Trattoria Cinque

Note: Trattoria Cinque closed in March 2013. A Marc Forgione steakhouse is expected to replace it.

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Trattoria Cinque has arrived on Greenwich Street’s restaurant row, taking over the former Devin Tavern space.

The cinque in the name, meaning “five,” is the central conceit. On the menu, you’ll find five appetizers, five pastas, five entrées, five red wines, five whites, five cocktails, five desserts, and so forth. They’ll change it five times a year.

The 250-seat space could easily house two restaurants with room to spare. That was Devin Tavern’s downfall. Cinque could have the same problem, especially with Andrew Carmellini serving two-star food at Locanda Verde down the street.

The owners of the Alfredo of Rome chain have done a nice job with the rehab, installing a handsome, long marble bar and comfortable faux-rustic seating (photos here). The restaurant was about 80% full by 8:00 p.m. on a Friday. Keeping it that way may be a challenge.

At least the menu is priced to encourage repeat visits. There are just two dishes over $20, and just two wines over $40. I sampled two of those wines at the bar, where quartinos (equivalent to two glasses) range from $9–16. A bowl of olives with parmesan on the side was free. A respectable serving of Italian cheeses, grapes, and figs with raisin bread was just $10.

At the table, rustic bread was nothing to write home about, but I loved the ricotta spread flecked with olive oil. In lieu of bottled water, there is house-filtered water, still or sparkling, offered at no charge. We couldn’t decide, so they served both.

We ordered far too much food, receiving no guidance from our young waiter. He then compounded the mistake by telling the kitchen to send out the pasta and both entrées simultaneously. A manager came over to apologize and then comped the entire meal. We aren’t sure if it was due to these mistakes alone, or because he was aware of our camera.

We loved the Pizza with Gorgonzola and Pears ($12), with a crisp crust no thicker than matzo. But at eighteen inches across, this was no appetizer. Even if it had been our only item, we might have struggled to finish. It’s arguably too rich for two people; we took more than half of it home in a doggie bag.

There were two recited specials, but though they sounded intriguing, they were the weakest things we tried. Penne with Italian Sausage (above right) was of the “I-could-make-this-at-home” variety, except that most home cooks would probably do it better. Veal (below left) had been pounded so thin that there was barely any flavor, and it was cold by the time we tasted it.

An aged ribeye steak was wonderful, especially as it was just $25. It isn’t the best ribeye in the city, but it was one of the better ones outside of a steakhouse. I doubt you’ll find many this good within ten dollars of the price.

Trattoria Cinque is certainly generous with portion sizes, and all of the items we had off of the printed menu were good. If the restaurant can stick to what it does well, perhaps it will be able to fill those 250 seats.

Trattoria Cinque (363 Greenwich Street near Franklin Street, TriBeCa)

Corton

Note: Corton closed in July 2013, after the chef, Paul Liebrandt, opened a competing (and less expensive) restaurant, The Elm, in Williamsburg. Liebrandt’s partner, Drew Nieportent, said that Corton could not survive while the chef was selling the same food at half the price across the river.

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We’ve been big fans of Corton since the day it opened, but our enthusiasm was tinged with regret that Chef Paul Liebrandt wasn’t turning out the same eye-popping cuisine that wowed us at Gilt. But given the reviews at Gilt (not favorable), Liebrandt and owner Drew Nieporent clearly had to do something different here.

Now that Frank Bruni is out of the way, and three stars secured, the real Paul Liebrandt is coming into full bloom. Corton was a great restaurant when we visited last November, an even better one in February, and it is better still today. On Saturday night, we saw dishes that started to remind us of the best at Gilt, though the cooking here is more disciplined, the judgments more refined than they were at the earlier restaurant.

On a Saturday evening in mid-summer, Nieporent wasn’t in the house (not that he should be), and our favorite sommelier seemed to have departed, but we recognized most of the service staff, and Liebrandt was of course in the kitchen. We ordered the three-course prix fixe, which has edged up to $85 from $77 last year, but with amuse courses included it felt like a tasting menu.

