EN Japanese Brasserie

Two friends and I had dinner at EN Japanese Brasserie on Wednesday evening. EN is part of the city’s new hip trend for big-box Japanese restaurants with Nobu-inspired menus. It is one of the pleasanter destinations in that genre. Our reservation was at 6:30, a time when the restaurant is still comparatively empty. However, we were impressed with the high ceilings and the wide spacing of the tables. Even at peak time, I suspect my companions and I wouldn’t have had to shout (as we did at the comparatively claustrophobic BLT Prime).

Service was about as efficient as one could hope for. Obviously it helped that the place was nearly empty at that hour, but a sparsely-populated dining room is never any guarantee of the server’s undivided attention.

As at other restaurants in the genre, you’re encouraged to order a variety of small plates, and share. One is never sure precisely how many of these plates are enough to make a meal. Our waiter naturally advised us to err on the high-side; his upselling wasn’t unctuous, but certainly we were aware of it. Anyhow, we chose four items, and once those were finished, ordered a fifth.

We had two types of sushi rolls with different tangy dipping sauces, shrimp fritters, a tempura sampler, and the obligatory miso black cod. The latter didn’t erase memories of the signature dish at Nobu, but all were wonderfully prepared. The tempura batter was crispy and light; the sushi rolls crisp and flavorful. This is definitely the way to order at EN, as I don’t think any of these dishes would have been nearly as successful as one’s only entrée.

If we had any complaint, it was the speed at which the dishes arrived. The trend at these “small plate” restaurants is to deliver the food at the chef’s convenience, instead of the customer’s. After we ordered, it seemed we barely had time to blink before the food came trooping gaily out of the kitchen. It’s not that they needed our table; I just think it’s the way the restaurant is put together.

EN has one of the most ridiculously over-engineered, yet simultaneously unhelpful, websites . The menu shown there is far from complete. Frank Bruni complained of “an extremely long, confusing menu” in his one-star review. It appears there has been some simplification since then. The menu is now a single page, which makes it shorter than the Nobu menu.

As at any Japanese restaurant, it’s easy to spend a ton of money in a hurry. But our experience at EN showed that it is by no means necessary. We were out of there for $35 a head, including tax and tip, but without any alcohol.

EN Japanese Brasserie (435 Hudson Street at Leroy Street, Hudson Square)

Food: **
Service: *½
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

BLT Prime

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to BLT Prime.

I dined at BLT Prime last week. Laurent Tourondel has now refined the BLT formula to a science, and the third restaurant in the chain is a triumph. (See also BLT Steak and BLT Fish.)

We started with two ‘bread’ amuses. The first was a sourdough bread with chicken liver paté. Second was a very fresh, soft garlic bread roll. For appetizers, two of us had the Grilled Double Cut Canadian Bacon ($9). These bacon strips are similar to those at Peter Luger. They aren’t quite as thick as at Luger, but you get four of them on the plate, and they are lightly seasoned. My other colleague ordered the Tuna Tartare ($14), which was also an enormous helping, and he pronounced himself satisfied.

BLT serves its porterhouse pre-sliced, as in the Luger/Wolfgang’s model. Unlike those restaurants, it is offered only for two. As there were three of us, we ordered the porterhouse ($79) and the 12 oz. kobe ribeye ($72). We divided on which was the more flavorful, although the porterhouse, which feeds two with some left to spare, is clearly the far better deal.

For side orders, we chose the onion rings ($8), the bleu cheese tater tots ($7), and the asparagus ($8). The menu at BLT Prime seems almost diabolically designed to encourage you to over-order. I don’t believe a person with a normal appetite can finish an appetizer, their share of a porterhouse, and one of these ample side dishes, especially if you’ve also ordered wine. We ended the meal happy, but with quite a lot of food remaining on the table.

Only one of us could even dream of entertaining dessert. My colleague ordered the banana cream pie, which he said was heavenly. I strenuously resisted his suggestion of after-dinner drinks, but he insisted, so we finished the evening with 18-year Highland Park whisky.

For future reference, I’d say that three people of normal appetites would have plenty to eat if they ordered an appetizer apiece, and shared the porterhouse and two sides between them. Occasional glances around other tables confirmed that portions are enormous, practically no matter what you order.

