Battery Gardens

The fine restaurants south of Chambers Street can be counted on the fingers of one hand, making any new arrival in this neighborhood a news event. Battery Gardens opened a month or two ago, occupying the space that was formerly American Park. It’s located in Battery Park, just steps away from the Staten Island and Statue of Liberty ferries.

The space has been remodeled in pale greens, paper-thin white shear curtains, marble table-tops, and plush ultra-comfortable off-white slipper chairs. It reminded us either of a 1930s cruise ship or a movie star’s boudoire; we weren’t sure which. The dining room offers floor-to-ceiling picture window views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. There is an ample outdoor dining area, with an open-air bar.

The menu is a serious one, under the direction of executive chef Tommy Lee, who comes to Battery Gardens from the Pierre Hotel. Per the website, “Specializing in American continental cuisine, his menus reflect his Korean heritage and vast knowledge of seafood.”

Appetizers and salads are $8-15 (most under $12). Soups are $5-7. The menu offers several gourmet pizzas at $10-12, meat entrées ($17-27), pasta ($14-16), and fish ($18-26). There is also a raw bar, with Little Neck Clams ($7/half-dozen), Blue Point Oysters ($12), or Fruits of the Sea ($30, $55 or $75). The fish category on the menu offers the most choices, which is unsurprising given the chef’s background and the location of the restaurant.

I started with the Grilled Diver Sea Scallops ($10), which are served with Spicy Asian Peanut Sauce and Red Cabbage Slaw. This came with three scallops, and the inspiration to serve it with asian peanut sauce was heavenly. For the main course, I chose the Miso Glazed Chilian Sea Bass ($25), which comes with Jasmine Rice, Sesame Hinted Shitakes and Green Beans. The miso glazing was just hinted at (as opposed to Nobu’s version of it, where it’s far more powerful), but this allowed the beautiful flaky fish to do the talking. It was an enormous portion, which I devoured.

My friend started with the Tempura Sampler, which isn’t currently shown on the website. It came with 7 or 8 tempura pieces — a mixture of potatoes, shrimp, and chicken with a tangy dipping sauce. I tried a few pieces myself, and it really was done to perfection, although the sauce perhaps was a bit too ordinary. She continued with the Pan Seared Tuna ($24), which (per the website) came with Corn Fritters, Red Onion and Tomato Salad, Cilantro-Chili Aioli. This was a nearly porterhouse-sized portion, which she enjoyed, but I found it a bit blander preparation than the sea bass.

There were some service glitches. When we arrived, they took my order for a cocktail, but neglected to ask about a glass of wine with dinner. By the time they got around to it, I was nearly finished eating. Two cups of decaf coffee arrived lukewarm. When we asked for fresh cups, they returned a bit warmer, but still shy of the correct temperature.

Battery Gardens hasn’t been “discovered” yet. On a Saturday evening (8:00pm reservation), it was less than half full. One very large, elegantly-dressed party seemed to be having a celebration. Most of the other diners seemed to be at least “smartly” dressed, suggesting they considered their visit here a night on the town. My friend and I came casual, but we did not feel out-of-place. I suspect the restaurant does a better weekday business, as it is steps away from the row of office towers on Water Street.

Battery Gardens offered us a thoroughly enjoyable meal, with dramatic views to match. On a nice evening (which regrettably this wasn’t), a scenic walk along the Battery Park esplanade would be the perfect nightcap. In any event, Battery Gardens offers serious food in a locale where there has historically been precious little of it. I hope the restaurant succeeds.

Battery Gardens (Battery Park, opposite 17 State Street, Financial District)

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

March Restaurant

Note: Owners Wayne Nish and Joseph Scalice closed March at the end of 2006, re-opening in early 2007 as a more casual restaurant, Nish. Alas, the new version was no longer the destination restaurant that March had been, and there wasn’t enough neighborhood traffic to keep Nish in business. Despite favorable reviews, it was gone by the end of June. The space is now Bistro Vendôme.

