restaurantgirl

The New York debut of Ago restaurant in the newly opened Greenwich Hotel had the makings of a summer blockbuster. The famous West Hollywood flagship has long been a powerful magnet for celebrities and movie moguls, including film giants Robert De Niro and the Weinstein brothers, who are partners in the Ago empire. This Tribeca outpost is the fourth offshoot of chef-partner Agostino Sciandri's Italian eatery, following expansions in Las Vegas and Miami.

The recruitment of Grayling Design - responsible for such iconic venues as Balthazar and Pastis - set high expectations for an impressive, Old World interior. Though the space is detailed with antique mirrors, vintage farmhouse chairs and terra cotta tiles imported from Tuscany, the sprawling setting fails to achieve the warmth or authenticity of an Italian trattoria. If you're seated in the rear dining room - worlds away from the buzz of the bar - you'll feel as though you've been exiled to Siberia.

My qualms about the vast surroundings temporarily faded when a rich burrata arrived at our table. It was a...

To read the complete review at The New York Daily News

Not many restaurateurs are as skilled at pulling off a top-notch $4.75 burger (Shake Shack) as they are a $145 haute French tasting menu (Eleven Madison Park). But Danny Meyer has built an enviable empire of 11 winning lowbrow and high-end restaurants.

On a recent evening, the famed Shake Shack burger drew a line that spanned the length of an entire city block. I was en route to Eleven Madison Park, the most opulent feather in Meyer's cap, when the sight of cheese fries and custard at the pickup window nearly lured me off course.

Had I caved, I would've missed one of the most spectacular meals in recent memory.

New Yorkers should be pitching tents outside Eleven Madison Park for executive chef Daniel Humm's cooking. Taste his brilliantly complex foie gras terrine; it arrives draped in a tart dicing of rhubarb, celery and pickled ramps with a crusty foil of Indonesian pepper brioche. He completes this...

To read the complete review at The New York Daily News

Some restaurants lack soul. Not Korhogo 126. You can taste the soul of its owners on nearly every plate. This French West African eatery marries the culinary heritages of Parisian-born Emmanuelle Chiche and chef Abdhul Traore, who made his New York City debut at Les Enfants Terribles on the lower East Side. Traore hails from Korhogo, a small town in the Ivory Coast that's become this prideful new restaurant's namesake.

The chef injects a rush of seasonings and flavors from his homeland into French bistro staples. This translates to a menu where African classics, like grilled prawns in a pili pili (chili pepper) sauce appear alongside steak frites. But here the steak frites gets an aggressively spiced marinade of thyme, cardamom and kanifi (African black pepper).

These intensely exotic aromas spill into...

To read the complete review at The New York Daily News

From the looks of it, you would never know there is a well-trained chef hustling in the kitchen at Eletteria, a restaurant that just debuted in Greenwich Village. Floating doors, cropped paintings and a fake staircase suggest a funhouse for frivolous culinary affairs. So does the audience, a hip, young crowd who tend to flock to the newest restaurants for sport.

But a deep-fried quail suggests serious pleasures. When skin this crisp gives way to such wondrously sweet meat, you don't debate the merits of frying. It's perfectly paired with a fried quail egg, bacon and pomegranate vinaigrette.

This appetizer is the handiwork of chef Akhtar Nawab, who spent a year cooking at pan-European gastropub E.U.

Elettaria is his latest project, a joint venture with partner Noel Cruz; they met while working at Craftbar. This is an entirely different script for this chef...

To read the complete review at The New York Daily News

With Dovetail, Bar Boulud, Madeleine Mae and the latest arrival of Eighty One, the upper West Side is having an impressive run of new restaurants. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would certainly make a habit out of the scallop and foie gras ravioli at Eighty One. It's a splendid appetizer conceived by chef-owner Ed Brown, who served as executive chef at the Sea Grill for 14 years. If you're not familiar with his cooking, these sophisticated nibbles make a great first impression. The crowning touch is a straw wine sauce that sharpens the sweetness of the scallop while cutting the richness of the foie gras.

Eighty One puts a high premium on luxury ingredients with downright lofty prices; the contemporary American menu is peppered with foie gras, sweetbreads and truffles. The foie gras hails from the Hudson Valley and the black truffles - which diners can have shaved over any dish for $42 - are shipped from Provence. The space is nearly as elegant as the menu, cloaked entirely in red velvet: plush banquettes, upholstered walls and drapery. The bustle of the 120-seat dining room is proof that fine dining and white tablecloth affairs are still thriving on New York City's notoriously casual dining front.

