davidburke & donatella

Note: Click here for a more recent review of this restaurant, which has been renamed David Burke Townhouse.

The restaurant davidburke & donatella is the creation of chef David Burke and colleague Donatella Arpaia, who minds the front-of-house. Burke made his name cooking in other people’s restaurants (Park Avenue Cafe) before opening this restaurant with his friend Donatella late last year. A friend and I visited on Saturday night. It is the best two-star restaurant I’ve been to, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it gunning for three if a re-review comes along.

It’s a beautiful space, decorated with the kind of wit that you find in Burke’s inventive menu. There are two dining rooms, and we were seated in the larger of the two. It seems the owners were determined to use every inch of available space, as there was barely room to navigate between the closely-spaced tables. It was hard to hear over the din.

When we sat down, a folded paper menu was on our plates. This was the day’s tasting menu — five courses, $75. It was a typeset menu, on top of which Burke had scribbled additional daily specials and witty artwork. I was tempted, but my friend was not, so we moved onto the main menu, which our server came by and handed out.

Bread arrives — cooked in its own copper casserole, and steaming hot. The butter comes as a modern art sculpture that you almost regret cutting into. There wasn’t quite enough time to appreciate this before the amuse-bouche, a small confection of salmon ribbons.

To start, I ordered the foie gras and lobster appetizer. It came in two hollowed-out egg shells, each with its own tiny little spoon. My friend had the gazpacho, which came with a shrimp profiterole and a mound of guacamole.

I had read about the origins of Burke’s “Bronx” veal chop on eGullet (it’s a cut Burke invented), and I had to give that a try. The difficulty with this dish is that the chop itself is an awkward shape, and it’s a struggle to find an anchor point for your fork. It was a tasty piece of veal, but I don’t like to fight fight for my food. My friend had the pork chop, which I tasted. It had a wonderful char and was perfectly tender.

The wine list is a confusing jumble. Within the standard categories (red/white), the wines are grouped by degrees — that is, each of the main headings is a number with the little “degree” symbol. Was this the degrees latitude where the grape was grown? The temperature at which the wine is stored? We could not tell. It is also a pricey list, and we struggled to find a good choice in our range. Finally we asked the sommelier for a suitable choice under $60 a bottle, and he produced an off-the-menu shiraz at $55 that we were pleased with.

db&d is known for its desserts. The table next to us were friends of pastry chef James Distefano, and they got a free sample of everything on the menu. You would have to carry me home if I ate that much dessert, but it certainly gave us an idea of the range of creativity on offer here. I had the Coconut Layer Cake, my friend the Dark Chocolate & Praline Torte, which were both winners.

David Burke himself seemed to have a few friends in the house last night, as he came out of the kitchen several times to greet diners. I expected a light turnout, given that it is a holiday weekend, but the restaurant was packed. However, we got an 8:00pm reservation that I called for only on Wednesday, which perhaps wouldn’t be available on an ordinary weekend.

There is much to appreciate at db&d, and on one visit I thought we had barely scratched the surface. I will have to return.

davidburke & donatella (133 E. 61st Street between Park & Lexington Avenues, Upper East Side)

Fiddler on the Roof

Last night, a friend and I looked in on the revival of Fiddler on the Roof at the Minskoff Theatre. In my view, Fiddler is one of the great Broadway masterpieces of the twentieth century. It has seldom been equaled, and it has never been surpassed. The current production is in many ways problematic, but the material is indestructible, and despite whatever quibbles I may have, it still moves an audience as few shows can.

Like all great art, Fiddler succeeds on many levels. It is, of course, a compelling story, full of vivid characters and emotional situations that strike us as intimately personal and genuine. But it is also about the end of a civilization. Within a generation, Russian Jewish villages like Anatevka were obliterated. Fiddler ends with its characters’ hopes of making it to America, but we know that not all of them did. Those not fortunate enough to make it out of Europe most likely fell victim to Stalin’s pogroms or Hitler’s gas chambers. Fiddler’s characters don’t know what the future holds for them, but we do, and it is not a pretty thought.

