Cocktails at Tailor

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

Most restaurants go through an adjustment period after they open, as chefs figure out what works, and what doesn’t. Those adjustments were somewhat more dramatic at Tailor, where chef Sam Mason had to eat a huge helping of humble pie, after his restaurant was roasted and pilloried by every critic in town.

In an early visit, I found the restaurant promising, but the menu didn’t have enough choices, and the lack of a serious wine list was a serious drawback. Mason has rectified both. The current menu offers about a half-dozen each of appetizers ($15–17), entrées ($24–27) and desserts ($12), though it must be noted that portion sizes remain small, and hearty eaters may need to order more than three courses to go home full. A seven-course chef’s tasting menu is $90, which seems exorbitant when you consider that Momofuku Ko serves ten courses for $85.

The wine list has been fleshed out too. Early on, Mason conceded that “Wine’s a little beyond me,” but he finally figured out that customers want wine with food. From the beginning, Eben Freeman’s cocktails won high praise, but I still think they pair poorly with food. They need to be enjoyed on their own.

Last night, I dropped in for a couple of cocktails before heading uptown for dinner. The bar area is downstairs, and it is one of the loveliest bar spaces in town. Both of my visits have been quite early (around 5:30 p.m.), when it is still relatively empty, and the bartenders have time to chat.

 

One feature of Eben Freeman’s cocktail menu is that almost every item has ingredients you never heard of. I asked for something “not too sweet,” and the bartender recommended the Mate Sour ($13), which is made from Yerba Mate, Queberante Pisco, Lime Juice, Honey, Egg Whites, and Angostura. Half of those ingredients are as unfamiliar to me as they probably are to you. But it had a nice cool, bracing taste.

Freeman also serves a tasting of three “solid cocktails” ($12), captioned Cuba Libre, Ramos Gin Fizz, and White Russian. The menu is unhelpful—it lists only the short names—and I wasn’t about to give the bartender the third degree. I’d describe them as interesting, rather than good, and they disappear awfully quickly.

I asked the bartender about a mysterious unlabeled bottle, which he said was tobacco-infused bourbon. None of the cocktails on the printed menu actually uses that ingredient, so I asked him to make one up for me. So he put some tobacco-infused bourbon, Jim Beam, and a couple of different bitters into a mixing vessel, and voila! Out came the drink shown on the left, which resembled an Old Fashioned.

Last week’s Time Out New York named Tailor “Best restaurant you were sick of before it opened.” That captures the contradiction, which is that Tailor is very good, but suffered badly from early over-exposure. I didn’t eat any of the food this time, but it looks like Tailor has matured. Those who were sick of it should consider a second look.

Tailor (525 Broome Street between Sullivan & Thompson Streets, SoHo)

Food & Drink: **
Ambiance: **
Service: **
Overall: **

Tailor

The exterior, clearly unfinished. Across the street, the no-photo rule clearly doesn’t apply!!

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

Sam Mason is the latest pastry chef to open his own restaurant, following in the footsteps of Will Goldfarb at Room 4 Dessert (now closed) and Pichet Ong  of p*ong. Mason’s solo act is called Tailor. The website says that it’s “named as an ode to the skills of a seasoned craftsman.” Tailor shares with R4D and p*ong a creative approach to desserts. This is no cherry pie and vanilla ice cream place. Mason’s former gig was as at the avant-garde WD–50, of which Tailor’s cuisine is strongly reminiscent.

For a while, I wondered if Tailor would open in my lifetime. Grub Street had a recurring feature called The Launch, chronicling Mason’s pre-opening adventures. As of last December, Tailor’s debut was expected in “late February or the beginning of March.” After a while, the delays became almost comical, and Mason wisely stopped posting. Well, Tailor is finally here, and eGullet is ecstatic.

I was happy to find that Tailor is only about 5 minutes’ walk from the subway station I use to get home, so I thought I’d drop in after work. The bi-level space is modern chic, but nicely done. There is an ample bar area downstairs with a dining room on the ground level. The dining room is arguably more comfortable than WD–50, and it is certainly more so than p*ong or the late lamented Room 4 Dessert.

