Claud.
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Totally forgot about Claud. Thank you as always Robert.
Has anyone gone to Sartianoâs in the Mercer Hotel?
Need a Saturday night place deep downtown, with more vegetarian options than Chambers.
Any thoughts?
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The menu at Gem is mostly vegetables. I ate there twice last week. If you donât mind a youngish, slightly lively crowd the menu is what you are looking for.
Maybe Crown Shy?
Thanks! Crown Shy could work.
We went to Gem once, werenât fans, but thanks for the suggestion.
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Curious, what didnât you like about it? Also the current format which is technically Gem Wine Bar is different than the tasting menu format of the former Gem restaurant which is temporarily closed.
Bold , unorthodox ,flavor combinations that we didnât like in 4 of 6 dishes.
We expected to love it.
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I guess I could see that.
This looks interesting:
incredibly pumped for this:
More space means more customers and flexibility, but it also opens the door for more ambitious food. Soon, for $50 per person, a table full of diners will be able to pre-order a goat prepared four different ways: braised, roasted, grilled, and in cannelloni.
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That is making me hungry.
Oxalis update. We were walking by this evening and saw that it was open and popped in for a drink and the details. The place has reopened as Cafe Mado, which now is a cafe up front and the same old bar/sun room and garden in back. Same chef in place and they serve the same kind of inventive and eclectic-style menu for dinner, only now itâs all a la carte, in keeping with the zeitgeist. Theyâve been (re)open for 3 weeks. I am very psyched as Oxalis was my favorite restaurant in Brooklyn and I am eager to check out whatâs going on for dinner.
Some other deets here: All About CafĂ© Mado, From the Team Behind Oxalis and Place des FĂȘtes â Resy | Right This Way
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also was a huge oxalis fan. i thought cafe mado closes at like 8pmâŠis it a full dinner sorta place?
We walked in about 8:20pm and the kitchen had just closed, I should have mentioned that. The interior room was full with diners, and the small bar had just two seats open, which we took.
I am back in town after a few days working the market in Ohio and managed to snag a 9pm RSVP at FoxFace Natural for myself and an old friend last night.
While we waited for our table, we had a glass of sparkling Pinot Noir (Alfredo Maestro, Castilla y León Pet Nat Cañonazo) that was just what the doctor ordered after a long hectic day at work. Slightly soft with tiny bubbles, it set the mood for the rest of the evening.
Once seated, we ordered a bottle of Fio Wines, Mosel Flor Ururabo, which was served slightly warmer than we liked but had notes of salinity, minerality and lemony oxydation and was tight at first. Once it had cooled off a bit and had opened up, the texture fleshed out somewhat while maintaining bright fruit and brilliant acidity - this was a perfect foil for our entire meal and a great choice by our server (the somm, Max, also helped us with our selection).
We started with the Hiramasa âPastramiâ which was fantastic, tasting of a slightly briney, slightly fishy (in a good way), meaty pastrami. Great with the Fio, not so with the Cañonazo. Next came a Surf Clam - two ways, red aguachile, fermented green strawberry, then the clamâs foot as schnitzel, with a beautifully fresh housemade tartar. Both were off the charts delicious: the first preparation tasty with lovely texture and a slightly sweet note from the sauce. The schnitzel, deceptively simple-looking, was tender while maintaining its texture and great with the tartar. One quibble: a sprinkling of sel de mer would have lifted the flavors even more (and I canât believe Iâm saying this as my usual complaint is the exact opposite at restaurants).
Our third course was the pasta with bottarga and bread crumbs (canât find the description). Once all mixed up the pasta took on a creamy salty note with contrasting crunch from the crumbs. My only slightly negative comment would be that there was a tad excessive amount of oil at the bottom of the dish which made the last strands of pasta too greasy.
(my dining companion Patty)
Lastly, our main was the Montauk Fluke - from the wood oven, simply roasted with olive oil, garlic, parsley, spring greens & potatoes. The flesh was firm and moist, flaking easily off the bone, brightly flavorful, and wonderfully delicious. The potatoes, while good, were outshone by the incredibly fresh fish. Again, a tad too much oil, but Iâm nitpicking here.
I would happily return, and I wish we had inventive places like this where we live now. I hope you guys realize how lucky you are. NYC isnât perfect, but for dining like this itâs one of the premier places in the country (I travel through all our markets and there are still far too few places with establishments like this).
Canât wait to get back to town, hopefully in late July.
Cheers!
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Despite having that Fluke 20x I still crave it. And one thing is slightly fascinating in a geeky type way Chef cuts the potatoes differently based on the season. And the excessive oil is just part of it all! Good for the skin!
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Have the same compulsion. Best whole fish in the city imo.
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my namesake and doppelgÀnger DISAGREES!
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