*

March restaurant is an occasion place. I visited recently to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Without question, we were treated lavishly. The maitre d’ presented her with a bouquet of roses. Service throughout was impeccable. But for the price, none of the courses at March wowed us. Or perhaps, as my friend suggested, Wayne Nish’s cuisine is just too subtle. Mind you, it was all good, but I expected to be transported, and we weren’t.

March’s menu is an interesting hybrid between the tasting menu and the prix fixe. You choose a number of courses, from three to six. ($68, $74, $85, or $102). Wine pairings are another $10 per course (or, like anywhere, you can just order from the wine list). You can select which courses you want — listed in broad categories like “raw,” “vegetarian,” “shellfish,” “fish,” “poultry,” and “meat,” with about three or four options per category. Or, you can put yourself in the chef’s hands.

We selected the four-course menu with wine pairings and allowed the chef to choose for us. Each of us got different items, and we swapped plates about halfway through each course. This, indeed, is encouraged at March. Another of the menu options is called the Five Course Dual Tasting Menu ($270 for two, including wines), with which it’s assumed that a couple will share plates.

Now to the food … and here I’m afraid I’ve failed as a food writer. I can’t remember exactly what we had. The first plate for each of us was a cold item, then a fish course, then a meat course, then dessert. What were they? I don’t recall, except that they were all very good without being transcendent. At these prices, I wanted at least some of the courses to reach culinary orgasm, and none did.

March is located in a gorgeous East Side townhouse. The tables are on three levels, with ample space between them. It is a lovely and romantic setting that makes you feel like you’re in another world. The food failed to transport me, it is true, but I would still try March again on the right occasion.

March (405 East 58th Street, just east of First Avenue, Sutton Place)

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

Swish: Shabu Shabu in the Village

There are plenty of Japanese restaurants in New York, but not many that specialize in shabu shabu. Swish takes its name from this less familiar branch of Japanese cuisine. As the restaurant’s website puts it:

Shabu shabu is the Japanese phrase for swish swish. This form of cooking received its name from the sound of food being skimmed through boiling broth. It is an Asian tradition of food preparation that has been around for thousands of years. Typical of long-established Asian dishes, shabu shabu is simple, healthy, low in carbs, and incredibly delicious.

The process is simply to place your food into the boiling broth, allowing different foods to cook for different lengths of time. You control the amount of cooking time. If you prefer crisper spinach, a brief swish will do it. If you like your mushrooms to melt in your mouth, allow them to swim in the broth for a few minutes.

Once you remove your food from the broth, it has a delicate flavor from the absorbed broth, and can be eaten as such to enjoy the food’s full flavors. It is also traditional to use special dipping sauces. Swish offers a variety of sauces to excite your taste buds.

Swish is in the middle of NYU territory, and its menu is priced attractively for students. You can order a personal size shabu shabu priced from $12.95-$16.95. If you’re more adventurous, you can choose your own broth (five offered, $3) and select the ingredients à la carte — anything from vegetables ($2 apiece) to Prime Rib eye ($8). There are seven available dipping sauces ($0.50 each). It’s like Craft on a budget.

There are also composed shabu shabu platters for two, and last night my friend and I ordered from the top of the menu: the Swish Special Combo (beef, seafood and vegetables) for $38, which came with the house broth and all seven sauces. Shabu shabu is a do-it-yourself eating experience, a Japanese fondue. The restaurant kindly provides a laminated card instructing you how long each item should be cooked. It can be anywhere from 10 minutes (potatoes) to 30 seconds (beef, which comes sliced paper-thin).

The broth comes in a crock pot and is placed on a burner with a blue flame. It soon comes to a near-boil. As it evaporates, your server will come around and add more. Some items just go into the pot, and you retrieve them later. Others you hold in place with a fish-net ladle. For the items that cook quickly, especially the beef, you can just swish them around while holding them with your chopsticks. Over time, the broth takes on the flavors of everything you’ve cooked. You spoon it into the bowls provided, and it becomes the soup course that ends your meal. The restaurant touts its cuisine as low-carb, but offsetting that is a high salt content. Drink plenty of liquids.