Service was as polished as at just about any three-star restaurant. Although there are no tablecloths, there are cloth  napkins. Silverware was promptly replaced. Empty glasses and finished plates were promptly whisked away. My bar tab was transferred to my table without complaint. And when I asked the bartender about an unusual pear cider in one of the specialty drinks, he volunteered a free taste of it.

The food has three-star potential, but with some serious limitations. At the moment, only six savory courses and six desserts are on offer, making Tailor’s menu the skimpiest of any comparable establishment. None of the items individually is very expensive (sweets $11; savories $12–15), but as the servings are small, the costs can mount in a hurry.

Mason made a considered decision to feature cocktails, rather than wine. The cocktail menu features twelve very clever selections by mixologist Eben Freeman, but only five wines by the glass (none by the bottle). Freeman’s offerings ($12–15 each) are excellent in their own right, but they are small, and they overpowered the food.

Frank Bruni thrives on the unpredictable, but if he is unwilling to award three stars to WD–50, it seems unlikely he’ll do so here, as Tailor is in many ways far more limited. Two stars seems to me about the best Tailor could expect, unless the menu choices expand and a real wine list is added. It seems almost a crime to have such a polished service brigade, and so little to serve.

Although the dining room was empty, the staff insisted that I not take photographs. Why Thomas Keller can permit this with a full dining room at Per Se, while Mason won’t allow it in an empty one, is beyond me. Apparently he wants to keep the food a secret. I will therefore accommodate him by not describing what I had. I’ll say that there was an amuse-bouche. Of the two dishes I paid for, one was very close to the best thing I’ve had all year; the other one wasn’t.

I had planned to order more, but after the no-photography edict I decided to go home. What’s the deal with the no-photo rule? Gordon Ramsay was the last jerk to pull that stunt, and look where it got him?

Tailor (525 Broome Street between Sullivan & Thompson Streets, SoHo)

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

Salt

Note: Salt closed in 2011. The space is now Cómodo.

*

Salt is a delightful little restaurant on the left edge of SoHo that you could easily overlook. It is neither large nor pretty, and the block on which it resides doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic. But chef Melissa O’Donnell does wonderful things with her seasonal menu—enough to overcome a slightly unpleasant space.

The MenuThe restaurant opened as Stella in the summer of 2001, which turned out to be an inauspicious time to be starting a business in Manhattan. After 9/11, two of the three owners left, leaving O’Donnell to re-fashion the place, which she re-Christened “Salt” (one-word names having been in vogue back then). As of 2007, she appears to have a success on her hands, judging by the brisk Friday night traffic. A companion restaurant called Salt Bar on the Lower East Side offers small plates to go with wine, beer, and mixed drinks.

The space at Salt is dominated by three long communal tables running the length of the restaurant, with only a few two-tops in the front, by the windows. We were lucky enough to have one of those, but they’re squeezed pretty close together, and it’s not easy to maintain a conversation. The wooden tables are painted a bleached white, which at least makes the everthing bright and cheery.

Appetizers ($6.00–12.50) and side dishes ($6) are on the left side of the menu, entrees on the right. The latter are divided into two groups, “protein + 2” ($25.50–28.50) and “chef’s entrees” ($19.00–28.50). The “protein + 2” category offers a fish or meat course, with your choice of any two side dishes—not a bad concept, even if the category name is ugly.

The appealing bread rolls, brought to the table in a ceramic planter, were large and doughy. They weren’t warm, but at least you could tell they weren’t the generic dinner rolls many restaurants settle for. Butter was soft and easily spreadable.

Goats cheese brulee, leeks, radish sprouts, cantaloupe, raspberry vinegar

I was torn between a number of appetizer choices, but when we saw the “goats [sic] cheese brulee” delivered to an adjacent table, our minds were made up. It’s an enormously clever idea, with the warm fried goat cheese contrasting the cool vegetables. This was a a dish so well judged I would have been happy to have it in a four-star restaurant.