Eighty One strives toward upscale pleasures instead of bold invention.  There is a lovely arrangement of roasted root vegetables that gets drizzled in a full-bodied salsify and apple vinegar, as well as a fine pumpkin risotto, crowned with braised chicken wings and a nutty dash of pumpkin oil. While neither dish is revelatory, these perfectly civilized gestures cater to a conservative upper West Side clientele. Both are listed among six selections labeled "tasting collection," which encourages guests to construct their own tasting menu. This route may foster freedom, but it also puts these offerings on a pedestal; suddenly, the appetizers and entrees seem like second-class citizens that don't always live up to their charmed billing.

Though Brown earned a reputation for his finesse with seafood at the Sea Grill, these dishes oddly proved a weaker point of the menu. A cautiously flavored entree of Japanese hamachi, cooked à la plancha, was dominated by a briny scattering of baby clams seasoned with parsley, chili and garlic. Main characters were constantly being upstaged by their supporting cast...

Opening a Pan-African restaurant in the Meatpacking District doesn't exactly sound like a sure thing. After all, this is a part of Manhattan where the scene outshines food as a nocturnal crowd ricochets from one nightclub to the next. But chef Marcus Samuelsson has never been afraid to take chances. At Aquavit, he earned praise for a thoroughly innovative approach to Scandinavian fare. With his newest endeavor, Merkato 55, he strives to recast African cooking in an equally modern and prominent light.

It's surreal to enter this splashy brasserie and discover a sea of stylish diners spreading aromatic chutneys and sambals onto homemade African breads. Taking a cue from the exotic cuisine, the sprawling, two-story space is embellished with woven basket lamps, ebony tabletops and sheer curtains with illustrations of African faces. Likewise, the menu is colored with the vibrant flavors and seasonings of the African diaspora.

There's a lot of territory to cover on this vast culinary road map, and it can make for an exciting night out, not to mention a welcome reprieve from the blitz of seasonal American eateries this year. Merkato 55 is Ethiopia by way of a splendid, butter-spiced lamb and South Africa by way of mustard-spackled venison skewered with apricots and smoky chunks of bacon. It's a quick trip to Mozambique via meaty, head-on shrimp sauced with a pungent piri piri (chili pepper).

For the most part, Samuelsson tones down the spiciness for a broader audience than this kind of regional cooking usually attracts. So if you're craving a fiery doro wat (Ethiopian chicken stew) that turns your mouth numb, you won't find it here.

Instead of piling on the heat, Samuelsson...

**Two Stars
CAPSULE: Nostalgic for an old New York.
ADDRESS: 50 Commerce St., between Bedford and Barrow Sts.
PHONE: (212) 524-2301
DINNER: Mon.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.-11 p.m.
CUISINE:  New American
VIBE:  Charming tavern
OCCASION:  Neighborhood dining; group dinner
DON’T-MISS DISH:  Marinated fluke sashimi; red snapper with Thai-inspired herb broth
PRICE:  Appetizers, $11-19; entrees, $23-44; desserts, $9-16
RESERVATIONS:  Recommended

Cue the historical relevance of 50 Commerce St.: Nestled on a cobblestone-paved corner in Greenwich Village, this address has seen a Depression-era speakeasy, the 50-year-long run of the Blue Mill Tavern and a quintessential neighborhood haunt, Grange Hall. Did I mention a short-lived restaurant that resurrected the name of the Blue Mill Tavern?

If you've ever wondered what it was like to dine in the Village in the 1940s, step into Commerce. It's the newest incarnation of this landmark building. Co-owners Tony Zazula and chef Harold Moore, who met while working at Montrachet, have elegantly appointed the space with bronze sconces, an Art Deco Brunswick bar and restored wooden booths from the original Blue Mill Tavern.

The menus are presented in chintzy plastic slips, but this is not standard tavern fare. Trained under Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef Moore issues New American cuisine, rife with ambition and refinement.

Instead of the down-home comforts of meatloaf or a green bean casserole, you'll find a salad of "20 herbs and lettuces," sliced beef tataki and a market special of parsnip soup with black cherry foie gras and maple syrup gelée. There's even a full-time baker in the kitchen, exclusively devoted to a glorious assortment of housemade pretzels, olive rolls, crusty baguettes and brioches.