I’ve been to some shabu shabu places where the broth bowl is suspended below the table surface. Swish is able to do that for the personal-size servings, but when the order is for two, they serve it on a burner that sits on the table itself. This is a bit less convenient, as you have to reach up to cook the food.

Eating Swish’s special combo is like a decathalon of chopstick skills. Some items are easy, such as the beef, shrimp, mushrooms and scallops. But others are cumbersome for the chopstick-challenged, either because they’re unwieldy (cabbage, noodles), or because they tend to fall apart after cooking (crabmeat, whitefish, tofu). However, it all tastes delicious, and besides that it’s just plain fun.

Shabu shabu strikes me as a perfect adventure for groups — Swish’s tables seat up to four. With all of that self-help cooking going on, there’s plenty to talk and laugh about. The boiling broth creates plenty of steam, which will be especially welcome on cold winter nights. The restaurant’s literature also touts it as a good first-date place, but I would not recommend that. There’s too much opportunity for accidental slapstick humor as you fumble around with your chopsticks.

I don’t know why you’d go if you’re not interested in shabu shabu, but Swish does have other things to offer. There’s a small selection of curries and rice dishes. There are lunch specials as low as $6.95. We began our meal with an order of vegetable dumplings. These were wonderful, and I had to pinch myself to believe that we paid just $3.95 for six of them. The drinks menu offers a variety of teas and smoothies ($2.50 or $3.00 each). For sake, the only options were “hot” or “cold,” but $4.50 for a small bottle was a very fair price.

Swish gave me my first chance to try table1.com, the newest of the online reservation services. Every table1 reservation comes with a discount, but you pay $1.50 per person. For a smaller restaurant, table1 is clearly a good deal, because they don’t have to install proprietary software or hardware, as opentable requires. Anyhow, I paid $3 to reserve on table1, and got a $10.42 discount off of our $52.10 bill.

Swish’s spare décor of blond wood and bamboo mats is just about perfect, creating a sense of escape and discovery. We wished the background music were more suited to this serene environment. It was not at all loud, but it was a generic jazz/new age soundtrack that one could have heard anywhere. Our server was friendly, helpful, and extremely attentive, but dressed as if she were on her way to the gym.

Swish is owned by a couple of young NYU grads. It has been open just three months. With just nine tables, I suspect it will get busy once the students return to town and discover this little gem.

Swish (88 W. 3rd St, between Thompson & Sullivan Streets, Greenwich Village)

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

Maurizio Trattoria

Note: Maurizio Trattoria closed. The space re-opened in February 2009 as another Italian restaurant, Da Andrea, which relocated from Hudson Street.

*

Maurizio is an unexpectedly good neighborhood trattoria at the north end of the Village. The eponymous Maurizio delivers a hearty greeting. No doubt he is delighted to have the foot traffic, as heavy construction on that block of 13th Street must be a serious damper on business.

On a Sunday night, the waitress emphatically recommended the veal chop, which happened to be the menu’s most expensive entrée that day, at $24. I took her advice and was glad I did. This was one of the thickest, juiciest veal chops I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Just recalling it makes my mouth water all over again.

Nothing particularly imaginative was done with the chop. It was just grilled and lightly seasoned. However, my eyes lingered enviously at several other creations that drifted out of Maurizio’s kitchen. There is a standing menu, as well as a printed list of daily specials.

Maurizio’s impresses quietly. I’d certainly be pleased to return. If you happen to be in that area of the Village, take a look.

Maurizio Trattoria (35 W. 13th Street between Fifth & Sixth Avenues, Greenwich Village)

Barbuto

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

Last Friday night, a friend and I paid a happy visit to Barbuto. The neighborhood is technically the West Village, but the phalanx of black cars and beautiful people tells you you’re “Meatpacking-adjacent.”

Like many of the clubs and restaurants in this neighborhood, the building has been repurposed from less glamorous origins. This place seems to have been a garage. On a beautiful summer evening, Barbuto slides open the doors, and it’s wide open to the nearby river breeze on two sides.

