Industria Argentina

Note: Industria Argentina has closed, as of February 2012. The space is now Telepan Local.

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I remembered Industria Argentina as a pretty good Tribeca standby. I gave it two stars in 2006 (I was grading easier then), and bumped it down to 1½ stars in 2007.

The restaurant has continued to decline, or maybe I just got lucky with my previous entrées here—osso buco and suckling pig—neither of which is still on the menu. Bread service (below), warm on my last visit, was room temperature this time, though the house-made butter is still good.

To start, we chose a pair of sausages (above), among five offered, the hot & spicy and the lamb sausage. There was nothing wrong with them, but does that look like $19 worth of sausage to you? It doesn’t to me.

Ribeye steak ($28; above left) was tough and stringy, though the fries were good. You don’t expect aged prime at this price, but there is no point in serving sub-standard product. I take the server’s word for it that our other entrée was indeed the 14-day dry-aged short ribs ($25; above right), but they neither looked nor tasted like short ribs, and they didn’t taste dry-aged either. A skirt steak you’d get in a diner is more like it.

Industria Argentina still looks good, but it didn’t have much patronage on a Friday evening. In a neighborhood with plenty of dining options, it hasn’t attracted much of a following. I can see why. At $115 before tax and tip (including a $43 bottle of wine), it’s no bargain.

Industria Argentina (329 Greenwich Street between Duane & Jay Streets, Tribeca)

Food: Fair
Service: Fine
Ambiance: Good
Overall: Fair

Industria Argentina

Note: Click here for a more recent (and less positive) review of Industria Argentina.

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I paid my first visit to Industria Argentina in the winter of 2006, a couple of weeks after it opened. I imagined I’d be back sooner, but only last night did I finally get around to it. Most of what I said in the previous review still stands, so I’ll keep this recap brief.

Unlike last time, there was no amuse bouche, but there was a terrific bread service, with warm sourdough bread and soft butter mixed with spices that carried just a bit of extra heat.

I had the suckling pig entrée ($27; served only Wednesdays and Thursdays). The menu states that the pig is only 21 days old, which the squeamish might find a turn-off. The portion was ample, and the kitchen did a fine job with it. It was served with bones and tasted more like chicken than suckling pig usually does, although I particularly enjoyed the skin. The accompanying sweet potato purée and broccoli rabe were up to snuff, and the whole stack was topped with two crisp oven-roasted potato skins.

The restaurant wasn’t crowded, which goes to show that a storefront on the gold coast of TriBeCa is no assurance of success. Industria Argentina is a bit more expensive than Gaucho Steak Co., the Argentinean steakhouse we tried last weekend, though it is still quite reasonable, with most entrées priced in the $20s. The food here is prepared with more care, and the space is considerably more inviting. For a casual night out, Industria Argenina deserves more attention than it seems to be getting.

Industria Argentina (329 Greenwich St., between Reade and Jay Sts., TriBeCa)

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

Gaucho Steak Co.

Alex Garcia sure has been busy. This month, he’s opened two restaurants: Carniceria in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (replacing the failed Porchetta); and Gaucho Steak Co. in Hell’s Kitchen. The Food Network chef’s growing empire also includes Calle Ocho on the Upper West Side, Novo in SoHo, and another Gaucho Steak in New Jersey.

Gaucho Steak Co. has opened in a neighborhood that was once considered rough, but nowadays Tenth Avenue buzzes with bars, restaurants, and new condos. It’s a bit of a hike to the subway, but we took a walk south after dinner and found plenty of nightlife in this formerly desolate area. Things get pretty bleak once you get to 42nd Street, but you can see the potential if the #7 train is extended west, and Mayor Bloomberg’s West Side Yards project takes off.

The focus here is Argentinean beef, though Garcia’s menu includes a number of generic nueva latina specialities that I suspect would be at home in any south-of-the-border country. Garcia must have gotten a sweet deal on rent, as nothing is above $20, which is remarkable for a steakhouse. Portion sizes are all generous. The restaurant had been open only three days when we visited. Both the service and the cooking suffered from some glitches that we presume will be rectified.

As yet, there are no wines by the bottle, though we were assured there eventually will be. In any case, we probably would have ordered the excellent sangria. A large pitcher ($24) yielded eight tall glasses.