Fiddler is also about the conflict between tradition and modernity. At the center of it is Tevye, as orthodox a Jew as any, but also curiously open-minded. Fiddler opens with a solo violin:

It’s no accident that this is the daughters’ theme from “Tradition” (“And who does mamma teach…”). It’s their rebellion against tradition that animates the story. The theme is repeated, with the pappas’ theme against it in counterpoint:

How many people have listened to this opening without realizing that it’s a musical evocation of the conflict between daughters and fathers?

Fiddler ends quietly, with a repeat of the daughters’ theme, but the meaning is ambiguous. Are we meant to feel optimism for the future, or to be in tears for what has been lost? Perhaps it’s a bit of both. In the current production, the fiddler hands his violin to a small boy, who bows and leaves Anatevka, while the fiddler stays put. The message, at the very least, is that the tradition is now in the hands of a new generation. But the audience knows of the coming cataclysm that the little boy does not. He seems to leave the stage happy, or at least hopeful. Can we share his dreams? I am unable to.

Alfred Molina got mixed reviews for his Tevye, but he’s had four months to grow into the role. As now presented, it is a warm, sensitive, naturalistic portrayal — unlike Zero Mostel, whom I never saw, but whom I’m told was a larger-than-life storybook character. I thought Molina was a bit too ingratiating in “Tradition.” There was a “please love us” attitude that, had it persisted, would quickly have become cloying. But after that number, Molina settled in for a more nuanced performance that quickly won me over.

Most of the men get high marks, although John Cariani’s stammering impersonation of the tailor Motel was a one-joke performance that outwore its welcome.

None of the women’s roles really worked. Tevye’s five daughters seemed interchangeable, and I had trouble telling them apart. Randy Graff’s Golde lacked warmth, and Nancy Opel’s Yente seemed more Shaker Heights than Shtetl.

The production credits David Leveaux as director, with choreography still credited to the original director, Jerome Robbins. Exactly how much Robbins is left I can’t say. The big production numbers (“To Life,” “Sabbath Prayer,” Tevye’s Dream, “Sunrise, Sunset,” the bottle dance) all worked well. “Far From the Home I Love” had a simplicity that made a direct emotional connection, but elsewhere the production had a clinical chill that failed to find the soul of the story. Three of Tevye’s daughters fall in love, and not one of their relationships was believable. The problem was at its most obvious during “Do You Love Me?” Tevye and Golde stood fifteen feet apart for the entire number, never making physical contact — or indeed, even eye contact. When the answer to the question posed by the song is “Yes,” it would seem obvious that this staging was monumentally misguided.

These misgivings aside, Fiddler is still a can’t-miss proposition. I had my doubts about this revival, given all I had read, but I was glad I saw it, especially for Alfred Molina’s Tevye, which is worth the price of admission.

The Tunnel to Nowhere

Of all the rebuilding projects proposed for Lower Manhattan, perhaps none has generated so little enthusiasm as the West Street tunnel. The New York State Department of Transportation — backed by Governor Pataki, but hardly anyone else — proposes to build a four-lane tunnel along West Street, between Vesey and Albany Streets, leaving four lanes at ground level.

The origins of the project can be found in the early design concepts for the World Trade Center site, dating from the summer of 2002. Although widely derided as uninspired, one idea from these first designs caught the public’s imagination: turning West Street into a tree-lined promenade resembling Paris’s Champs-Elysée. For that to be possible, much of the traffic along the highway would need to be routed underground.

As first conceived, the promenade would have run from Chambers Street all the way down to the Battery. But as the staggering costs of such a long tunnel became apparent, it was shortened into what is now the present proposal: a tunnel that runs for just a bit more than the length of the World Trade Center site. The purported aim is to reduce the amount of at-grade traffic adjacent to the memorial, but there would still be four lanes at ground level to allow access to local streets. The project would cost $860 million, and would tie up the West Side Highway for years, blocking both pedestrian and vehicular access to Battery Park City.

A group called Taxpayers for Common Sense has cited the West Street tunnel as one of the 27 most wasteful highway projects in America. That’s because the alternative — widening West Street to eight lanes at-grade — could be done for just $175 million. The savings of almost $700 million could be appropriated for the downtown JFK rail link, a far worthier project that is as yet unfunded, and has considerably more community support.

