SoHo – Page 6 – Writing With My Mouth Full

La Esquina

106 Kenmare Street between Lafayette and Cleveland Place
646/613.7100
about $18 for one, with one drink, without tip
♥

I celebrated my 2005 birthday in the basement of La Esquina. My guests and I had to walk through the door marked with an Employees Only sticker, down the stairs and past the kitchen to get to the dungeon-like setting of the restaurant. I had to reserve a table for thirteen pretty quickly with my credit card because the word had just gotten out about this “secret place.” I ended up throwing my party a day after Vogue Magazine did theirs.

Nowadays, I usually end up in their corner spot, called The Corner, for a quick taco or grilled corn on the cob. Whether it’s hot out or not, The Corner always has pretty people standing outside. But the cafe around the block is a much better place for a sit-down meal. The nopales, or cactus, salad is refreshing with tomato salsa and parmesan shavings. I also like their fish tacos. A chunk of grilled fish comes in a skewer on a bed of lettuce, tomato, onions and radishes with green salsa wrapped in warm tortilla.

My only gripe is that their tacos cost $8 for two. I’d eat more often here if I didn’t have to contribute to their rent, but alas, feeling like you’re a part of the cool crowd of New York City comes at a high price. For a more down-to-earth Mexican experience, check out my Searching for a Good Taco food project, but if you want to be seen and heard, La Esquina is still one of those places.

Bar Bossa

232 Elizabeth Street between Houston and Prince
212/625.2345
$57 for one, with four drinks, with tip
â™¥ â™¥

Both times I’ve eaten at Bar Bossa, I sat in the back room with a group of friends where bathroom visitors always say, Oh, I didn’t know there was a table back here. Sitting in the back is like sitting in someone’s cozy and well-lit home where the whiff of the good food about to come out from the kitchen floats around. You can reserve the back ahead of time, but in one of our visits, we walked in and were accommodated without any problems. (Check out the soap in the bathroom as I’m sure it will be a topic of conversation at your table.) I’ve also dined at the bar alone–yes, I was very proud of myself, too–and I enjoy their fish entree with braised tomatoes.

The owners are English and Brazilian but the Latinos in the kitchen run the show, churning out specials like pork chops with chayote, pineapple and potato peppered with crispy sausage and breaded beef steak with rice and watercress. Their offerings play on all kinds of cuisine: baked crab meat in a clam shell, beef carpaccio on a bed of mixed greens and even Italian paninis. Several cocktails and a bottle of wine later, even the assorted desserts taste good: bananas baked in coconut, Guiness chocolate cake, passion fruit-flavored sponge cake with whipped cream. The bar is proud of their caipirinhas which come in different flavors. With the amount of liquor they put in them, they have no reason not to be.

SoHo Park

62 Prince Street corner of Lafayette
212/219.2129
about $15 for one, with a drink, without tip
♥

A really uncool name for such a great space and location, SoHo Park opened this week to all kinds of hungry and curious visitors. There were fashionable girls in line while the Brooks Brothers-wearing boys sat at the bar; even backpack-carrying guys joined gray-haired ladies in the dining area. I stopped by after work when they first opened and ordered a Hoegaarden and a Stella at the bar. The bartender had no clue how much beers were. I said, let’s just make it $11, shall we? And he did. (They probably were about $5 apiece anyway.) After drinks, I wanted to see if I can sit on one of the camouflage-covered benches outside. I waited for the hostess to let me know how long the wait was but I could never get her attention. She needed help from other employees fast!

I returned the next day for lunch and the line was long. There were plenty of seats inside but of course, the benches outside were already taken. After we ordered, we were given old license plates that had our order numbers written on them. Perhaps a nice touch to their “park” theme but the servers walked all over the restaurant in search of the correct numbers when delivering orders. (It was 1pm, by the way, but the girl at the counter was still compelled to greet each person in line a good morning.)

The double Park burger was juicy but I didn’t get cheese with it–I wasn’t reminded by the girl at the counter that I could order it as an extra. The hand-cut Belgian fries were also pretty good.
The grilled cheese with pesto smelled heavenly and tasted like it was indeed freshly-made. The onion rings were crunchy, greasy and was our best guilty pleasure side order. The different sauces were notable especially the red-pepper ketchup and the garlic aioli. (Redundant, I know, but they had different kinds of aioli.) The turkey portobello mushroom sandwich was a bit boring and dry but the focacia bread and the barely detectable sauce saved it. (I hope they correct the misspelling on their menu board before my next visit, though.) We also ordered the fried pickles which just turned out to be, well, hot. I think I like my Gus’ pickles just the way they are.

The food took a while to come because of the time of day, but when they did, we were pretty content (and hungry). The foot traffic will be good for business for sure, but they have to act quickly and focus on the service before they start turning people away.

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.

The Tasting Room

264 Elizabeth Street off Houston
212/358.7831
about $150 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Update: The Tasting Room is closed. I’ll miss you.

I am separating this review from the original restaurant’s because a new location deserves a new writeup. RenÃ©e and Colin Alevras’ new space is definitely bigger than the one on 1st and First. The wine bottles have their own room now and a beautiful sliding stable door opens up in the back. Because I went during their first trial night, I wasn’t sure if it will be another dining area or if it will remain as a storage room. (Stay tuned to find out!) Past the bar and sitting area in front, the new digs open up to a roomier space. The lighting is warm and comfortable that dining in there made us forget it was the hottest day of the year outside.

Moving into a new location usually means sacrificing something, but The Tasting Room seems to have brought everything with them to the west side. My sugar snap pea soup was a cooling summer starter topped with green peas and small and crusty pieces of pork belly. The Muscovy duck terrine was delicious, but what stood out was its side of parsley and pickled shallot salad with homemade Worcestershire sauce. And what would The Tasting Room stand for if not the season’s freshest ingredients from local farms? The chantarelle mushrooms with roasted Japanese eggplants in garlic confit was so beefy, their daintiness fooled us. It was a complete meal on its own. The Tamworth pork loin obviously came from a happy pig: sweet, succulent and juicy. The swiss chard’s bitter taste was the perfect accompaniment. We split the tomato and strawberry sorbet for dessert and had enough room to finish our glasses of Shiraz and Channing Daughters white blend.

Besides the new bar that can whip up some refreshing Moscow mules, everything at The Tasting Room is pretty much the same–I’m so glad they are.

Update: Yes to the extra dining room behind the sliding stable doors.