All three of the BLT restaurants have been instant hits. BLT prime was full to the gills, and it was hard to carry on a conversation over the din. That’s about the only negative at a restaurant that clicks on all cylinders. Incidentally, BLT Prime is now the #1 steakhouse in the city on Zagat. It is tied with Peter Luger with a 27 food rating, but has higher service and decor ratings (23/23 respectively for BLTP; 19/14 for PL).

BLT Prime (111 East 22nd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues, Gramercy)

db bistro moderne

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to db bistro moderne.

db bistro moderne is the least formal of Daniel Boulud’s New York properties. The menu is organized by ingredients, instead of the usual appetizer/entrée split. The categories are in French (hommard, thon, artichaut, etc.), but the descriptions of the items in each category are in English. You have to notice an “AP” or “MC” next to the price to identify whether the item is an appetizer or a main course. You can also look at the price itself: db’s entrées are remarkably consistent, at about $28-34 apiece regardless of the item.

I just had to try the “Original db Burger,” to find out what a $29 hamburger tastes like. The menu says it’s a “Sirloin Burger filled with Braised Short Ribs, Foie Gras and Black Tuffles.” I was not able to identify all of those ingredients from the taste. It’s thick (to accommodate all of the goodies stuffed inside), but not very large. Getting your mouth around it is a challenge, somewhat like a three-decker sandwhich at a Jewish deli.

Was it a very fine hamburger? Yes. Do I recommend spending $29 on it? No. Rounding out the meal was a smoked salmon appetizer ($14) that was perfectly competent, but not a patch on what I had at Ouest a couple of weeks ago.

The burger and the salmon are both found in a section of the menu labeled “Specialitiés De La Maison.” Gimmicks of the house seemed more like it. I saw a lot coming out of the db kitchen that appealed to me. Neither of these really did the trick. If I go again, I’ll try something else. At $72 per person (including drinks, tax, and tip), I think this town has better bargains for your money.

db bistro moderne (55 West 44th Street between Fifth & Sixth Avenues, West Midtown)

Danube

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to Danube.

Last night, I had a wonderful dinner at Danube. A vendor was buying, and he asked if I had a favorite. I approach my restaurant life a little differently. An invitation to dinner is opportunity to try someplace I’ve never been. Danube came immediately to mind.

This is one of those restaurants that hardly ever attracts an unfavorable comment. It is almost universally adored, and for good reason. From its Klimmt-inspired décor to its impeccable service, everything at Danube is well thought out and smartly executed. Whether it’s a romantic occasion, a business dinner, or a birthday celebration, Danube delivers a memorable experience.

The amuse bouche was a tiny salmon square on a bed of avocado cream. To start, my dining companion and I both chose the what I called the double foie gras ($19), which came with a conventional seared Hudson Valley foie gras and an odd confection called “Crème Brûlée of Foie Gras with Harvest Corn Goulash.” If you love foie gras, then twice as much of it is heaven. My only complaint is that the crème brûlée was at an in-between temperature: it had been allowed to cool a bit too long.

I almost never order Wiener Schnitzel, but I figured that if any restaurant was going to make it memorable, Danube would. (I also concluded that if you’re at an Austrian-themed restaurant, you should try some Austrian food. My colleague concluded the same, and ordered the goulash.) The Wiener Schnitzel came with austrian crescent potatoes, cucumber salad, and a lingonberry sauce. I must say that I was initially underwhelmed, but the dish grew on me, and I was sad to take the last bite. The light breading was just perfectly fluffy, the veal succulent and tender. Still, part of me wondered if this really deserved to be a $30 entrée.

Desserts at Danube are mostly Austro-Germanic specialities, such as Caramel Strudel and Sacher Torte. I tried a pina colada ice cream dish, which is not shown on the restaurant’s website, and I can’t quite recall how it was put together. After this, a plate full of chocolates arrived, which I struggled (in vain) to resist.

Danube offers a vast array of menus. As at many uscale restaurants, the first page shows the tasting menu (five courses, $75; or, $135 with wine pairings). The nine-course degustation is $95. A four-course seasonal menu is $55. There are three à la carte sections of the menu: the Austrian specialties, “Modern Eclectic,” and the chef’s weekly market choices. Appetizers are $9-19; entrées are $26-35.

You’ll pay handsomely for your experience at Danube, but it is well worth it. A glance at the bill showed a bottom line of $270, which included more wine than was strictly necessary. But then, there’s no point in doing Danube half-way. Go and enjoy yourself.

