost: $285 ($50 5-course tastings + $45 wine pairings + 2 $14 flutes of champagne)
Noise level: quiet
Chance of walking in: very low. Reserve at least 3 days ahead, even for an early weekday.
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08.17.08
Posted in New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, NoHo, Spanish, rated 7 to 7.5, small plates at 06:10 by Dominique
45 Bond St. #A & Lafayette/Bowery, 212-529-8600
Great for: cheese, watching chefs, people on high-sodium diets
I confess to a weakness for this little neighborhood because of the hallucinatory metal sculpture/enclosure/fortification around the new apartment building they’ve just put up there. It looks a bit like a T-1000 that’s been shattered, flung on the wall and somehow suspended there. I enjoy looking at it because it’s simultaneously brilliant and stupid. I can never decide which. Kind of a Schrödinger’s Cat paradox involving my taste in architecture.
We started with the selection of three cheeses. The Monte Enebro goat cheese from Ávila was soft, reminiscent of bleu cheese, and I thought it actually pretty tasty. I found the La Serena, a sheep version from Extremadura, bitter and soft. I didn’t much like that one. The Idiazabal, ovine cheese from Pais Vasc, was firm, not too strong, and delicious. The cheeses come on a nice board with bread and aged jelly. Yeah, I thought that sounded gross too. I couldn’t force very much of the jelly down.
From the tapas section we tried the patates bravas with garlic and spicy sauce. The sauce reminded me of spicy mayonnaise at Japanese restaurants. The potatoes were a bit charred, and the dish is really big, so though I liked it at first, I got tired of it about halfway through. The bombas – chicken, pork and beef meatballs – were minced very finely with a hard potato-y shell outside. They were interesting and yummy but the meat had a disconcertingly soft texture, reminiscent of Gerber’s baby food, which eventually overpowered the taste of it. We didn’t finish this dish either.
Of the embotits (Spanish for charcuterie, I think) we tried the jamón serrano, which was delicious and not too salty. I don’t know why the pá amb tomàquet, toasted bread with tomato and garlic, is in the same category, but it was pretty good.
In the larger dishes (cuiina de Mercat) we went for the vedella amb escalivada, a grilled hanger steak with cheese on top and roasted vegetables. A little tough, it was somehow juicy and too salty at the same time. I was surprised at the large amount of meat; too much, in fact, although sliced into good sizes. The truita, a Spanish omelet with chorizo was also overly salted. I did like the tender egg and creamy cheesy sauce on top. The Maya shrimp with crispy garlic and pimenton were nice and big and a bit too salty as well.
Commodities Broker and I were not disappointed with Avinyo, a rosé cava. It was a lovely ruby color and the flavors balanced well. I was pleased with the service too. The waiters are really nice, more attentive to the level of our glasses than getting the food out – though that’s not such a bad thing. The kitchen forgot one of our dishes, which was fine since we found ourselves stuffed anyhow. There is a sexy wine area catwalk just begging to be used in a runway show or movie.
I thought they used the large space inefficiently – they could have fit a couple more tables – but the decor was nice. There are white tiles everywhere, which, fortunately for the noise level, are offset by all the unvarnished wood and brick. You can sit at an open kitchen area in the middle of the room and watch the chefs. You could also sit at the spacious bar and skip the food. I had a fairly good experience here, what with the nice service and the abundance of champagne, but basically everything from the kitchen was too salty. Have drinks here. Bond St. a few doors down is more reliable when it comes to food.
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $260 (2 $55 bottles of rosé cava)
Noise level: not too bad
Chance of walking in: medium.
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08.06.08
Posted in Italian, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, SoHo, rated 6 to 6.5 at 03:50 by Dominique
[Sorry posts have been so rare. I'm doing a summer intensive acting program and I barely have time to go out to dinner, let alone blog about it. School finishes this week so expect lots of reviews soon. And tell your friends about my site!]
206 Spring St. & 6th Ave./Sullivan St., 212-653-0100 (now closed)
Great for: lovely service and cocktails
E and I try to have dinner together once a week or so. We finally got a reservation here and were really excited, after all the lovely things we’d heard about it in the press. Plus I had a gift card so we figured with its help we could splurge a little bit on the tasting menu.
We were cautiously hopeful after the amuse of chilled tomato water with a toasted chip and smoked ricotta. I would have liked it more if I didn’t hate tomatoes. In fact, it was quite good. My first course was even better. I had the fantastic crudo of ahi tuna with Pine Island oysters, sorrel, and fior di sale marino (fancy sea salt). I loved all the spices and oils and the whole dish was just heaven. The chef constructed it well too, with alternating blocks of tuna and circles of tartare. E’s duo of Wagyu beef in carpaccio and tartare form with wild mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano and balsamico was also mouthwatering. The tartare was chopped with nicely contrasting anchovies and peppers. The poached quail egg on the carpaccio wrapped around tofu was a weirdly tasty combination. To my delight, I could barely tell that there were mushrooms. Raw beef can be so sensual and they really highlighted it here.