Whole grilled Dorade Royale, balsamic reduction

Whole grilled Dorade Royale ($26.50) was a hit too, with the balsamic reduction giving the skin a delightfully tangy flavor. I had to work a bit for my supper, but the impeccably prepared fish flaked off the bone without great difficulty. I chose asparagus and the Yukon Gold potato puree for my two side dishes, but with the fish sitting on top of them, they weren’t easy to get to. My girlfriend had the Alaskan King Salmon ($25.50) with the same two side dishes, and she too seemed pleased.

I suspect we may have hit the jackpot at Salt. There were two major reviews in 2002, Adam Platt in New York and Eric Asimov in the Times ($25 and Under). Those were the days when the $25 and Under column reviewed real restaurants. Anyhow, Platt thought the composed entrees were better, while Asimov preferred the “protein + 2” (while hating the name as much as I do).

The wine list isn’t long, and it offers a reasonable number of choices below $50 (always the litmus test at a mid-priced restaurant). We had the Ridge 2004 from Three Valleys, California ($48), mostly a Zinfandel, which has a nice peppery taste.

The servers did their job and left us alone with a carafe of tap water, which on a warm evening should have come with ice. But aside from that, the service was just fine for this type of restaurant.

I didn’t expect much from Salt, but Melissa O’Donnell’s kitchen delivered a fine performance. Perhaps the overall level of the menu can’t match what we had, but the goat cheese brulee and the grilled Dorade made about as good a meal as I’ve had in a long time.

Salt (58 MacDougal Street between Houston and Prince Streets, SoHo)

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

FR.OG

Note: Didier Virot left FR.OG in late 2007 to open a new restaurant in the Plaza Hotel. Jarett Brodie was his replacement. In a move of dazzling subtlety, the owners finally dropped the period from the restaurant’s title, and added a new basement lounge called “Origine.” Did they believe that a mere period was enough to change this restaurant’s fortunes? As of October 2008, it was closed. In December, it briefly re-opened as FROG Café. That move didn’t work either.

*

FR.OG is the latest offering from Chef Didier Virot with partner Philip Kirsh, who also own the restaurant Aix on the Upper West Side. Aix had its share of pains, as Virot’s upscale cuisine wasn’t a good fit for the neighborhood, and the place was later re-imagined as a more casual brasserie. FR.OG doesn’t appear to be off to a good start, either. It scored a rare pan from Restaurant Girl, and landed on the Eater Deathwatch just eight days after it opened (about a month ago, as I write this).

Bread Service
 

Cucumber Tomato SaladThe name, which is hardly appetizing, stands for “France Origine.” The theme is the cuisines of nations that have been inspired by the French, although the primary influence on display seems to be Moroccan. The décor is SoHo Chic, and could as easily be home to an ice cream parlor or a tapas bar. Eater justifies the early deathwatch with the explanation that no restaurant of this kind has survived.

I’m not ready to write off FR.OG just yet, but it needs to get better. We were pleased with the bread service—warm sliced pita with dipping sauce—but the visual presentation left a lot to be desired.

I started with the cucumber tomato salad with yogurt lime dressing and cilantro ($10). Consistent with the evening’s theme, the dish was enjoyable to eat, but the plating wasn’t pretty to look at.

Braised Lamb shank with Roasted Duck Breast

But that salad plating was worthy of Picasso compared to the entrée, a braised lamb shank with roasted duck breast, with cinnamon, chickpea, red onion, and Moroccan couscous ($28). The shotgun wedding of lamb and duck seemed bizarre, and the distinctly unappetizing presentation on the plate looked like slop. Having said that, Virot did a terrific job with the couscous and the duck. The lamb shank tasted just fine, but there didn’t seem to be any attempt to impart any flavor beyond what ordinary kitchen braising would produce.

Platings are indeed the problem here. Restaurant Girl complained about the phallic-looking Colossal Shrimp, which looked just as absurd in person as it did on her blog.