Neither of the tunnel’s alleged benefits makes much sense. The first is to provide an “appropriate and respectful” setting for the memorial, but as there would still be four lanes at ground level, I hardly see how this would be achieved. The other is to provide better pedestrian access to the memorial, but this could be done with bridges passing over the roadway, as was the case before 9/11. In addition, a pedestrian tunnel below West Street is already part of the WTC site plan. All in all, pedestrians will have plenty of safe routes to cross West Street without the need for any tunnel.

The tunnel has plenty of commuity opposition. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Sen. Charles Schumer, New York City Council Member Alan J. Gerson, New York State Assemblymembers Sheldon Silver and Deborah Glick, New York State Senator Martin Connor, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Community Board #1, the American Automobile Association of New York, the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown, the Regional Plan Association, the Coalition to Save West Street, NYPIRG-Straphangers, and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC), are among those opposing or seriously questioning it.

According to the TSTC, at a recent public hearing there were 31 speakers, and all but one opposed the project. (The speaker in favor represented a coalition of construction workers.)

Our elected officials have generally made good decisions about the rebuilding process, but this project is a turkey.

Number One in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has two Michelin star restaurants: Number One and Martin Wishart. I tried the tasting menu at Wishart’s a couple of months ago, and last week I decided to see what Number One could do. While both restaurants have their strengths, I would have to give the slight edge to Number One.

Located in the basement of the Edinburgh’s marquis hotel, the Balmoral, Number One exudes a sense of luxury. There is an ample and comfortably appointed lounge area to enjoy a drink before sitting down for your meal. The walls have a dark, highly polished sheen. They’re covered with small modern artworks that don’t distract you, but in fact are witty and eclectic if you take the time to study them. The tables and banquettes are plush and generously spaced.

The service at Number One is impeccable. As I watched them operate over two and a half hours, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the teamwork and precision. A team of five servers covered the whole restaurant (it is not that large, and not all the tables were taken), and while they had their individual duties, they operated as a coordinated unit. Now the sommelier serves you a glass of wine, and the next moment he’s serving appetizers at the next table. Now the lovely French woman is serving your soufflé, and the next moment she’s refilling wine glasses at the opposite corner of the restaurant.

I ordered the chef’s tasting menu with paired wines, which clocks in at £85 before tip. There were five courses plus two amuses and six glasses of wine in this degustation. Although most of the portions were small, as you’d expect on a tasting menu, I walked out quite full, and in fact skipped breakfast the next morning. All of the dishes were plated beautifully, in designs clearly intended to delight the eye as well as the stomach.

I had never ordered a full wine pairing before. It adds a significant premium to the meal, but I have to say it’s worth it. You get a selection of diverse wines that is expertly chosen to suit the menu, quite a few of which you probably would never order on your own. They are smaller pours than wine ordered by the glass, but with six of them included it’s about as much as most people care to drink. I did have trouble pacing myself, though: you were never sure how much time you had before the next course was to arrive.

Your meal begins with freshly-cut bread. A server wheels over a cart, with six large breads baked that day. You choose one (mine was walnut grain), and he cuts off a slice. Soft butter is already there on your table. A few minutes later he’s back to offer more. The bacon bread tempted me, but I held off, knowing there was much to come.

The amuse-bouche was a tiny cup of tomato consommé, which I found a bit disappointing. The more successful amuses-bouches display some culinary wit, which this uninspired dish lacked. The champagne paired with it was similarly unexciting.

A wonderful foie gras came next, served with oatcakes and mushroom chutney. It was paired with an intense New Zealand fruit wine that complemented the liver taste perfectly. The fish course was a scallop in a light curry sauce, accompanied by braised oxtail. This was the hit of the evening, and unfortunately that lonely scallop was gone all too quickly. This is the drawback of a tasting menu.

The meat course was less successful. Six slender lamb medallions were sufficiently tender and tasty, but I’ve had far better lamb elsewhere. Sauces are Number One’s strength, but this lamb was served in its own juices. Nothing was done to raise it above the ordinary. The grilled sweetbreads that came on the plate were far more memorable. Some writers have suggested that meat courses are not as well suited to a tasting menu, because they require larger portions to make a culinary statement. I can certainly see the point, although I’ll have to try the format a few more times before deciding whether that’s true.