For the pasta course they mistakenly brought me aglio pasta with tomatoes and green market basil, and left it with me while I waited for my actual dish. They said I could finish it but I wanted to save room. It smelled better than it tasted, though it was still pretty good. The spaghetti chitarra in basil Genovese pesto with Maya prawns was similarly good, not great. The chef shaved black truffles liberally on top to make up for sending out the wrong dish, which was so nice of him. But there were only three shrimp halves and as much as I wanted to like the truffles, they basically seemed like funny-tasting potato shavings. On the other hand, E’s classic Le Marche region lasagna in bianchetto sauce was to die for, especially the milk-soaked veal. The whole thing was pasta pancakes surrounding veal delight. I am so glad she couldn’t finish it and I had to help her out.
Next I had smoked fingerling potato gnocchi with Maryland jumbo lump crab, spicy Calabrese chilies and chervil. The very fluffy, light gnocchi didn’t really match the salty sauce and tender crab, though the dish was still pretty decent. We liked it less after we had more of it. The slightly sweet sauce got annoying too. Her seared red snapper with roasted artichokes Romana and anise hyssop (tempura leaf) on top was much more impressive. The snapper had a nice crunchy top and I even liked the artichoke. E (a chef herself) was amazed at the inventiveness of the dish. I really liked it so we switched plates halfway through. It got saltier as I ate my way through it, though.
My main course of sautéed skate wing on littleneck clams, sugar snap peas, Sicilian fresh herb salmoriglio and slivers of baby chives was all right. The peas were super crunchy, like the skate. But I found the sauce salty again and the clams quite rubbery and chewy. E got the Emerald Farms baby lamb with a fricassee of spring vegetables (artichokes, sugar snap peas, squash and beans) and Tuscan mint nepitella with fiddlehead ferns. The lamb was a weird leg portion with lots of tendons and kind of tasted like liver, which was really disturbing. Her peas were better than mine and the fiddleheads were a little squishy. I know somebody long ago decided mint goes with lamb but adding it was a bad decision here, as it was very strong and numbing.
Each course was surprisingly large – I’ve seen actual entrées that were the same size, so definitely be hungry if you visit. For a dessert amuse they gave us liquid mango gelée shooters; yummy and fun to eat, like poached eggs. My warm chocolate crostata with toasted hazelnuts, brown butter ice cream and cherry foam redeemed the chef a bit in my eyes. I loved the ice cream especially. It tasted somewhat like chocolate. E enjoyed her cylinders of Amedei chocolate cream with ricotta sorbet and praline powder. We found it had a very subtle, light flavor. As if we weren’t stuffed enough at this point, we were also given scrumptious little Amedei chocolates. The square one is great, as is the very rich espresso-flavored teardrop.
They have some weirdly terrific cocktails here. The Balance - pear & white pepper vodka, Tanqueray Rangpur, Lillet and Moscato d’Asti – reminded me of the Vesper of Casino Royale fame, and I couldn’t resist. It is a great thing to order for your date if you think she (or he, let’s not be sexist) might need a really stiff yet delicious drink. E’s Paradiso combined rum, amaretto, lemon and white peach white pepper foam. I would love to meet their mixologist and be his or her drink tester.
The service here was fantastic. Every single person who interacted with us was lovely. I am truly sorry that I can’t say as much for the food. In the first place, I’m puzzled as to why there were so many mushrooms ruining the menu for me and so many of the sauces were far too salty. And only the apps, lasagna and dessert were anywhere near the level I’d expect from a restaurant this upscale and expensive. For comparison, 6 courses at Fleur de Sel are $89 (7/10), 7 courses at Tabla (7.5/10) $89 and the 8-course tasting at Bar Milano (7.5/10) is $85. It’s not really fair to bring in the 10 courses at Momofuku Ko (9.5/10) for $100, since the service and size of the place are not at all comparable to the others, but seriously – 5 courses for $105 here? No thanks. I’d only come back for cocktails.
Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $350 (5-course $105, 2 cocktails + 1 glass of nebbiolo)
Noise level: civilized hush
Chance of walking in: low – medium, though it clears out early. They’re closed Sundays and Mondays.
So far for NYC B. R. Guest restaurants, I’ve liked four (Blue Water Grill, Isabella’s, Primehouse, Vento) & considered mediocre or hated five (Atlantic Grill, Blue Fin, Dos Caminos except the guacamole, Fiamma, Ruby Foo’s). Plus they’re all really expensive, which just adds insult to injury when they’re bad.
Apparently NYC agrees with my assessment… Fiamma is now (January 2009) becoming just an event space.
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