We suspected that one appetizer to share would be ample, which indeed it was. The Ceviche ($9) came in a tall soda glass, studded with shrimp, lemon oil, jalapeno and fresh lime. We thought it was a perfect summer dish, but expected it to be a bit more spicy.

Steaks are $14–20, depending on the cut of meat, but we both chose the Combination ($18), which comes with grilled sausage, skirt steak, short ribs, grilled onions, and a choice of side dish. The sausage, with a bold, spicy taste, was the best of the three meats. The kitchen did fine by the skirt steak, but it was undistinguished. The short ribs, served on the bone, were a bit over-cooked.

Neither of our side dishes ($4 apiece if ordered separately) quite measured up. Mushroom Rice wasn’t warm enough, while Gaucho Fries were a bit too greasy.

There were assorted problems with the service, none of which seriously inconvenienced us, especially for such a low-priced restaurant. For instance, none of the servers offered us water, and the credit card machine broke down just before we left, forcing us to pay cash. Then, the new cooking equipment blew a fuse, and the power went out for about 15 minutes. However, the management gave us a free pitcher of the sangria while we waited, so I am not complaining.

The décor vaguely suggests an Argentinean Wild West (if there is such a thing). There are only about 30 seats, and the restaurant doesn’t take reservations. When the word gets out, I suspect there will be long waits.

Gaucho Steak Co. (752 Tenth Avenue between 51st & 52nd Streets, Hell’s Kitchen)

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

Industria Argentina

Note: Click here for a more recent (and less positive) review of Industria Argentina.

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Industria Argentina has been open about two weeks, in a space that used to be a Chinese restaurant. It has been totally remodeled. According to Daily Candy, “everything in the place—floors, tables, chairs, fabrics, bar—comes from Argentina.” (Photo here.)

When I visited last night, a small corn tortilla was served as an amuse bouche — a soft, warm, tasty miniature pillow of dough that was a perfect prelude to the meal. Crisp Pan Seared Sweetbreads ($12), or mollejahs, were served over a salad of warm potato, scallions and bacon bites. This was an ample portion, to which I would award the ultimate compliment: I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Several entrées are in a category labeled “From the Brick Oven.” I tried the 24-hour Braised Ossobuco ($25), which is served over roasted vegetables with pine nuts pesto, in its own juices. My knife was entirely superfluous—the delicate flesh readily collapsed at the touch of a fork.

There menu also offers a variety of steaks from the grill (filet, ribeye, skirt steak, short ribs), and other dishes like pork milanese, pan seared chilean sea bass, pumpkin risotto, and so forth. It looks like there will be plenty to explore on future visits. For the adventurous, the available side dishes include a grilled blood sausage. You can look at the menu on menupages (to which my description of the food is partly indebted).

I concluded with Spiced Bread Pudding ($7), which is served with vanilla ice cream and caramelized rum-infused raisins. Again, a wonderful dish. Everything I tasted was conscientiously prepared and most attractively plated. The final bill before the tip, including two gin & tonics, was $65.

It’s early days yet, but the restaurant hasn’t caught on. According to Eater, even people who live on the block had no idea what was coming till the place opened. Evidently, this is the softest of “soft openings.” I was truly worried when I walked in at 6pm and was literally the only patron for about the first 20 minutes of my visit. But by the time I left, around 7:20pm on a Friday night, about half the tables were occupied.

Service was friendly and usually efficient, but there are a few glitches. No one offered to take my coat (I hung it myself). There were no other customers were when I arrived, so the staff couldn’t have been too busy. Warm bread rolls came with a wonderful lamb pâté, but no knife to spread it with. I asked for a cocktail menu,, and was advised, “Our menu is to invent your own.” Another patron asked for single-malt scotches, and was offered Johnnie Walker or Dewar’s. He then got up to look at the bar himself, and advised that there were indeed a few true single-malts on offer.

Still, with the restaurant barely a couple of weeks old, a fault or two is to be expected. The owner said hello to me warmly as I was leaving. According to Daily Candy, he also owns Novocento in SoHo and Azul Bistro on the Lower East Side. I wish him the best in this new venture. Industria Argentina is a fun place to eat.

Industria Argentina (329 Greenwich St., between Reade and Jay Sts., TriBeCa)

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