[Pigging by Wilfrid: July 13, 2009]
Ahoy shipmates, jump aboard, the splice the mainbrace, and look out for the crabs.
It's' wrapped around an unlovely street corner. Let me explain. Heading west along Spring Street toward the restaurant, you see the sign ("Odd," you think, "I thought it was around the corner on Hudson." But the sign denotes a back door or service entrance. You make your way past the empty lot and graffiti, turn left, and find the actual front-door. So what? Well, you're then led past the bar and make a sharp left into the dining room, heading toward that back door again. It's an awkward l-shaped space, but they've made the best of it with a string of comfortable booths down the further leg of the "l", and a relentless yachting theme to the decoration. This will delight anyone who likes to be reminded constantly of seafaring whenever eating anything fished.
In fact, there's chicken and steak on the menu, but it would be churlish not to order the seafood, and in fact the shellfish and fish dishes have some thoughtful meaty components.
I ate a tomatoey appetizer of shredded squid, resembling a nicely al dente pasta. I also tried the chowder of the day with croutons rising above the surface like rocks. Nothing surprising, but wholly competent.
Entrées were more intriguing, which is by no means always the case. The kitchen is directed by Joe Isidori, under whose very brief tenure DJT (yes, stands for The Donald) in Vegas received a Michelin star. Whatever his reason for heading east, he has brought with him an instinct for carefully composed dishes and the kind of pretty plating close to a Michelin inspector's heart. No clamshack heartiness here.
Soft-shell crab, another special, looked like it was about to jump off the plate and nip somebody. A dramatic, and skilful, improvement on sloppy-battered versions you'll find elsewhere (including, in admit, in my kitchen). As for the other components of the plate, I think I am getting soft in my old age. I have long been skeptical of attempts to pair seafood with pork. Okay, sure, there are some classics like smoked eel (if that's seafood, anyway) and bacon. You can put some bacon in your chowder too, I don't mind. But efforts like scallops and pork belly have often left me cold: two decent ingredients, accidentally sharing the same plate.
Here, the neat rectangles of pork belly fell tenderly to shreds on the fork, and combined gracefully with mouthfuls of crab. Partly it's a texture thing - crunchily fried soft-shell counterpoints braised pork in a way that scallops do not. But I think that distinctive tangy crab flavor helped too, giving the fresh pork a bacony kick. If that makes sense. A yuzu foam on top cut the richness. Good dish.
I found a dessert I liked too, and certainly of the right dimensions to be shared. Butterscotch pudding - an old standard nicely plated and of creamy consistency. Mimicking, I suppose, a shoreline and some foam, the kitchen added a rubble of popcorn and a sugar dusting. Popcorn is not my favorite thing, but at least it keeps its distance here, allowing you to shuffle some into the mix when you feel like some crunch.
Based on a limited exploration of the menu, then, an operation of competence with some flashes of flair. And busy too, nicely full on the night I visited. I should mention the tasting menu, competitively priced at $45. To be picky, it's a bit of a misnomer: it's really a three course meal with limited choices from the carte, preceded by a (no choice) serving of garnished kampachi crudo which turns it into a four course meal. Since I wasn't set on the kampachi, and the soft-shell crab special appealed, as did the lobster (not on the tasting), I ordered from the carte. With a cocktail and an inexpensive bottle of wine, this soon pushed the check in the direction of $100 a head - or standard Manhattan damage - but the Nova Scotia lobster and soft-shell crab were more expensive than other mains. It wouldn't be difficult to come out of here for $75 or $80, which ain't that bad.
More details harboured here.