The wine list at FR.OG has some truly intriguing choices at good prices. We loved a 2003 Mas de la Dame ‘Le Stele’, from Provence, a region not often featured in restaurants. The appellation, Les Baux de Provence, was unfamiliar to me, but the 40/60 Cabernet/Syrah blend was the evening’s highlight.

The SoHo crowd was late to arrive, but by 9:30 p.m. or so, the space was nearly full, and by then we could only barely hear ourselves talk. Come to think of it, we were shouting and cupping our ears for most of the evening. FR.OG isn’t particularly pleasant.

The food has potential, but it needs some fine-tuning. At least, it is not terribly expensive. Appetizers are $9–18, entrées $24–36. We skipped dessert, and headed over to p*ong.

FR.OG (71 Spring Street between Lafayette & Crosby Streets, SoHo)

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

Lure Fishbar

Note: Click here for a review of the burger at Lure Fishbar.

*

It’s easy to get the idea that all SoHo restaurants are cynical ploys to separate gullible diners from their hard-won cash. That was Frank Bruni’s take when he first visited Lure Fishbar in September 2004, not long after it opened. He awarded one star in a lukewarm January 2005 review, setting a new indoor record for most nautical puns per column inch. But in New York, Hal Rubenstein was “Hooked, and the Post’s Steve Cuozzo wrote, “This is serious seafood.”

The restaurant was nearly shipwrecked in January 2006, when a fire engulfed the Prada store that occupies the same building. Most of the expensive teak wood was saved, but it still took four months for the interior to be restored. Version 2.0 features a new sushi bar and a remodeled lounge area.

Lure Fishbar’s owners, John McDonald and Josh Pickard, also own Lever House in midtown, which I visited last year. (I wasn’t wowed.) The two restaurants share a similar design idea, but the nautical theme that Lever House only hints at has reached full bloom here, in a subterranean dining room fully transformed into a luxury cruise ship. All of this might seem like a gimmick, but it turns out the food is terrific.

Reservations at Lure Fishbar seem to be readily available any night of the week on OpenTable, so I hadn’t expected it to be quite so crowded. I arrived at about 6:45 p.m. to find a buzzing bar scene. Neither a seat nor any of the bartenders’ attention were to be had. I did finally manage to order a cocktail, but it was so unpleasant (the service, not the drink) that I would not order another. The host had no intention of seating me in the dining room before my friend arrived, so I was left with nothing to do but pace the room. Fortunately, the service got much better after my friend arrived, and we were seated.

As you might guess, the hard wood surfaces reflect sound, and on a Friday night there’s plenty of it. This is not the place for a heart-to-heart chat, and I found myself cupping my ear to hear my friend speak. But for food this good, I’m willing to put up with the inconvenience.

We started with the Bloody Mary Royale ($14) to drink. A standard large Bloody Mary is garnished with a piece of shrimp and a stick of olives. It comes with a shot glass on the side, with more Bloody Mary and an oyster shooter. This must be one of the cleverest drinks in town, and a bargain too, considering that some restaurants have already surpassed the $15 barrier for conventional mixed drinks. (Lure’s other house cocktails are $11.)

The menu is a bit overwhelming, with an extensive raw bar, sushi and sashimi, traditional appetizers, entrees, and side dishes. It is hard to know how much to order. My friend Kelly knew she wanted oysters, scallops, and the salmon tartare; she left the rest up to me. We gave our server a large order, and left the sequencing up to the kitchen.

Four pcs. raw scallops (top left); yellowtail jalapeno roll (center); lobster tempura roll (bottom)

First to come out was a plate of four raw scallops ($3.50 ea.), the yellowtail jalapeno roll ($16), and the lobster tempura roll ($16). All were fresh and beautifully presented, with the jalapeno roll our favorite.

Salmon Tartare / Creamy Horseradish / Salmon Roe / Dill

The chef must be proud of the Salmon Tartare ($16), since it is shown prominently on the restaurant website. That pride is justified, as this is one of the best raw fish dishes I’ve had. The only flaw is that the three small pieces of melba toast were insufficient, so we just dug in with our forks: we weren’t going to let any of this go to waste.