The cheese course was generous to a fault. The server wheeled over a cart with a wide range of selections. I told him I preferred the exotic and offbeat, and he cut six thick slices. It’s easy to order a $15 cheese course in New York and get three skimpy pieces, so this was refreshing indeed. He asked if I wanted any more, so there didn’t seem to be a hard limit. Anyhow, at six pieces this was a more substantial course than the entrées had been, so I thought it best to stop there (with dessert still to come). I can’t describe cheeses, but the six I sampled were wonderful. They were paired with a sweet port wine.

There was a small pre-dessert of apricots and cream, followed by the main dessert, a raspberry and white chocolate soufflé. This is a specialty dish at Number One, which I’ve had on previous visits. It came with a white dessert wine, which the sommelier described as a palate-cleanser. I’m still trying to guess what that means.

At US$200 (including tip), my splurge at Number One was well worth it. This could turn into an expensive hobby.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's '66'

Note: 66 closed in 2007. Matsugen, a Japanese soba restaurant, is its replacement.

A vendor took me out to dinner at 66 on Monday night. That meant I wasn’t paying. We had a fun night out, but I wouldn’t rush back to spend my own money there — not because there’s anything wrong with 66, but because there’s plenty of other fun places I haven’t tried yet. My feeling now about 66 is, “been there, done that.”

66 is Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s riff on Chinese cooking. Neither the menu nor the wine list is long, but this is not a complaint. Vongerichten has narrowed the stereotype Chinese menu down to the things his kitchen can execute well. Aside from a dessicated plate of overcooked spareribs, every dish was fresh, tasty, and inviting.

The menu is divided into appetizers, dim sum, rice/noodles, and entrees of vegetables, fish and meat. The apps top out at about $14, although most are under $10. The entrees top out around $26, although most are around $20-22. As at Spice Market, plates are brought out when ready. Our server assured us that all of the dishes are designed for sharing (which wasn’t always true), and encouraged us to do so—which we did.

There’s a tasting menu for $66 (get it?), which our server advised was “personally selected by Jean-Georges” (no surname required). Three of us were willing to go that route, but one of our party was skittish about trusting the famous chef’s judgment, so we created a more conservative tasting menu of our own. Our server advised ordering one app, one dim sum, and one entree/vegetable course per person, which turned out to be an ample amount of food, and indeed perhaps a tad too much.

I can’t find a menu for 66 online, and I can’t remember everything we ordered, but I’ll run through a few of the highlights. The two standout appetizers were cubes of pork belly and shrimp prepared two ways. We ordered four different kinds of dumplings, of which I remember three: foie gras, mushroom, and lobster. All were excellent, and you’re not going to find them on the typical Chinese menu.

We ordered a fish entree, which I believe was a grilled sole. It was an undivided fillet, and it quickly crumbled into bitty pieces when we tried to divide it among the four of us. It was a wonderful dish, but hard to split among a large group. The traditional duck with scallions and pancakes was more successful in this regard. Here, Vongerichten was just replicating a Chinese standard (albeit with happy results), without putting his own stamp on it. A plate of mixed vegetables (including the inescapable snow peas) and a sweet & sour chicken dish completed the main courses.

The cocktail menu included a concoction called Mother of Pearl, with rum and coconut milk, which was so wonderful I ordered a second. After dinner, I ordered a 14-year-old Oban (single malt scotch), which was very reasonably priced at around $15, and included about twice as much as you normally get in a restaurant portion. Our meal concluded with chocolate fortune cookies—once again, Jean-Georges is winking at us.

The Richard Meier décor has been much written about. It is spare, sleek, and doesn’t at all resemble your typical Chinese restaurant. The entrance on Church Street (between Leonard and Worth Streets) is so subtle you could easily miss it. My hosts had no trouble getting a 6:30 reservation, and when we left about two hours later 66 was not yet full.

66 (66 Church Street between Leonard & Worth Streets, TriBeCa)

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

Bloomie Froze NYCO out of Ground Zero

According to today’s Times, the Bloomberg Administration was pivotal in freezing the New York City Opera out of the cultural equation at Ground Zero.

Long unhappy with its current home at the New York State Theater, the NYCO had lobbied hard to be part of the site plan at Ground Zero. The Opera was thought to have the inside track, long before the LMDC issued an invitation to cultural institutions that eventually drew some 115 responses.