You could spend an evening just feasting on the bread basket, but then you'd miss out on a classically French arrangement of warm oysters luxuriating in a Champagne sauce, decked with leeks, caviar and slivers of potato. Or an exceptionally fresh appetizer of lime-marinated fluke sashimi, perfectly seasoned with fleur de sel and an herb-infused oil. There's also a fantastic treatment of crispy-skinned snapper, which gets a foamy rush of flavor from a green coconut-curry broth that's poured over the filet tableside...

** Two Stars - A fettuccine worth traveling for.
ADDRESS: 55-15 37th Ave., near 56th St., Woodside. PHONE: (718) 446-1500
DINNER: Tues.-Sat., 5:30-11 p.m.; Sun., 3-10:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.
CUISINE  Regional Italian
VIBE  Charming market-restaurant
OCCASION  Destination dining; authentic Italian supper
DON'T-MISS DISH  Fettuccine al'Antonio; polenta-crusted tilapia
PRICE  Appetizers, $9.50-$14; entrees, $17-$26; desserts, $7
RESERVATIONS  Accepted

No ice. No tap water. No cheese on seafood dishes. No lemon peel in espresso. These are just four of the "Ten Commandments" patrons must abide by at Sapori d'Ischia, an Italian specialty market-restaurant in an industrial section of Woodside, Queens. Try requesting butter for the bread; your server may return with a framed set of rules to review before attempting an order.

It seems presumptuous for a wholesale store that peddles imported goods by day to enforce such vigilant decrees of dining by night. Especially when you may be seated against refrigerated shelves stocked with cheeses. Before you protest, taste the signature fettuccine al'Antonio: It's an exalted rite of passage that should be their Eleventh Commandment. Prosciutto-studded noodles get plunged into a pungent wheel of Parmesan and coated with a hypnotic dose of white truffle oil.

This giant Parmesan wheel is as much a fixture in the dining room as the artisanal pastas and canned tomatoes, which are supplied to many of the city's top restaurants. At night, votive candles spruce up store shelves and live music fills the charming space. A weathered mural of the port of Ischia, an island off Naples, hangs dutifully from the wall.

Father-and-son owners Franco and Antonio Galano, natives of Ischia, passionately embrace the authentic cuisine of Italy. With its straightforward and boldly flavored cooking, this eight-year-old eatery doesn't so much clamor for your attention as command it.

Octopus gets an unusually hearty treatment here: Charred baby octopus is nestled in a rich stew of caper berries, cranberry beans and radicchio. The crusty house bread should be used to mop up the delectable pool of sauce that forms below this mix. A succulent braised rabbit is flecked with peas, house-cured pancetta and slivers of potato. Wide ribbons of pappardelle, slathered in a rustic ragu of hot and sweet sausages, are nearly as gratifying.

While an onslaught of new restaurants distract with gimmicks and overcomplicated dishes, Sapori d'Ischia aims to satisfy and often succeeds. The steadiness of the kitchen, run by co-chefs Roberto Villanueva (Jean Claude) and Daniele Barbos (Restaurant Regina Isabella), instills confidence in its diners.

But what's even more compelling than the simplicity of old-school classics are the dashes of polish and creativity among the seafood dishes. A polenta-crusted tilapia is enriched by a zesty marriage of red pepper puree and a walnut parsley pesto. It gets an additional boost from a garlicky fricassee of string beans and spinach. A monkfish is delicately glazed in Pinot Grigio and draped over a lush hill of truffle-scented escarole. The wine list has a fine selection of boutique Italian producers with 15 varietals available by the glass.

Sapori d'Ischia is not without its drawbacks. The brick oven pizzas were repeatedly undercooked. Floppy crusts caved under the weight of their toppings. I ran into a similar problem with gummy gnocchi. I could've been eating raw dough. And though live opera music on Thursdays can make this market feel romantic, it stifles conversation.

There's no celebrity chef in the kitchen or glossy furnishings, but there is plenty to savor on the table. Even the olive oil claims distinction: The olives are grown on the family's groves in Italy. It doesn't get much more authentic than that.

Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl
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* 1/2 Stars - We have some reservations.
ADDRESS:154 Central Park South
PHONE: (212) 484-5120
DINNER: Sun.-Thur., 5.30 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
CUISINE  Seasonal American.
VIBE Sleek hotel eatery.
OCCASION  Hotel dining; dessert destination.
DON'T-MISS DISH  Buttercup flan; flash-seared calamari.
PRICE Appetizers, $10-$21; entrees, $24-$39; desserts, $9-$12.
RESERVATIONS  Recommended.

How fitting that South Gate premiered just on the heels of the highly anticipated unveiling of Alain Ducasse's Adour. After all, South Gate, and its chef, Kerry Heffernan, were installed to fill the void left when Ducasse vacated the Essex House.

While Alain Ducasse's former restaurant was buried in the rear of the building, South Gate has its own street entrance on Central Park South. With its glitzy glass façade overlooking the park, it's a radically hip departure from Ducasse's classically French production. Designed by Tony Chi, the sleek space is embellished with a long marble bar, modern gas fireplace and fractured mirror panels along the ceiling and walls of the front bar and 90-seat dining room.

In keeping with the culinary fashion of the moment, South Gate embraces a seasonal American menu, aggressively positioning itself as a trendy dining destination. This is Heffernan's official reentry into the Manhattan dining scene after serving as the executive chef at Eleven Madison Park for seven years.  He returns with the same wild mushroom martini he conceived at Eleven Madison Park. It's still a thick, woodsy mushroom puree punctuated by wilted spinach, a poached egg, and a crispy shard of pancetta. There, he also demonstrated a keen finesse for molding vegetables into relentlessly silky textures. At South Gate, he turns out a similar, standout buttercup squash flan that yields tremendous richness with every melting spoonful. It's plated with pan-roasted brussels sprouts, black trumpet mushrooms and crusty drifts of breadcrumbs, all of which complement the flan centerpiece. Both appetizers are finely distinguished by the familiarity and purity of their ingredients.

I would order the flash-seared calamari for its earthy cauliflower custard alone. But the tender ringlets of calamari that accompany it get an equally charmed gloss of lobster coriander sauce.

Beyond familiar holdovers from Eleven Madison Park, Heffernan fails to deliver new thrills. Employing a vast hodgepodge of ingredients, his dishes tend to emerge in a blizzard of flavors with little rhyme or reason to their union. The butter-roasted lobster was caught in a hostile tug of war between overbearing seasonings of marjoram, red pepper and tart kimchi in a clam broth beneath the innocent crustacean. A hot-smoked char wholly surrendered to bitter shocks of grapefruit, nicoise olives and a mustard-streaked vinaigrette.

The meat entrees were an altogether grim...

**1/2 Stars
ADDRESS:2 E. 55th St., at Fifth Ave. (212) 710-2277
DINNER: Mon.-Sat., 5.30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 5.30 p.m.-10 p.m.
CUISINE: Contemporary French
VIBE: Elegant affair
OCCASION: Fine dining, special occasion
DON'T-MISS DISH: Ricotta gnocchi; diver scallops with black truffles; beef tenderloin.
PRICE: Appetizers, $17-29; entrees, $32-49; desserts, $14.
RESERVATIONS: Required.

In recent years, New York has been the thorn in Alain Ducasse's side. An exalted French chef, Ducasse has amassed an empire of Michelin-starred institutions, including Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo and his eponymous restaurant at Plaza Athénée in Paris. While Ducasse has conquered much of the globe, his first two Manhattan ventures resulted in defeat and subsequently closed (Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Mix).

Yet he seems more determined than ever to win our affections at Adour, his newest restaurant set in the landmark St. Regis Hotel. What was formerly Lespinasse has been transformed into an elegant showcase for haute French cuisine and an exquisite wine selection. The David Rockwell-designed space is flourished with wine armoires, plush burgundy banquettes, and a glass veil that frames the main dining room.

There is an interesting marriage of an old and new world order of dining with the installment of an interactive wine bar and private wine vault where diners can electronically scroll through the 600-bottle wine list. Sensational choices are an Alsatian Pinot Gris and a full-bodied Roussillon, both refreshingly affordable and available by the glass for $13.

But don't be misled. Dining at Adour is an extravagantly pampered affair. Purses get their own pedestals and the service is so flawless it feels like there's a server for every guest. The food gets the same regal treatment as the patrons. Luscious sautéed foie gras is perfectly modulated by a peppery duck jus and al dente lentils. Though Ducasse is famous for his French cooking, his ricotta gnocchi are on a par with some of the finest Italian restaurants in the city...