Medium Shellfish Platter (6 oysters, 4 shrimp, 4 clams, 4 stone crab claws, seafood salad)

Three shellfish platters are offered, with the medium platter ($49) being an ample portion for two. There is not much preparation involved here. It comes down to the freshness of the ingredients, and in that respect we could find no fault.

For a restaurant this busy, service was remarkably good. The timing of the courses was just right. Used plates and silverware were promptly cleared and replaced. We were given extra plates for the detritus of our shellfish, which were taken away when full. At the end of our meal, we received warm towels to wash our hands. These are small points, but often overlooked.

I was also impressed with the warm, bread rolls and the soft butter that came with them.

Lure Fishbar is clearly the product of a modern era in which restaurants feel they need eye-popping décor to get noticed. But despite the bar scene and the SoHo crowds, the fresh seafood here is worth the voyage.

Lure Fishbar (142 Mercer Street at Prince Street, SoHo)

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

Savoy

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

These days, there is nothing newsworthy about a restaurant menu that’s built around seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers—what New York’s Adam Platt calls an “haute barnyard.” But when Savoy opened in 1990, chef/owner Peter Hoffman didn’t have a lot of company. Savoy has remained a New York favorite, offering a refined and romantic dining experience.

When you arrive at Savoy, you find yourself initially on the bustling ground floor, which serves small plates and sandwiches, and doesn’t accept reservations. If you’re there to visit the fine-dining restaurant, the hostess leads you upstairs, where the setting is far more serene, with a wood-burning fireplace, warm lighting, and candles on every table.

My friend and I were attracted to the identical menu choices. To start, we had the Grilled Sausage with mustard greens and lentil salad ($10). I thought it was terrific, although my friend was concerned to see pink on the inside of the sausage. (As Frank Bruni has noted, many restaurants are now serving pork rare, but not all diners have gotten used to it.)

Salt Crust Baked Duck ($28) has been one of Savoy’s signature dishes for many years. The server explained that the salt is used during cooking to keep the moisture in, but it is scraped off before serving, so the duck doesn’t taste all that salty. It is an excellent preparation. I especially appreciated that the duck breast was sliced thick, and there was a visible layer of fat on the edges. The accompanying plum dumplings were an unexpected treat, but black kale was rubbery.

The wine list is not long, and features mostly smaller vinyards. We landed on a very fine grenache for $42. Service was very good, aside from one pet peeve that seems to crop up more often these days: no butter knife.

Many chefs with this kind of success would be looking to branch out—launching a second restaurant, then a third. Peter Hoffman just keeps his eye on the ball at Savoy, which continues its charming ways in a renovated 1830s Federal style townhouse in SoHo. For my money, Savoy a more relaxed and romantic atmosphere than Blue Hill, while offering a very similar style of dining that is arguably just as good, or better. By all means give it a try.

Savoy (70 Prince Street at Crosby Street, SoHo)

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

Kittichai

Note: This is a review under chef Ian Chalermkitticha, who has since left the restaurant. Ty Bellingham is his replacement.

*

My friend and I had dinner at Kittichai on Friday night. The Thai-inspired cuisine is artfully presented by executive chef, Ian Chalermkitticha, for whom the restaurant is named. The décor is spectacular, but it doesn’t upstage the food, which is uniformly successful.

The menu is divided into several categories:  appetizers ($7–19), soups ($8–10), vegetarian ($6–14), curries ($19–24), fish & shellfish ($24–28), poultry & meat ($22–25), and sides ($3–7). Every dish we saw, on our table and others, came on a differently-shaped plate or bowl. At Kittichai, presentation is part of the game. Most dishes are suitable for sharing.

I started with the Meing Tuna Tartare ($10), which comes with eight small round pastry shells that would normally be used for petits-fours—the menu calls them “limestone tartlets”—each holding a small peanut.  An ample portion of tuna comes spiced with ginger and lime. One at a time, you spoon a mouthful of tuna into one of the tartlets; eat and repeat. It was one of the most clever appetizers I’ve had in a long time.