But if the NYCO moved out of Lincoln Center, the State Theater, which the city owns, would be without a tenant for the 22 weeks a year that the opera performs and rehearses there. That’s a budget hole that Bloomie would rather not have to fill.

To be sure, there were other objections to the Opera’s downtown plans, including the fact that most of the rebuilding officials simply aren’t opera fans, and therefore don’t see much merit in an opera house. But the Mayor’s influence seems to have been pivotal, especially as Governor Pataki didn’t seem to have strong feelings one way or the other.

The NYCO went so far as to hire noted architect Rafael Viñoly to design an Opera House that would fit the peculiar geometry that the Liebeskind site plan imposes. The main performance space would actually have been cantilevered over the sidewalk, with space in the building for a smaller stage, a restaurant, and even a movie theater. It was all for naught, and the NYCO now finds itself with nowhere to go. Staying where they are remains an option, but the Opera has been largely ignored in the Lincoln Center redevelopment plans, since everyone assumed they were moving.

The Times included a conceptual drawing of the Opera House we could have had. I’m sure the NYCO still hopes to erect it … somewhere.

NY Mag on Far West Side Redevelopment

The cover story in this week’s New York magazine is all about Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff’s expansive plans for the Far West Side of Manhattan, particularly a new stadium for the New York Jets.

Of course, to Doctoroff it isn’t a stadium, but a multi-purpose facility for conventions, concerts, restaurants, the Olympics … and, oh yes, the Jets would play there too. I’m still skeptical about the idea, but I must admit the article makes as as good a case for the project as can be made, while also pointing out the drawbacks. Most of the arguments have been pretty one-sided, so it’s refreshing to see a feature piece that’s balanced.

A 6,000-page environmental impact statement is expected in a few weeks’ time. I’m sure it’ll make light bedtime reading.

Wonderful Town

Wonderful Town is the kind of feel-good musical that I thought was gone forever — that is, until Thoroughly Modern Millie came along a couple of years ago. Both share a similar premise: midwestern yokels come to New York to find their fortunes. Town and Millie, written half-a-century apart, appeal to the post-9/11 Broadway audience that wants to be sent home smiling.

Enjoying its first revival, Wonderful Town is bouncing along nicely at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (the former Martin Beck, on W. 45th St, just west of 8th Avenue). Our matinee performance was full, but the weekly stats on playbill.com show that it’s grossing only about half of capacity, so the show might not make it past the summer. That would be too bad. Wonderful Town offers some of the best fun I’ve had on Broadway in a long time.

The slender plot concerns sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, who’ve come to New York from Ohio. Eileen wants to break in as an actress, Ruth as a writer. Eileen captivates every man she meets, while Ruth laments that there are “One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man.” They rent a studio apartment in Christopher Street, sharing the neighborhood with a motley crew of colorful supporting characters.

The songs are by Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. For a show with such distinguished pedigree, it’s surprising there’s no certifiable hit among the bunch, but they’re all a bucket-load of fun. Many of the shows of this era haven’t worn well, but Wonderful Town still seems fresh. Give it a try, while you still can.

Culture at the WTC

Daniel Liebeskind’s site plan for the World Trade Center includes placeholders for two cultural buildings. On Thursday, we finally found out what will go inside. The LMDC’s bake-off of 115 candidates concluded with four cultural institutions chosen:

• The Joyce International Center for Dance, which would build a 900-1000 seat theater for a rotating series of international dance companies. The Joyce has smaller spaces in SoHo and Chelsea, which it would keep.
• The Signature Theater, which would build three theaters of 99, 299, and 499 seats. Known for presenting seasons dedicated to a single playwright, the Signature would offer up to seven world premieres a year, and would also share the space with the TriBeCa Film Festival.
• The Drawing Center, which would offer exhibits of international artists and also provide community education programs. It would move from its current home in SoHo to the WTC site.
• The Freedom Center, the only one of the four that doesn’t currently exist anywhere, which would offer programs that “symbolize the indomitable spirit of the people of this land, the indomitable spirit of people from other lands, of the people of this city who may have been down but certainly not out.”

