River Room

 
The River Room, practically deserted.

With its gorgeous unobstructed river views, Riverbank State Park would seem the ideal place for a romantic restaurant. That was the premise when Earl Monroe’s Restaurant, named for the former New York Knicks guard, opened a couple of years ago.

The park is located along the Hudson River. It’s built atop a waste treatment plant, though you wouldn’t be immediately aware of that. Designers did a terrific job turning an otherwise desolate stretch of waterfront into a gorgeous public space. Its location in West Harlem might at first seem inaccessible, but it’s only about a ten-minute walk from the 145th Street stop on the #1 train.

Earl Monroe’s drew a reasonably favorable Diner’s Journal piece from Frank Bruni in the Times. Later on, Earl Monroe severed his relationship with the owners, and they renamed the restaurant River Room. It’s on something like the third chef in two years, clearly not a sign of success.

The photo on the website (right) leads you to expect a bustling crowd. The reality (above) is quite a different thing. On a Friday night, the place was practically empty. It’s open only four nights a week. There is live jazz on Friday and Saturday nights (for which there is a $5 surcharge), but it’s not a draw.

The location isn’t the problem. A couple of weeks ago, we visited Hudson River Cafe, also located on the riverbank in Harlem, also offering have live music on Friday nights. It was packed. River Room is actually closer to the subway than Hudson River Cafe, but it’s a ghost town. The reason, I suspect, is that the food just isn’t that good. Frankly, the jazz was mediocre too.

The website describes the cuisine as as “a unique fusion of Southern, Caribbean, Latin and African influences.” It is rare that a chef trying to do so many things will produce a memorable result. Usually, it just seems like the chef can’t make up his mind.

 
Deep-fried oysters (left); Deep-fried calamari (right)

We hadn’t planned it, but both my girlfriend and I ordered deep-fried appetizers: calamari for her ($8), oysters for me ($9, as I recall). The kitchen is skilled with the deep fryer. Breading wasn’t overbearing, nor was either dish overly greasy. The oysters were great,  but the calamari came lukewarm.

Caribbean Crab Cakes (left); Mexican Spiced Duck (right)

My girlfriend’s Caribbean Crab Cakes ($21) seemed to have been deep-fried, and on their own would have been just about perfect. But they came swimming in a gloppy cole slaw that was drowned in mayonaise. Mexican Spiced Duck ($24) seemed neither Mexican nor spicy to me. It was over-cooked, though partly rehabilitated by a nice layer of crisp fat. It came on a bed of braised collard greens, which were almost inedible.

The restaurant has neither a wine list nor a beverage menu, a peculiar omission that almost certainly dampens alcohol sales. When we asked about wine, our server recited a list of two reds and five whites, and steered us to a very respectable Sauvignon Blanc at $34.

I’ve seen a lot of message board posts taking River Room to task for poor service, but we didn’t have that issue at all. Actually, we found our server quite helpful and professional. We felt rather sorry for the guy: with the place so empty, his tip income can’t be very good.

The space is attractive, and though not really apparent from the photos, the seating is quite comfortable. The view takes center stage, and while I know the old adage about restaurants with views, there’s no reason why the food couldn’t be better. With some more focus in the kitchen, this could be one of Manhattan’s truly romantic getaways. But until they bring in Chef #4, I won’t be going back.

River Room (145th Street west of Riverside Drive, at Riverbank State Park, West Harlem)

Food: Mediocre
Service: *
Ambiance: *½
Overall: Can’t Recommend

Public

I first visited Public about three years ago, when it was still relatively new. My impression then was that the food didn’t quite live up to the high-concept ambiance. Last night, I decided to give it another try. My verdict remains the same: Public is more about the “scene” than it is about the food.

To be sure, it’s no mean feat to remain relevant three years later. That’s more than enough time for fickle diners to find a new favorite. Just as it always did, Public still seems to fill up, at least on weekends. We had no trouble getting a 7:15 p.m. reservation on Saturday night, but the next available was past 10:00 p.m. By the time we left, it seemed every inch of space was occupied.

Typical of restaurants in its genre, Public would not seat me until my dining companion had arrived—either a sensible strategy for managing tables in demand, or a cynical way to run up the bar tab. So I went to the bar, where I struggled to get a server’s attention. Once I did, I enjoyed both of the infused vodkas that I tried. Naturally, the tab wasn’t transferable to our table.

Public offers an Australian/New Zealand fusion menu that is really difficult to categorize.

Cured wild boar with Garrotxa cheese, marinated olives, caper berries and crostini

Cured wild boar ($13) sounded interesting, but was probably a waste of a good wild boar, as it didn’t taste particularly distinctive. With the cheese and crostini, it was at least a tasty snack. My girlfriend had the lentil salad, which was just fine, but didn’t launch any culinary fireworks.

Manuka braised lamb shank and truffled swede mash with watercress, poached pear and pickled onion salad

We both had the braised lamb shank ($25.50), which was satisfying comfort-food, though as my girlfriend pointed out, the degree of difficulty is low. It’s hard to screw up a braised meat. I thought that both the swede mash and accompanying salad were boring.