The décor is spare, with exposed brick, industrial ceilings, and an open kitchen at the back. Chairs are painted brightly, tables are polished wood, napkins are gingham plaid.

They print a new menu every day. A link on their website to “today’s menu” is, in fact, that of July 22nd, which is similar to the one we saw. We both chose the appetizer of zucchini leaves with goat cheese, a dish in which I thought the cheese lacked a suitable accompaniment.

For the entrées, my friend chose the sea bass, while I chose the grilled skirt steak with chilli sauce. I had a taste of the bass, which was moist and succulent. The steak was an ample portion, hot and spicy. The chilli sauce brought just the right level of heat to the dish, overcoming a steak that was neither tender nor thick enough to be satisfactory on its own. Both entrés were $19, which for food of this quality is a great deal in NYC.

Barbuto takes its spare surroundings a bit too seriously. Who ever heard of an Italian restaurant that doesn’t offer bread with the meal? Instead, we were given just a small plate with a few nuts and olives. We made fast work of these, and had little to occupy us while we waited for dinner to arrive — which took a bit longer than it should. On the other hand, this gave us ample time to enjoy the lovely summer evening.

Barbuto (775 Washington Street at West 12th Street, Meatpacking District)

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

Sushi Lunch at Nobu

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

A vendor took me to lunch at Nobu yesterday. Just like the last time, we appeared promptly at the opening time 11:45am and were seated immediately, promising to vacate our table before 1:30pm.

Nobu offers several sushi and sashimi assortments for lunch, priced between $22.50 and $26.00. Any one of them is a steal, in my opinion. I ordered the “Special Sushi” at $26.00, which came with somewhere between 12-15 pieces, plus Miso Soup. The ingredients were first-class, as one would expect at this temple of Japanese cuisine. This must be one of the best upscale sushi bargains in town.

One of my dining companions offered me a piece of his softshell crab sushi, an astonishing composition. Another of the composed lunch plates offers Sashimi with Soft Shell Crab Roll at $23.50. I shall have to try that next time.

Nobu (105 Hudson Street at Franklin Street, TriBeCa)

Restaurants fresh. and shore.

Note: Shore and Fresh both closed.

*

Part of the affectation at fresh. (105 Reade St) and shore. (41 Murray St) is that a period always follows the restaurant name, even in the middle of a sentence. Hence, you do not order the Fresh Salad, but the “fresh. Salad.” Neither the Shore Chicken, but the “shore. Chicken.” A sibling called “coast.” is to open around Labor Day on Liberty Street downtown.

They’re run by the same outfit that supplies seafood to the likes of Alain Ducasse, Le Bernardin, and Bouley. Fresh and Shore (forgive me for eschewing the periods) share a common chef, Daniel Angerer. Fresh is the upscale version (two NYT stars), while Shore got a favorable “$25-and-under” review from Eric Asimov earlier this year.

Coincidentally, I tried both within a couple of days of each other. (I didn’t know that a business associate was planning dinner at Fresh on Monday night, when I chose Shore on Saturday night.)

At 41 Murray Street, Shore is just barely in TriBeCa. Actually, it is technically not in TriBeCa, although some real estate folk now use “TriBeCa South” to refer to the thin wafer of streets bounded by Chambers, Vesey, Broadway, and the West Side Highway. It’s a bit like the rebranding of Hell’s Kitchen.

But I see no evidence that Shore is trying to capitalize on its TriBeCa proximity. Indeed, the exterior seems positively designed to discourage walk-ins. It looks like just another one of the dive bars that permeate the area. The restaurant’s name is on a fading tie-on banner, lending the place a makeshift appearance that makes you wonder if they’re still deciding whether to stay.

With such a seedy exterior, you have no idea that the inside will look so warm and inviting. It’s an airy sea-shore esthetic, with ample space between the tables, a raw bar, space for live musicians, and service that’s both friendly and efficient. Shore wasn’t full the night I visited — far from it. An exterior facelift would certainly help.

