New York Restaurant Reviews – Page 45 – Writing With My Mouth Full

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.

Grand Sichuan International

229 Ninth Avenue at 24th Street
212/620.5200
about $60 for two, without drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

New York City has some great selection of Chinese food. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include Sichuan, the spicy kind. When I crave the flavor of numbing Sichuan peppers, I go to Grand Sichuan International in Chelsea. They have a few branches in the city, but I frequent the one in Chelsea. No matter what time you visit, it’s always crowded. The service is inconsistent, but their kung pao chicken is always right and the dan dan noodles always spicy.

It ain’t Monterey Park outside of Los Angeles, but it will have to do.

My Befana

116 West Houston Street between Thompson and Sullivan
888.6.BEFANA
about $50 for two, without drinks, without tip

Set-up like a deli, only more classy with beautiful tilework on the floor, “la befana” is the Italian version of Santa Claus. What we know as the feast of the Three Kings is celebrated by Italians with good food to close out the Christmas season. How do they know how to do everything right?

Immaculate counters

Chef Daniele Baliani opened My Befana as a nod to his childhood in Italy after successfully establishing Pantheon Adventures, a tour company which leads small groups throughout the Mediterranean in search of gastronomic and cultural delights. Now he’s in a spotless space on West Houston serving pork chops with cranberries, flank steak with caramelized shallots, duck with soy, ginger and honey sauce and lamb in tzatziki sauce.

Tuna sandwich

Broccoli rabe

Lunch is a steep $12 for an entree and one side. Dinner is a better deal for $18 for an entree with two sides. If you are too busy to make it to their SoHo space, you can call the 888 number and get their Mediterranean food delivered to your apartment, your office or the gym. If I could eat stuffed grape leaves everyday, I would.

Hurricane Hopeful Surf Bar

139 North 6th Street between Bedford Avenue and Berry, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718/302.4441
about $50 for two, without drinks, without tip

Brought to my attention by that stand-off with Bobby Flay, the Hurricane Hopeful Surf Bar claims to have the best clam chowder in New York City. It was ninety degrees but that didn’t stop us from tasting and judging them for ourselves. We ordered the crab and corn chowder and the popular haddock chowder for about $6 each.

Corn and crab chow-dah

Now, I don’t really know anything about chowder. I’ve had several during multiple visits to Maine and Boston and I’ve tasted them watery like broth and thick like bisque–I just don’t know what proper chowder is like.

At Hurricane Hopeful Surf Bar, my ignorance didn’t matter because they are all really good. The consistency is in the middle and I liked them that way. But skip the other items on the menu when you go. The conch fritters were mostly made of batter. The red snapper ceviche was very watery and tasted of sweet orange juice.

Soupy ceviche

The space looks miniscule from outside but it extends all the way at the back to an outdoor garden decorated with small paper lanterns. The sand on the floor takes you as far away as, well, some beach in the Northeast but the service is exceptional. For a busy Saturday night, our waiter treated us like real ladies, making sure we were okay with everything during that one balmy summer night.

Casa Restaurant

72 Bedford and Commerce Streets
212/366.9410
about $125 for two, with two drinks, without tip

Whenever I am in the West Village, I always stop by Casa and look in. I tell myself that I should get Brazilian food next time. One Saturday night, all the surrounding restaurants had an hour-long wait so we ended there and were seated promptly.

With our caipirinhas, we started with four appetizers to share. The beef carpaccio with watercress and hearts of palm was pretty good but I prefer my parmesan shaved rather than grated. The lightly breaded squid was overcooked and extra chewy so we barely finished it. We also shared the salada completa which convinced us that the hearts of palm was from a can. The greens needed a healthy drizzle of good olive oil to be resuscitated.

Our one consolation was the Brazilian sausage with sautéed onions. It was spicy and salty but finally hit the spot. I had high hopes for Casa but how can I ever order from the main courses when they can’t even get the most simple appetizers right?