Seth Gordon Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I don’t get the name. It could maybe be a punny moniker for a chicken sammie shop? But whatever. They’re very much not reinventing the wheel - just straightforward but very well executed food. The highlights, for us, were everything non-pasta. Puntarelle salad was very heavy on good anchovies. Tripe was fantastic, a traditional-ish trippa alla Romana. And while it felt stupid to pay $17 for a bowl of beans with salsa verde, that was some really good (and mildly interesting) salsa verde - scallion, sage, a slight chili heat. Caramelle were pretty forgettable. Spacatelli with duck ragu was a little more interesting, with a pleasant gamy note. Both closer to appetizer size. We didn’t get a protein main. The only options were a pork chop for thirty-something, and a crown of duck at $105, which I was finding hard to justify. With whole ducks for two going for $120-something at higher end places (Le Coucou, or The Bea before they closed up) $100+ for just the breasts feels like a bit much. Prices felt high relative to portions, but maybe not since that’s the direction it’s going at all nicer restaurants. I suppose it’s of a type with - and maybe even priced a little lower than - a Crown Shy or the like. The table next to ours had an assortment of charcuterie plates that looked pretty generous. I could see myself pulling up to the bar with a nice glass, a few of those, and the house bread - a sourdough loaf and focaccia, both really good. There aren’t any secret relative bargains hiding in the wine list, as far as I could tell. 2.5x markup on bottles give or take, by my estimation, which I guess is about average these days. Dessert was bay leaf ice cream, which isn’t going to convince any disbelievers that bay leaves actually taste like anything. Mouthwateringly salty, in the way I find a lot of cheffy ice creams of late. Topped by a crunchy tuile interestingly studded with nigella seeds - though there was some debate between the SO & myself as to what kind of seeds they were. Either way, I thought it was great, but I could see it skirting too close to the savory line for some. Overall we dug it. One of the better seemingly-impossible-reservation places we’ve tried lately. It’ll be nice to have in the neighborhood once the early adopter crowds die down. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 No menu on the website and no reservations on Resy. Negatives. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AaronS Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 pretty easy to see the menu on their instagram. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 There are reels featuring images of dishes, but not names, ingredients, prices. I find it a bit weird that they can put a button for Press Inquiries on their website but not a menu. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Orik Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Opening night menu. Ymmv Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Diancecht Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 too bad star trek teleportation doesn’t exist yet…that menu looks awesome Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joethefoodie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 23 hours ago, Seth Gordon said: I could see myself pulling up to the bar with a nice glass, a few of those, and the house bread - a sourdough loaf and focaccia, both really good. This may be the way to go. Last night, I wondered a bit about the execution, at least in terms of salt(iness). The (2) breads are great. Menu last night similar to Ori's; I think I've been a little mored biased than usual lately, simply because our recent vacation is still fresh in my mind and taste. Testa. Good. A little warm and melty. Could have been dinner with 2 orders of the breads. Pipparas - probably the same as the ones I have in my fridge. Wild mushrooms in brodo. Here's where they punched up the umami to like 12. With the (possibly strange) addition of some strips of Asian pear. $28 worth of uni. $1 of polenta. Majorly rich and not under-seasoned polenta. Puntarelle alla Romana- I could say something like look how they massacred my favorite salad. But I won't. It was not balanced enough for me. Behind it, the veal tortellini portion in my wife's hand. And the pork. Pork that I think was neck (I'm fairly sure), was good grilled. But that's a half a lemon there, so the portion wasn't exactly huge. No dessert. Stopped at the bodega on the walk home and bought 2 pints of ice cream (as if we need that in the freezer). I had a drink next door (2A) before heading in (this is a great block with like 5 bars on it). My wife had a glass of something and I sought out the Spatburgunder, which came in reasonably at $59! So $300 all in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joethefoodie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 OH - I forgot to mention: the service was REALLY NICE and knowledgeable, which made everything just quite pleasant. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mitchells Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 56 minutes ago, joethefoodie said: I had a drink next door (2A) before heading in (this is a great block with like 5 bars on it). My wife had a glass of something and I sought out the Spatburgunder, which came in reasonably at $59! So $300 all in. So here's the thing at that price point: I'd rather skip 1 dinner out (maybe 2) and instead go to Le Bernardin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 1 hour ago, Diancecht said: too bad star trek teleportation doesn’t exist yet…that menu looks awesome Link doesn’t work on my phone. I’ll try desktop when I’m home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Diancecht Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 1 minute ago, Wilfrid said: Link doesn’t work on my phone. I’ll try desktop when I’m home. @Orik posted a pic it hits all the right spots. i want! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 3 minutes ago, mitchells said: So here's the thing at that price point: I'd rather skip 1 dinner out (maybe 2) and instead go to Le Bernardin. I don’t know, knock out the $60 wine and it’s pretty average, no? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Just now, Diancecht said: @Orik posted a pic it hits all the right spots. i want! Well pic doesn’t work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joethefoodie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 34 minutes ago, mitchells said: So here's the thing at that price point: I'd rather skip 1 dinner out (maybe 2) and instead go to Le Bernardin. 30 minutes ago, Wilfrid said: I don’t know, knock out the $60 wine and it’s pretty average, no? Yeah, it's more like 2 1/2 dinners here will be 1 dinner at Le B. The wine list I don't exactly remember how it was organized. There was a number of sub $100 wines to be had, if that means anything. And I really didn't look at the BTG list for more than a minute, since I'd had my aperitif next door and knew I was going to order a bottle. Would be nice if both the menu and wine list were represented on the web site. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joethefoodie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 I''m quite certain both @Orikand @Seth Gordon would agree that with a nice (e.g. more expensive) bottle of wine, and an aperitif here (were there aperitifs?), a bill for two reasonably hungry adults is gonna be $400+. I think if everything's great, that's not too bad. Is it a weekly place for us at that price point - fuck no. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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