Shore has a specials menu that changes daily. Thankfully, they print it and attach it to the menu, instead of forcing us to memorize a list recited by the server. Their main menu changes seasonally. I placed a hopelessly contrarian order: Smothered Barbequed Baby-Back ribs. Well, forgive me, but I was just in a mood for ribs, and it turns out Shore does a damned good job of them. My friend ordered the Boston Batter-Fried Combo Plate, which comes in a paper basket as if you’d ordered it at the shore. It includes shrimp, scallops, lemon sole, clams, and fries. I tasted a good deal of her plate, and it was delightful.

Overall, Shore is a great escape — like going to the shore without leaving Manhattan. Appetizers are anywhere from $4 for a cup of soup, to $16 for a pail of steamers. Mains are anywhere from $8 (fried lemon sole sandwich) to $22 (baked stuffed shrimp).

At Fresh, which I tried two evenings later, the menu changes daily. The décor is bright and airy. You’ll either welcome it like a fresh breeze, or you’ll find the sea-blue murals decidedly kitschy. Take your pick, but I liked it. Service was superb, although we had an early reservation, so there was plenty of staff available to attend us.

There’s a six-course $65 tasting menu, with two choices per course, which is what my associate and I ordered. I’m afraid I can’t remember most of the courses, aside from the foie gras, which was out-of-this-world. A tomato soup came highly recommended by our server, but I was underwhelmed. The main fish course was a hit. Overall, I have had more awesome tasting menus, but at $65 this one is a comparative bargain.

Artisanal Revisited

Note: This is a visit to Artisanal under executive chef Terrance Brennan, who is no longer affiliated with the restaurant.

*

I paid my second visit to Artisanal the other night (earlier visit here). My friend and I had a 7:00pm reservation. Most tables were still empty at this time (this being an early reservation), but they were certainly full by the time we left.

We had the fondue. The menu lists five fondues, but they also had two specials. We chose the “100 cheese” fondue, which was excellent. Artisanal’s fondues come with a bowl of bread squares for dipping, but you can also order side dishes (“Les Baigneuses”), at $6.50 apiece. We chose the beef tips and the air-dried beef. The latter item deserves a more enticing description. It was thinly-sliced dried beef, something like cured ham, and extremely tasty. The beef tips were lightly cooked, very rare, juicy sirloin.

We also asked for a side order of the Gougeres, which are available in small or large portions ($7.50 or $10.50). These are hopelessly addictive, so I recommend ordering the small size unless you want to ruin your dinner.

The fondue comes in two sizes (petite and grande), serving 1-3 or 4-6 persons respectively. For two people, it’s quite filling enough to be a meal, so we just ordered a cheese plate for dessert. Artisanal offers numerous composed thematic cheese plates, but you can also choose your own. We chose four cheeses ($18), with the able assistance of the fromagier. For the record, they were:

• Robila Due Latte, Italy (“Yielding, Lactic, Subtle”)
• Manchego, Spain (“Briny, Nutty, Sturdy”)
• Ubriaco del Piave, Italy (“Crumbly, Hints of Pineapple & Wine”)
• Keen’s Cheddar, England (“Creamy, Earthy, Meaty Finish”)

These were wonderful choices. The Robila Due Latte and the Ubriaco del Piave were my favorites. The Manchego and the Keen’s Cheddar were wonderful, but not (for me) sufficiently differentiated from the others. But then, where a choice is offered, I usually ask for the most ridiculously exotic choices available. My friend was in a bit more conservative mood.

Many of the posts on the food boards have reported service issues at Artisanal. I didn’t have that reaction on my first visit, but this time was another story. It took two hours to get through all of the above, mainly because we were left waiting for such ridiculously long times. When I sat down, my server asked if I’d like a drink. I asked for tap water, while I perused the wine list. The tap water came instantly, but twenty minutes later the server hadn’t returned to take my drink order.