The New York City Opera, once considered the favorite to anchor the WTC’s cultural center, finds itself on the outside looking in. LMDC chairman John Whitehead had strongly pushed the opera, which he believed would be better able to attract the high-profile donations needed to fund the cultural buildings and the memorial. But the NYCO needed a 2,200-seat theater, and many doubted whether such a big space could be filled during the many months of the year when the opera isn’t in season. Rebuilding officials also questioned whether the opera was a logical fit for the kind of tourist traffic the site is likely to attract.

Although I’m an opera fan, I have to admit that the Joyce-Signature proposal is a more compelling use for the limited space. The four proposed theaters, ranging from 99 to 1000 seats, will create a new cultural center rivaling Lincoln Center, and I have to agree that it will be a lot easier to keep these theaters bustling all year round. The NYCO’s 2,200-seat opera house would have been dark more often than not.

I know little about the Drawing Center, but it sounds promising. The proposed Freedom Center makes me yawn. The last thing we need is pompous assurances of the value of freedom, particularly as the memorial planned for the site is likely to make much the same point. Perhaps the Center’s blue-ribbon sponsors can persuade me, but for now it sounds like an underwhelming concept.

The NYCO still wants to get out of Lincoln Center. Whitehead and City Councilmember Alan Gerson have pledged to find another home downtown, but I’m hard pressed to imagine where it could be. Lots that could accommodate a big-box opera house aren’t exactly plentiful, and the City Opera needs a magnate location — something that’s even more scarce.

In the meantime, the four selected cultural institutions have a tough road ahead. The two cultural buildings will cost hundreds of millions to construct, of which only a token sum will be available from the LMDC. None of the four has any track record of fundraising on this scale. Several prominent community business leaders have already turned down the job of fundraiser-in-chief. A six-month “feasibility study” is to be launched next month. Now it gets interesting!

Thalassa: Greek Seafood in TriBeCa

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

*

Thalassa is a Greek seafood restaurant. The Hellenic influence is on display everywhere, but with fish imported daily from all over the Mediterranean, you can think of Thalassa as simply a very fine seafood restaurant.

Thalassa means “the sea” in Greek. The letter theta is everywhere, from the china, to the banner outside, to even the doggie bags. The design radiates cool blues, making Thalassa a most soothing place. Billowing fabric covers the exposed brick walls. Perhaps it is meant to suggest sailing ships, but it also absorbs the sound, making Thalassa a place of calm, even when it is full.

Our party of 3 shared a starter of calamari. We’re all used to strings of calamari, breaded and immersed in the deep fryer. This dish was totally unexpected. The calamari was wrapped in the shape of a sausage around stuffing of feta cheese, parsley and pine nuts. We were simply amazed.

Thalassa’s menu offers a number of standard entrées, as well as a whole page of fish by the pound, which varies depending on what’s available. The restaurant recommends one pound of fish per person, but you have to order a whole fish, and not every selection is available at every weight. You’re dependent on your server to explain all this, and our server had a bit of trouble getting it across.

In the end, my friend and I settled for a two-pound sea bass, which we shared. A pound of fish sounds like a lot, but remember this is the uncooked weight. After the head is removed and the fish de-boned, this turns out to be just the right portion size. It was a nice flakey fish with a rich taste. The fish-by-the-pound selections don’t come with anything else, so we ordered a side of asparagus to go along with it.

My mother chose one of the standard entrées, Snapper Spetsiota, which is described as “oven-baked in a clay vessel with tomatoes, onions, fresh oregano and white wine.” This turned out to be a very large portion, which she enjoyed immensely, but she had half of it wrapped up to take home for tonight’s supper.

Thalassa boasts a long and varied wine list. We settled on a modestly-priced but obscure cabernet, which was such a hit that we asked the staff to give us the label, so that we can buy ourselves some more. (Yes, I know: red wine with fish … do forgive us!)

We passed on dessert, but at the end of the meal we were each presented with a silver box with the familiar letter theta printed on it. Inside was a sugary pastry puff to send us on our way. All evening long, service was superlative. It’s a big town, but at least from my own experience, Thalassa is the best restaurant in town that has never had a rated review from the New York Times. Two subsequent visits have confirmed my extremely favorable impression of this restaurant.

Appetizers at Thalassa are $8-18, mains are $24-36. The market fish selections available last night were at $26-45 per pound, with most in the $26-32 range.

Thalassa (179 Franklin Street between Greenwich & Hudson Streets, TriBeCa)

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