Danube (30 Hudson Street at Duane Street, TriBeCa)

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Note: Click here for a more recent visit to Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, John D. Rockefeller amassed some 4,600 acres in the area that’s now Tarrytown. There he built his family mansion, Kykuit (pronounced KY-kit). His grandson, Nelson D. Rockefeller, bequeathed Kykuit to the National Historic Trust, which maintains it as a museum, along with hundreds of acres of parkland and nature trails. Even in its reduced state, the old Rockefeller estate is still massive, and some of the family still live there, including Happy Rockefeller, the late Governor’s widow.

The Stone Barns estate is another gem in the Rockefeller crown. It’s a former cattle farm that David Rockefeller (JDR’s last surviving grandson) has renovated and opened to the public. As the website explains:

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a beautiful non-profit farm, educational center and restaurant in the heart of Westchester County. Our mission is to demonstrate, teach and promote sustainable, community-based food production. Open to visitors of all ages, we offer a unique experience: a chance to learn about farming firsthand on a real working farm, the only farm open to the public so close to New York City.

Central to the mission is a working farm:

By contemporary measures, our farm is small, but it is well diversified and extremely productive. We manage our livestock and crops in a symbiotic relationship, attempting to mimic nature’s own methods. By working in partnership with our environment, instead of resisting its natural tendencies, we produce food without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Our only amendments to the soil are compost made from humus-rich manure, minerals and organic material. We use an intensively managed rotation method in our garden and greenhouse beds, preserving the soil and locking in important nutrients.

And lastly, there is a restaurant: Blue Hill Stone Barns. It’s a cousin to Blue Hill NYC in the Village, but the Stone Barns version emphasizes locally raised ingredients. The menu changes regularly, with many of the vegetables coming directly from the Stone Barns farm itself. They also slaughter their own chickens and pigs. To avoid complete monotony, they do obtain ingredients (such as fish, beef, and lamb) elsewhere.

The menu is simple to explain: you choose two, three, or four courses; and you pay $46, $56, or $66. Portion sizes are adjusted, so you’re getting a full meal whichever option you choose. It’s more a matter of whether you want four “tasting-menu-sized” portions, or two traditionally-sized portions, or something in between. On a recent visit, a friend and I each chose three courses.

The menu is divided into four sections, with three or four options per section. On our visit, these were labeled “Tomatoes,” “More Tomatoes,” “From the Pastures,” and “Hudson Valley Pastures.” The restaurant encourages you to ignore the traditional appetizer/entrée distinction, but the items in the first category (“Tomatoes”) were undeniably appetizers. The “More Tomatoes” category consisted of seafood dishes that included tomatoes somehow. (Can you guess which vegetable was in season?) The last two categories offered chicken and meat dishes respectively.

I started with a mixed tomato medley, which even included a tomato sorbet. My friend’s salad included lettuce, tomatoes, and an astonishing confection of egg yolks with hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and homemade pancetta. This must be one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, as practically every reviewer has mentioned it with approval — as well they should.

For the second course, we both chose crabmeat pressed between squares of yellow squash. I guess tomato must have been in there somehow. We got four of these little crabmeat sandwiches, resembling ravioli. This too was a hit.

For the third course, we diverged again. My friend got the crescent duck, with asian greens and baby carrots, which she said was the best duck she’d ever tasted. I chose the braised bacon and roasted pig. The pig actually seemed to be prepared three different ways, and it’s beyond my food vocabulary to describe them, but it was a superb dish. Incidentally, I noticed another diner who had ordered this dish as part of a two-course meal, and what the server said was true: if you order two courses, each one is a bit larger than what we had. But our three courses were more than enough for a full meal. We skipped dessert and went home very happy.

Although Blue Hill Stone Barns is in a rustic setting, it is upscale dining. One of the food blogs told about a guy who turned up in shorts (designer shorts!) and was turned away. Well, it turns out his lady friend knows the chef, and they were able to wangle something, but don’t turn up in shorts. The restaurant has been decorated elegantly and thoughtfully. You watch the patrons as they walk in, and you realize that most have come for a fancy evening out — farm or no farm. (Informal dress is fine, though; just no shorts.)

Reservations at Blue Hill Stone Barns aren’t easy to come by. For prime times, you’ll need to call a full two months in advance. Luckily, like many a new restaurant, Blue Hill Stone Barns offers dining at the bar, where no reservation is required. The bar here has a wide surface that easily accommodates placemats and stemwear. The bar stools have backs, so they are comfortable to sit in for a long meal.