It seemed like 15 minutes after we were done with the fondue before our server came by to ask about dessert; another 15 minutes before the fromagier came over; another 15 minutes before the cheese actually arrived. I didn’t actually time these things, but two hours had gone by before we knew it.

On the other hand, once you did order something, it usually came quickly (other than the cheese). Dirty plates were cleared promptly, and they were attentive about refilling our water glasses. But if you needed your server, you were in for a very long wait. We were in no hurry, so it didn’t really bother us that much. I wouldn’t recommend Artisanal for a pre-theater dinner!

Another friend recently visited Artisanal and had a similar experience with poor service. She, too, was sufficiently wowed by the food, and says she will quite happily return, as will I. Just don’t go there when you’re in a hurry.

Artisanal (2 Park Avenue at 32nd Street, Murray Hill)

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

71 Clinton Fresh Food

I feel compelled to note for the record that I tried 71 Clinton Fresh Food a couple of weeks ago. It’s part of the gaggle of high-end Lower East Side eateries that have opened in recent years. Star chef Wylie Dufresne made his name here, but Dufresne hopped across the street to the award-winning WD-50.

71CFF is now under chef Jason Neroni. I never visited the restaurant during Dufresne’s tenure, so I can’t make comparisons. However, I was underwhelmed. I have already forgotten the appetizer, and a duck entree seemed unimaginative.

Mind you, I didn’t consider myself ill-served at 71CFF. But with appetizers in the $11-19 range, and main courses $19-27, it’s not a cheap evening out. The city, and indeed the neighborhood, has better to offer at that price.

Postscript: Not long after our visit, Frank Bruni reviewed 71 Clinton Fresh Food in The New York Times, re-affirming its two-star rating. The restaurant closed in March 2006, after the chef, Jason Neroni, left to cook for “some kind of billionaire.” The billionaire must not have been smitten, because by November Neroni was back in New York, helming the stoves at an “unpretentious Italian bistro,” Porchetta. That’s now closed, too.

71 Clinton Fresh Food (71 Clinton Street between Rivington & Stanton Streets, Lower East Side)

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

Thalia

Some restaurants have the buzz, and some don’t. Thalia is one of those restaurants that’s never mentioned on the food boards, but it carries a two-star NYT rating from 2000, and based on my visit there the other night, it deserves a lot more attention.

I started with the Seared Herb Crusted Tuna Sashimi, which comes with pickled vegetables, sweet soy, chive oil & hot mustard. (I am copying from their website, else my identification of the ingredients wouldn’t be so precise.) The tuna was wonderfully fresh, and the soy sauce, which artfully decorated the plate, added a tangy finish to the taste.

For the main course, I had the Jerked Florida Grouper, which is served with lump crabmeat pico de gallo, sweet plantains & chipotle pepper sauce. This too was a wonderfully inventive combination, giving life to a fish that I usually find dull.

I have to report that my friend was a bit less enthusiastic. She had the crab cakes appetizer and the rack of lamb entrée. No particular complaint, but she wasn’t as wowed by her choices as I was.

To conclude, we shared a Trio of Creme Brulee, which comes with three small servings of raspberry, lavender, and chocolate Pot de Creme. No complaint here, and at $10 a bargain.

Appetizers are $7-18 (the latter for a lobster salad; all others are $14 or less), entrées $13-27, and desserts $7-10 ($14 for the cheese tasting). There is also a raw bar, which we did not sample.

Service was prompt — perhaps to a fault. Our appetizers arrived seemingly within minutes, which was so quick that our server hadn’t yet arrived with the wine. The wine list seemed to us expensive in relation to the menu. We settled on a $38 red that was acceptable without being special. The next level up would have required us to spend quite a bit more, which we weren’t of a mind to do.

The noise level at Thalia was mercifully lower than at many restaurants I’ve tried lately, although there is still an audible buzz around the place. We enjoyed a leisurely meal and were able to hear ourselves talk, which is never a given in New York restaurants.

Thalia (828 Eighth Avenue at 50th Street, West Midtown)

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