My friend started with the Crispy Rock Shrimp ($13), which came in a grilled eggplant and palm sugar-tamarind sauce. She pronounced them terrific; I tasted one, and fully concurred.

For the main course, I had the Baked Chilean Sea Bass ($28). The menu describes the marinade as “yellow salted beans with morning glory,” which isn’t very helpful. Frank Bruni’s description, “divinely moist Chilean sea bass under a caramelized sheen of palm sugar and red curry paste,” is more apt. My friend had the Dry Spice Rub Duck Breast ($25). Once it arrived, a server brushed on a decadent pinapple broth tableside. It was perfectly tender and came with a side of crispy leg confit.

The wine list didn’t have much to do with Thailand. It was over-priced in relation to the entrée and appetizer prices, with not many reds below $50.

Kittichai (60 Thompson Street between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo)

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

Room 4 Dessert

Note: Room 4 Dessert closed in June 2007, after a spat between Will Goldfarb and his investors. Goldfarb originally stated that he would re-open elsewhere, but for now he seems to be content with consulting engagements without having a place of his own.

*

Will Goldfarb has made a name as the mad scientist of desserts, cooking up kooky but delightful sugar rushes at such restaurants as Papillon and Cru. Neither the Times nor the Post liked his creations at Cru, but he took some time off, had a baby, and resurfaced with his own dessert bar in SoHo, Room 4 Dessert. And this time, the Times was smitten.

The wonderful thing about it is that Goldfarb doesn’t have to subsume his vision to somebody else’s concept. The drawback is that diners have to get there from someplace else. So far, it seems to be working. My friend and I dropped by after dinner Friday night at nearby Peasant, only to be told there was a 40-minute wait at 10:00 p.m. The next night, after a dismal meal at the much-farther-away Trestle on Tenth, we gave it one more try, and luckily there were a couple of seats free.

The restaurant occupies a long, narrow storefront. Signage is subtle, and you could easily miss it. Inside, it’s probably 100 feet deep, but so narrow that an NBA player could stretch his arms and touch both side walls. All seating is at the bar. On the menu, which changes regularly, every category begins with “Room 4,” as in “Room 4 Dessert Glass,” “Room 4 Alcohol,” “Room 4 Sweet Wine,” and so forth. 

Desserts at R4D have funky names like “indecent proposal” and “laissez pear.” Individual desserts are $10 each, while tasting plates of four selections are $14 each.  My friend tried “choc ’n’ awe,” a four-dessert tasting of white chocolate cake, cacau mousse, sucree safranee with chocolate cream, and chocolate ice cream. I had bites of each; the mousse and the cake were particularly decadent.

I had “virtual mauritius,” which came with a brown sugar creamy, little pieces of green mango, a iogurt biscuit, and whipped frozen carrot puree. (I am using Goldfarb’s spellings in each case.) The connection to Mauritius was lost on me, but the “iogurt biscuit” was the best of the bunch, closely followed by the creamy brown sugar. The pieces of green mango were cut too small and were rather annoying.

There’s a variety of wine and hard liquor pairings recommended for every dessert. I had a drink called mar.ti.ni ($15), which is what it sounds like, and my friend had champagne ($14). Other drinks have names like “who says cali can’t age” and “hey man, nice priorat.”

Goldfarb prepares most of the desserts himself. When he came over to serve us, I introduced myself by my eGullet handle, and we had a nice chat about the restaurant. When I told him we were turned away the night before, he replied wryly, “You should have complained to the owner.” We talked about his baby girl too, and he brought over a stack of photos. Later, he comped us  a “tootsie roll” (warm chcolate praline mousse, truffled streusel ‘sex panther’, raisins, and tequilla fluid), which was terrific. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

Room 4 Dessert is an expensive indulgence. With two tasting plates at $14 each, and drinks at $14–15, the bill was $57 before tax and tip. For the record, individual desserts have gone up by $1, and tasting plates $2, since the Times review came out in February. The liquor is particularly expensive. We found it a luxury well worth it—but a luxury nonetheless.