Indeed, if you sit at the bar nowadays for just drinks, the bartender may just vaguely hint that the seats are needed for more lucrative customers. We didn’t observe that here, but it has been known to happen at other upscale restaurants that offer bar dining, such as Babbo. This is not likely to be an issue at Blue Hill Stone Barns, as there is an adjoining lounge with plush sofas and chairs, which seems to be preferred by those with reservations who want a pre-dinner cocktail. A bar, it seems, is no longer a bar.

For a party of two or three, there is really no disadvantage to dining at the bar, and it means you can make the trip on the spur of the moment — as we did. Give it a try! Tarrytown is about a 45-minute ride from Grand Central, and there are at least two trains per hour, even into the late evening. You’ll find taxis waiting at Tarrytown station, and it’s about a $10 ride to the Stone Barns Center.

Perhaps we’ll be back in the winter, when no doubt the fireplace will be roaring, and tomatoes will be replaced by whatever is then in season.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns (630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, New York)

Food: ***
Service: ***
Ambiance: ***
Overall: ***

Bridge Cafe

Bridge Cafe is located in a 1794 building at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, on the corner of Water and Dover streets. One of the oldest buildings still standing in Manhattan, it has been consistently the “site of a food and/or drinking establishment” for the entire time, although the precise purpose for which it was used has changed frequently. For a while during the 18th century, it was a bordello. The current owners bought the building in 1979 and chose the current name, retaining an interior that is unchanged since the 1920s.

Bridge Cafe is one of the few serious restaurants below Chambers Street, by which I mean a restaurant not serving tourist or “formula” food. The New York Times awarded it one star several years ago. Ed Koch, the former mayor, once said it was his “favorite restaurant.” The menu, which changes seasonally, is an eclectic mix of New American specialties. Appetizers are $7-11, entrées $16-27, making Bridge Cafe fairly expensive for the neighborhood, but mid-priced by Manhattan standards.

Unfortunately, Bridge Cafe misfired on most of what my friend and I tried on Friday night. We both started with a cold cucumber and avocado soup, which was dominated by tabasco sauce. I happen to like spicy food, but when an ingredient takes over the soup, it ought to be mentioned in the description on the menu. My friend couldn’t finish it.

For the entrée, I chose “Our Famous Buffalo Steak,” which comes with a lingonberry sauce and homemade potato gnocchi. The buffalo was tough and tasted gamey. The lingonberry sauce was dreary, and seemed to be there only to mask a piece of meat that never could have stood as an acceptable meal on its own. It was also the most expensive item on the menu. My friend ordered a vegetarian dish that was dominated by a white bean ragout, with the other promised vegetables getting literally lost in the sauce.

Bridge Cafe has garnered mostly favorable reviews, so I have to think we caught it on a bad night, or that we just happened to order the worst items on the menu. Many of the other dishes certainly looked tempting, at least on paper. I’ll give them another chance one of these days. The wine list offers mostly U.S. vintages, and there’s a 30% discount on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Bridge Cafe (279 Water Street at Dover Street, South Street Seaport)

Food: *
Service: *½
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Duane Park Café

Note: Duane Park Café has closed. There are new owners (Marisa Ferrarin and Frank Locker) and a new chef (Shawn Knight), whose new menu will have “a Louisiana accent.” The space has been re-decorated, and the restaurant is now called Duane Park.

*

A group of six of us had dinner at the Duane Park Café the other night. Our host was a vendor my employer does business with. He ordered a knock-out Bordeaux, the name of which unfortunately I can’t recall. As he owns a vineyard in Australia on the side, I suppose he knows his grapes. The restaurant had decanted it for us, and it was already airing itself out at our table when we sat down.

Put six carnivores at the same table, and the orders are almost predictable. Three of us ordered the grilled tenderloin, and the other three ordered the rack of lamb. I ordered the lamb. It came with three wonderfully flavorful, tender, decent-sized chops. The tenderloin crew seemed happy too.

For the appetizers, we had only slightly more variety. One ordered the pan-seared scallops and shrimp, two more the tuna tartare, and three the scallop and crab cake. The latter item looked pretty damned good, but I had the tuna tartare, which came with “black sesame tuille and tahini sauce” (that’s a quote from the website — I wouldn’t otherwise recognize those ingedients). It was just slightly spicy and most enjoyable.

Dessert was the only disappointment. A peach cobbler broke apart all too quickly into an unappetizing mess, and it was served only lukewarm.

