Rewind

137 Essex St., btwn. Stanton & Rivington Sts.
(212)779-7923

TYPE: Asian-influenced Italian
VIBE:  Supper club(by)
OCCASION: Lounging on the LES
GO WITH: A table service crowd
DON'T MISS DISH: Butternut Squash and Asiago Cheese Ravioli
DON'T BOTHER DISH: Sweet & sour tuna with berry puree
PRICE: $30
HOURS: Dinner, Tuesday - Sat., 5 PM-11:30 PM, Sunday, 11 AM-4 PM. Open every night for cocktails and bottle service until 4 AM. 
INSIDE SCOOP: At 11:30, food service ceases to make way for the DJ & bottle service crowd. The real party doesn't get started until after dinner.
RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 3
FINAL WORD: Tuna, noodles, & strawberries, oh my!  Fast forward to dessert.

The Lower East Side's latest lounge hopes to be a one-stop shop for all things nightlife: food, drinks, DJ, & dancing under one roof.  Rewind's refreshingly un-velvet rope attitude beckons a clubby crowd into a dimly lit urban angst-free zone.  This minimalist chic supper club - a narrow, brick-lined space pours out into a back of the house DJ-centric lounge -  that takes nothing too seriously, a welcome relief, except when it comes to food.

Drawing on his own multi-ethnic background, co-owner Joe Torres rushes into a haphazard marriage of Italian & Asian cuisine, often delivering a sensory overload of flavors, seasonings and ingredients.  Thankfully, the evening began with simpler and slightly more successful kitchen achievements.  The tender grilled calamari arrived pleasantly doused in a simultaneously sweet & spicy pineapple chili sauce.  I admired a tasty grilled shrimp cake on its own merit, but perched on a bacon-heavy potato rosti, it became all but eclipsed by the overpowering smoky bacon chunks. 

I moved out of the safety of the appetizers to a more treacherous warring flavor zone amidst a team of entrees.  I had such high hopes for the cuttlefish carbonara, an ingenuiously carb-conscious substitute for pasta, if only it hadn't been for a poorly matched cream-burdened carbonara sauce with an oddly scrambled egg crown (might I be so bold as to suggest a garlicky tomato sauce makeover).  And there were just too many flavors duking it out in the sweet & sour tuna with berry puree, pickled onions, and sesame egg noodles.  But the squash ravioli shined - savory and supple pockets of squash and asiago were sharply drizzled in a thick balsamic vinegar, then topped off with crispy sage trimmings. 

The music began pumping just in time for dessert - I was partial to a silky pot of luscious and subtly earthy green tea creme brulee.  Ask for a side of the luscious macadamia nut gelato, order a bottle, and ease into the lounge scene.

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl