Category: American

Reviews of New American Restaurants in New York City

fresh.

105 Reade Street between Church and Broadway
212/406.1900
about $55 for one, with two drinks, without tip
♥

For a $28 lunch prix fixe, my shellfish crepe with spinach was very satisfying. It included a scallop, small pieces of lobster and crab plus shrimps sandwiched in a soft crepe swimming in crab broth. I would have been happy without the crepe because it got soggy at the end, but that El Bulli-inspired foam is always interesting to look at. The gazpacho with shrimps had a nice spicy kick to it that I liked. They ran out of the octopus and squid salad and this cold soup was the right choice for a summer starter. I had room for dessert and I thought I made a good choice with the strawberry almond shortcake with sorbet. To me, something tart is always a good ending to a good meal.

The busboy brought bread to the table three times while we waited for our food. Maybe the small flies buzzing around made him nervous because he was keen on spilling water whenever he would give us a refill. One of the flies–a really, really tiny one–dove into one of our wine glasses. To make up for it, the manager brought us an extra bottle of wine–a service totally unnecessary but very much appreciated by our entire group. Sometimes, attentive service makes up for everything else, even small insects. Sometimes.

Related post/s:
A roach in my meal at Blue Hill Restaurant

Vintage Wine Bar

2492 Broadway corner of 93rd Street
212/721.9999
about $60 for two hungry people, with tip
♥

Before:

After the Cia and Cameron hurricane hit:

The North Fork Table & Inn

57225 Main Road, Southold, North Fork, Long Island
631/765.0177
about $250 for two, with four drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

From Chef Gerry Hayden, of Manhattan’s Aureole and Amuse, and Gramercy Tavern’s pastry chef Claudia Fleming, comes a huge effort. The menu concentrates on the island’s freshest produce including seafood from Peconic Bay and the Long Island Sound. We walked in a few minutes before our 9pm reservation to a hushed dining room. Even though the decor is bare, the lighting was perfect enough to bring out the coziness of what was the old Coeur des Vigne. At the bar, they didn’t have fresh mint leaves, but it was too early to be disappointed so we ordered the tomato water martini and raspberry bourbon instead. Both were too strong to be enjoyed, so we basically nursed our drinks until our main courses came.

It was because we had our drinks on the table that our waiter never asked us if we were interested in wine with our dinner. But what do you expect when most of the wait staff look like they’re under twenty-five years old? The restaurant is quite new and the service needs a little sharpening–a little finesse, just like what Thomas Keller would say.

But what The North Fork Table & Inn lacks in service is made up by the seasonal and local items on the menu. The roasted beets with goat cheese from Catapano Dairy Farm were evenly roasted. Salted pistachios gave them a crunch and the sherry vinegar a nice kick. I had the yellowfin tuna tartare with ponzu sauce topped with mizuna greens: fresh and light.

We never usually order fish from the menu, but the sautéed wild striped bass came with warm fennel, radish and celery salad, so it was hard to say no. The meat was so tender, just perfectly cooked. The olive vinaigrette gave it the right amount of salty taste. And who says no to lamb chops? For forty dollars, they were the most expensive dish in the menu, but the chops came with a nice cut of shoulder, too, encrusted with smoked pepper. I could have been happy even without the mashed potatoes on the side, but I suppose most diners expect something mushy with their manly dinner.

Have I already mentioned that Claudia Fleming was awarded by the James Beard Foundation as its best pastry chef of 2000? How else can I describe the upside-down peach and blueberry cobbler with sour ice cream? Try divine.

North Fork is about two hours away from Manhattan but the Table & Inn makes the trip worth it.

Pier 2110 Seafood Restaurant

2110 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard off 126th Street
212/280.7437
$110 for two, with two drinks, without tip
no stars

Updated, 2007: Pier 2110 was short-lived

I’ve been living more than twelve years uptown, three of those in Harlem. When I go to a restaurant in the neighborhood, I’ve come to expect that there’d be little to no ambiance and the food will be very simple but down-to-earth. So when a new restaurant bills itself as “Harlem’s Newest Jewel”, I believe it but I expect more.

The Korean-owned Pier 2110 tries hard to be that jewel, but so hard everything comes out garish and overpowering. I know they mean well, serving seafood dishes the locals are already accustomed to and revitalizing the neighborhood, but for a $21 plate of pork chops, I don’t want steamed broccoli with it smothered with plum sauce and then call it “plum-glaze.” My catfish was equally intriguing on their menu: pan-roasted with sweet potato purée, broccoli florets, fig and rosemary compote and bourbon cider sauce. But for $19, I didn’t expect an overcooked limp fillet with a soup of mashed potato.

They’ve been up and running for almost a month now but the service still needs a lot of sharpening. The maitre d’ didn’t have our names in the computer even though I secured reservations a day before. (No shorts and sneakers allowed, by the way!) A busboy interrupted our waiter and his announcement of the specials to let us know that the rolls were still in the oven. We waited for a few minutes to get our waiter’s attention to ask for a knife to eat our pork chops with–he picked up the knife from the table setting next to us. (He came back with a steak knife after we rejected that.) In between courses, he brought out the bottle of Purell–I am not kidding–so we could squirt and sanitize our hands. He offered us tea before the dessert menu which I thought might be a good way to end our lackluster evening. To our surprise, he came out with a beautiful jeweled box full of…Celestial Seasonings tea bags.

The restaurant’s decor is ocean-themed, but their idea of high-end reminds me of the Red Lobster in Times Square. There are cascading water on glass walls and small fountains, stained glass artwork and aquariums everywhere. There is a “sushi” station offering all kinds of California rolls in the middle of the room, perhaps the same space where Billie Holiday used to perform during the Vaudeville Era. (In fact, the building used to be the Alhambra Theater in 1905.) The staff was very attentive, but Pier 2110 has to offer the kind of service–and food–that’s worth $110 for two people.

Savoy

70 Prince Street corner of Crosby
212/219.8570
about $125 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Three people splitting nine small plates and three Indian pale ales for $25 each isn’t such a bad deal for a New York City lunch. Our afternoon selection for one over-heated summer day:

Roasted beets vinaigrette with horseradish, orange and thyme
Market string beans with harissa and garlic
Yucca fries with house-made ketchup
Bulgarian feta with tomato and urfa pepper
Salt cod fritters with sweet pepper vinegar
Guanciale and local cherries and fennel
Tuna confit and marinated summer squash
Greek potato spread with almond and garlic
Turkish red pepper and walnut dip

Minus the different kinds of bread that came with each plate, everything was light and refreshing. All the ingredients are seasonal and from local farmers, including the guanciale, or pig’s lower jaw meat. Delicious.