Service was inconsistent, and one server spilled wine on my shirt. The décor, a public library cum post office circa 1940s, is one of design firm AvroKO’s most stunning creations. The new-age sound track is too loud, and the exposed brick tends to amplify the sound.

You won’t eat badly at Public, but you won’t be wowed either. Perhaps the best bet is to come for a drink, admire the design, then try somewhere else for dinner.

Public (210 Elizabeth St. between Spring St. & Prince St., NoLIta)

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

Colors

Note: Almost two years after I wrote this review, Colors was soldiering on, largely ignored in the restaurant press, and apparently no great success. A New York Times article suggested that it was struggling to survive. My award of a star was overly generous; the colleagues I dined with later said it was the worst restaurant recommendation I’d ever made.

Since then, there have been multiple closings and re-openings. Most recently, Colors closed in 2012 and re-opened in 2014 after a re-vamp. The original concept of a cooperative, with recipes suggests by the employees’ family backgrounds, has been abandoned. The new chef is Colt Taylor (One if by Land, Two if by Sea), with chef de cuisine Aaron Stein (Manzo, Perla).

*

Colors is a restaurant you want to root for. It’s a cooperative run by former employees of Windows on the World at the World Trade Center. According to the manifesto on the website:

COLORS’ mission is to build a worker-owned cooperative restaurant dedicated to food quality, service excellence and employee welfare.

Chef Raymond Mohan and his kitchen team offer a global menu inspired by the diversity of the staff and their family recipes reinterpreted for New York diners. COLORS is committed to sustainable agriculture, purchasing locally grown foods and sourcing free trade vendors whenever possible. The winelist spotlights small wineries and producers from emerging regions, featuring great values from around the world.

I dined at Colors on Wednesday evening with two colleagues. It is an attractive space, even if the international theme hits you over the head (you can’t look anywhere without seeing a map). There are white tablecloths. The staff, in general, are highly professional and smartly dressed.

The bread service was as good as, or better than, many three-star restaurants I’ve been to. The menu is a mongrel, with dishes composed from many cuisines and styles, and no recognizable theme uniting them. Among the entrees, for example, you’ll find steak, goat curry, and a Japanese bento box. The offerings are said to be “inspired by favorite family recipes” (i.e., of the staff).

To start, I ordered the Colors House Cured Duck Breast ($13). The menu says it’s “Citrus flavored, hardwood smoked, served on raisin bread with porcini jelly.” The porcini jelly tasted more like a horseradish spread. The duck, an ample portion for an appetizer, came stacked on three small slices of bread. It was a little unwieldy to pick up and eat, but the rewards were ample.

One of my colleagues had an oyster appetizer that looked wonderful, while the other had a tuna appetizer that he described as “okay.” He didn’t finish it, so I would guess his response fell well short of rapture.

None of the entrees really caught our fancy, so all three of us wimped out, and ordered the NY Strip (around $33). It came with chimichurri sauce, potato confit, watercress and blue cheese salad—or so the menu said; I couldn’t really detect any blue cheese. The online menu shows a “Grass-Fed Ribeye,” and I don’t know why it’s been replaced. It’s hard to go seriously wrong with a steak, but at such a restaurant the strip is predictably going to fall short of what the better steakhouses have to offer.

The restaurant was nowhere near full. I suspect they are hanging on for dear life. There have been no professional reviews yet, aside from Frank Bruni’s Diner’s Journal preview right after the place opened. I suspect the critics are giving Colors a bit more time to get its act together—a kindness extended to a restaurant one desperately wants to succeed. Rather than deliver a potential death blow with lukewarm reviews, it seems the critics have steered clear, a courtesy they wouldn’t extend to most other restaurants.

Colors offers a pleasant experience in comfortable surroundings, but I won’t rush back.

Colors (417 Lafayette St. between Astor Place & E. 4th St., NoHo)

Food: ★
Service: ★★
Ambiance: ★★
Overall: ★

Public

Note: For a more recent review of Public, click here.

Public is a double James Beard award winner for both restaurant design and restaurant graphics. The motif is that of a public library circa 1964. Who knew that card catalogs and leaded glass restroom doors would be modern chic? Even the menu comes on a clipboard that looks like it’s been pulled from manilla card stock.

Unfortunately, you can’t eat décor. When it comes to food, Public’s catalog entry is: almost, but not quite. My friend’s Grilled Mayan Prawns with asparagus were very good, but she thought the chef was too parsimonious with the ingredients, especially the asparagus. My sister-in-law’s Tasmanian Sea Trout was very good, but a tad too spicy. My brother’s Roast New Zealand Venison Loin was “very good, but not great,” for reasons he didn’t specify. My Roast Lamb Chump was stringy, and in fact not as good as the accompanying vegetables.

So we had a happy evening, for which we had no regrets, but no one in our party of four felt that the food quite lived up to the design. Luckily Public is very reasonably priced for a high-concept place, with mains in the $18-25 range. However, they do clean up on the appetizers (we weren’t that hungry, and didn’t order any), which are expensive compared to the rest of the menu at $8-19. Desserts are $8.50-$11.50; we shared two between us and were satisfied without being overwhelmed.

Public (210 Elizabeth St. between Spring St. & Prince St., NoLIta)

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