Our host had suggested Duane Park Café because it’s a quiet place, where you can actually hear your dinner companions talk — an advantage many restaurants lack these days. Service was friendly and efficient, but the restaurant was a bit under half full.

Duane Park Café is also reasonably priced for the neighborhood, with appetizers in the $7-10 range and mains $19-25.

Duane Park Café (157 Duane St. between W. Broadway & Hudson St., TriBeCa)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

Return to Babbo

Note: Click here for a more recent review of Babbo.

A friend suggested Babbo last night. I’d been there alone about a month ago, but Babbo’s one of those places that never wears out. We ate at the bar. At 7:00pm there were still several bar stools available, but they didn’t stay empty for long.

On a second visit, Babbo was even more impressive. I ordered the Three Goat Cheese Truffles ($12) to start. Three balls of cool goat cheese were covered lightly in colored spices, which the menu calls “Peperonata.” I could have eaten a dozen.

For my entrée, I tried another Babbo signature dish, the Mint Love Letters with Spicy Lamb Sausage ($18). These are squares of pasta, with mint and lamb pressed inside. It’s a wonderful explosion of contrasting flavors.

Apropos of my visit, this week’s NYTimes had an article about dining at the bar, a phenomenon that has practically deprived many restaurant bars of their original raison d’etre. In fact, the article featured the very bartender that has served me on both of my Babbo visits:

“I was told you were dining,” said John Giorno, the bartender at Babbo in Greenwich Village two weekends ago, snatching a menu away from me as I settled into my seat and explained I was drinking. Mr. Giorno’s smile vanished like the sun and his face went as dark as a sky before a storm. I asked to see the menu and contritely ordered food.

According to bartenders, managers and owners across New York, bar space at most restaurants has become de facto dining space. Even people with reservations for a table trying to enjoy a drink at the bar first, as an enjoyable prelude, have to fight the good fight as drinkers contending with diners at the bar.

For those involved, from the staff to the patrons, the new setup has its advantages and its disadvantages. And for every separate peace, there is a potential for awkwardness that requires diplomacy.

Mr. Giorno at Babbo, realizing his brusqueness in challenging me as a drinker, quickly served me a smile with my wine.

“I treat everyone the same,” Mr. Giorno said, “but that’s kind of what we do. We’re a dining bar.”

Babbo’s bar that night was solid eaters; the host’s station was taking reservations for the seats at the bar. Drinkers who had naïvely waited to sit at the bar were told by the bartenders that the seats were not available. They seated diners who had arrived later than the drinkers.

Tension was palpable. The manager spoke with one drinking couple about the seats they were about to take, because he was negotiating with another couple at his desk who had walked in to eat and couldn’t immediately get a table. We all held our breath. The other couple decided to wait for a table. The drinkers were allowed to stay, resting their red wine and beer on the bar with some relief.

“We don’t mind them, drinkers,” Mario Batali, Babbo’s creator and co-owner, said with generosity when I spoke to him last week. “But drinkers that don’t have dinner? That’s not what we’re about.”

It might be inconvenient for drinkers, but dining at the bar is win-win for restaurants and diners. You can walk into a place like Babbo on a whim, and although it’s booked solid, a seat is there waiting for you — as long as you don’t mind sitting at the bar. My companion last night said he does it all the time.

Babbo (110 Waverly Place between MacDougal St. & Sixth Ave., Greenwich Village) 

Food: ***
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: ***

V Steakhouse

Note: V Steakhouse closed in December 2005. My final thoughts are here. The space is now occupied by Porter House New York.

*

V Steakhouse is part of the much-ballyhooed “restaurant collection” at the Time-Warner Center. With Masa ($300 prix fixe) and Per Se ($125-150 prix fixe) as neighbors, V Steakhouse with its $66 steaks starts to look like bargain-basement dining. Actually, you can order the chicken entrée at V for $19, and dine at the world’s most expensive food court without spending a monthly rent payment. But it’s no accident that V is called a steakhouse, and it’s as a steakhouse that it must succeed or fail.

The Time-Warner restaurant collection was designed to be three and four-star restaurants, one and all. The nominal chef of the eponymous V, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, was none too pleased to get just one star from the Times’s Frank Bruni. Bruni’s review seemed an anomaly (three stars from the Post’s Steve Cuozzo; a rave in Newsday) till New York Magazine came along with a review titled Steak, Not Well Done.