Room 4 Dessert (17 Cleveland Place between Spring and Kenmare Streets, SoHo)

Dessert: **
Service: **
Ambiance: *½
Overall: **

Woo Lae Oak

Note: Woo Lae Oak closed at the end of May 2011, when it lost its lease.

*

A friend of mine absolutely swears by Woo Lae Oak, a Korean barbecue restaurant in Soho. At her suggestion we gave it a try last week. The space is large, the vibe dark and sexy, the tables generously spaced. Though there were just two of us, we were seated at a four-top, with partitions separating our table from those on either side of ours. It almost felt like a semi-private room.

She steered us clear of the appetizers, based on past experience. There are some 17 barbecue choices, priced $18–39, of which we selected two: black tiger prawns and sliced beef rib eye (both $24). Cook-it-yourself food is always plenty of fun. We were particularly impressed with the rib eye’s intense flavor.

She selected a rice dish, Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap (steamed rice with vegetables in a hot stone bowl) ($18), again based on past experience, which was a spicy delight. Dinner also comes with a salad and garnishes, and with the two barbecue dishes this probably would have been enough.

But we also ordered the black cod and daikon radish in a spicy, sweet garlic soy sauce ($28), which was superb, ranking right up there with Nobu’s famous preparation. I would run back to Woo Lae Oak for this dish alone.

We didn’t drink alcohol. Dinner for two was $102 including tax, before tip. I don’t believe I’ve tried Korean barbecue anywhere else, so I can’t make comparisons, but Woo Lae Oak was plenty of fun, and we were quite happy with our meal.

Woo Lae Oak (148 Mercer Street between Prince & Houston Streets, SoHo)

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

(The Mercer) Kitchen

I was invited to lunch yesterday at (The Mercer) Kitchen, one of the ubiquitous Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s many properties. (Its proper name is written out with parentheses around “The Mercer.”) The restaurant occupies part of the ground floor and basement of a hotel at the corner of Mercer & Prince Streets, in SoHo. It’s an impressive space. The ground floor is a bar, with comfortable chairs and small cocktail tables generously spaced. In the back of this area are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, suggesting a library.

The restaurant proper is downstairs. Part of it is in the vault space below the sidewalk. Look up from your table, and you see (and sometimes hear) people walking over the grillework up above. There is glass in the interstices of the grille, but keep reading: evidently the seal isn’t quite perfect. Near the back are several long communal tables — evidently a staple of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurants. These tables look on an open kitchen — yet another JGV staple. The décor is dark and sleek.

I ordered from the $20 prix fixe lunch menu. An appetizer of Wild Mushroom Bruschetta with Prosciutto failed to impress. I am the world’s worst cook, so when my reaction to a dish is, “I could easily do that,” it’s not a good sign. It seemed to be no more than mushrooms and ham on slightly soggy rye toast.

Things improved as we moved to the main course: Roast Duck Breast with Bok Choy, Ramps and Rhubarb. The rhubarb, a pale pink sauce framing thin duck slices, was what made the dish.

Dessert — Gianduja Parfait with Coconut Soup — was heavenly. One of my lunch companions speaks seven languages, and he explained that gianduja is a hazelnut chocolate. I wonder why the restaurant couldn’t tell us that on the menu. Is “gianduja” a common word? I don’t think so.

In the middle of the meal, we noticed a flurry of activity around the tables near us. It turned out the staff were hanging umbrellas on the sprinkler pipes just below the grillework that separates the restaurant from the sidewalk above. By the time they were done, the entire front section of the restaurant was ringed with a protective cocoon of upsidedown umbrellas, resembling the famous scene from Mary Poppins. What a bizarre sight! Rain was forecast, but none fell before we left, so I didn’t get to see what that was like.

It was a satisfactory meal, but I won’t be dying to go back.

(The Mercer) Kitchen (99 Prince Street at Mercer Street, SoHo)

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