Vongerichten told New York Magazine, “Eighteen years in New York, and I never had a one-star review; I don’t even know how to do a one-star restaurant. The hardest part is the staff. Nobody wants to work in a one-star place.” Maybe it would help if they sometimes saw the boss. As Vongerichten has over half-a-dozen restaurants in New York alone, to say nothing of his global empire, you can rest assured he’s seldom there.

I had a business dinner at V Steakhouse last night. The décor has been much written about. You love it or you hate it. It reminded me of the interior of the Metropolitan Opera House, with its plush velvet reds and shimmering chandeliers. To that, V adds a grove of gold-painted aluminum trees. To some, it resembles an upscale whorehouse. I found it charming, and so did my companions, who are from Boston.

They pamper you at V. Jean-Georges may not know how to do three-star steak, but he certainly knows how to deliver three-star service. It is a large dining room, but the tables are generously spaced. By the end of our evening, it was about 90% full, but not at all noisy. Most of the tables had parties of four or more. There are hardly any two-seaters at V.

One of my companions had a foie gras appetizer, which he loved, while two of us shared steak tartare, which was wonderful. However, a steakhouse must be judged mainly on the quality of its steaks, and V fails to deliver the goods. My porterhouse was unevenly charred, had an unacceptably high fat and gristle content, and offered a flimsy and under-sized filet on the smaller side of the cut. It was done correctly to the medium-rare temperature I had ordered, but it was otherwise a porterhouse no restaurant of this purported calibre should serve. The other porterhouse at our table was a bit better, but we quickly agreed: this was not a $66 steak. At half that price, I would have considered myself over-charged.

I went to the men’s room, and a couple of guys asked me about my steak. I shared my experience. “Mine sucked,” one fellow said. “So did mine,” said another. To be fair, I should report that my other table companion ordered the Waygu, which he said was the best steak he’d ever had in his life. Undoubtedly V has the equipment to put out great steak on occasion, but they must be accepting whatever wildly inconsistent inventory appears on their loading dock every morning.

V has an ample selection of side dishes. I ordered the “fripps,” which are like large potato chips prepared in a tempura batter. These are superb, but it’s a problem when they utterly out-class the steak. A selection of complimentary sauces came with our meal. These added a little spice to an otherwise humdrum steak, but in my view the best steaks shouldn’t need them.

For dessert, I ordered the berry cheesecake. Like so many of the V desserts, the kitchen hasn’t assembled the pieces. You have a small slice of cheesecake, and a berry goo in an accompanying glass, which you’re encouraged to sip through a straw. How this is supposed to be superior to a traditional cheesecake utterly eludes me. Try the assorted cheese platter instead.

The NY Times doesn’t give separate ratings for service, décor, and food. But if it did, I’d say that three stars is appropriate for the first two categories, but that one star is awfully generous for the third. The kitchen desperately needs a wake-up call.

V Steakhouse (Fourth Floor, Time-Warner Center, Columbus Circle)

Food: Satisfactory
Service: ***
Ambiance: ***
Overall: *

Pacific Grill at Pier 17

Pacific Grill has been open since June 30th on Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport. It’s run by the same people who operate Ixta, which led a number of writers to speculate that the the Seaport was ready to escape its “all tourists, all the time” mentality.

For instance, Time Out New York wrote, “This new marine-themed restaurant stands out among the TGI Friday-type establishments in the South Street Seaport.” Andrea Strong, the doyenne of what’s hot-but-cool, wrote:

When was the last time you went to the South Street Seaport for a meal? I think I was in high school. I seem to remember lots of bars…and then I blank out completely. Anyway, there may be a reason to return. Pacific Grill will open on June 30th at 89 South Street Seaport in the Pier 17 Mall. (Mall dining is very chic now? Good heavens.) The menu features Modern Pan Asian seafood by consulting chef Kenneth Tufo, currently of industry (food).

Well, I paid a visit on Sunday evening. Pacific Grill is located in the space that was formerly “Cajun.” The menu is mostly seafood, with a Seaport tourist-friendly spin. I’m probably a tad more likely to frequent Sequoia next door, with its unobstructed harbor views. However, I’ll not render judgment on one visit.

I had a lobster club sandwich, which was a traditional club with lobster and avocado replacing turkey and lettuce, not exactly a Pan Asian specialty. It came with crispy shoestring fries and made an enjoyable light supper, but there is much more to sample before I’ll say whether it’s just another Pier 17 restaurant.