Time is short today (I am getting ready to go away for two weeks), so I’ll present the photos with minimal descriptions.

Canapés included quail eggs with caviar (above left) and variations on the usual duo that we’ve seen in the past (above right). The technical precision of the quail eggs especially impressed us.

We had a quartet of amuse-bouches, all astonishing, with the highlight a foie gras mousse (bottom right in the above photos).

“From the Garden” (above left) has been a menu fixture from the beginning, a salad that could double as a still life. The foie gras with beets (above right) has become a sphere, rather than the sliced terrine it was before.

Cod was a beautifully-conceived dish, with three separate sides, but it had rested in the kitchen too long and had cooled by the time it reached us. We sent back a risotto (ice cold) for reheating, but accepted the fish as-is (it would have had to be re-made).

I also felt that Madai (below), a Japanese Sea Bream, was not quite warm enough, though it certainly wasn’t cold, as the cod had been. The plating was a work of art, and I almost wonder if the fish was left sitting while the artists in Liebrandt’s kitchen painted this masterpiece.

The Madai came with two sides, a preparation of the tail (above left) that I cannot begin to surprise, and gnocchi (above right), both excellent.

After a pre-dessert (above left), we shared the cheese course (above right), a terrific brioche (below left), and the usual blizzard of petits-fours (below right).

The wine list remains recession-priced, with plenty of good options in the 40s and 50s, though you can spend a lot more, if you choose. Service was wonderful, and meal was served at a steady pace from beginning to end—an improvement over our past visits.

It’s a pity the main course wasn’t served warm enough, but as Corton continues to improve we have no doubt that this, too, will be solved. We went home deeply satisfied.

Corton (239 West Broadway between Walker & White Streets, TriBeCa)

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

Locanda Verde

Note: Click here for a later review of Locanda Verde.

When Robert DeNiro opened the restaurant Ago last year in his new Greenwich Hotel, he made every mistake in the book. It was a formulaic, over-priced copy of an out-of-town restaurant whose chef had no commitment to New York. Imports tend to do badly here, but Agostino Sciandri, for whom it was named, was practically a no-show, thereby ensuring Ago’s doom.

At Ago’s replacement, Locanda Verde, DeNiro gets everything right. The chef, Andrew Carmellini, has done acclaimed work at two different three-star restaurants—Café Boulud and A Voce. Carmellini is both chef and partner here, and he has no other projects distracting him. It even says at the bottom of the menu, Cooking Today: Andrew Carmellini & Luke Ostrom, as if to emphasize that the chef is not just a distant consultant. No item costs more than $25.

I never had Carmellini’s food at Café Boulud, but I did visit A Voce before he left. It was certainly very good, but over-rated at three stars, in a clear example of Frank Bruni’s pro-Italian bias. Some of its deficiencies were not Carmellini’s fault. The space was both ugly and raucous, and the service not good enough for a place serving $39 short ribs and wine bottles in three and four figures. But there was no doubt Carmellini could cook.

At Locanda Verde, he serves “neighborhood Italian” food, perhaps slightly dialed down from A Voce, but not by much. This time, the space and the service support the concept, instead of being at war with it. Ken Friedman (Spotted Pig, John Dory, Rusty Knot) re-did the décor, happily not in the over-wrought style that has marred some of his earlier efforts. The tables are a tad small, and the space gets a bit loud when full, but in light of the price point I have no complaints.

The menu is in the five-part format that is common for Italian restaurants these days, with small plates called Cicchetti ($7–10), Antipasti ($12–16), Pastas ($14–19), Secondi ($19–25) and Contorni (6–7). The wine list averages around $50–60 per bottle, with many reasonable choices below that level, and several as low as $35.

I visited twice last week, the first time alone, the second with my girlfriend, so I was able to sample a bit more of the menu than usual.

There are a few different crostini. Fava Bean on prosciutto bread ($7; above left) was either a comp or a mistake, but it was wonderful—probably the best of the crostini that I tried. Morel mushroom crostini ($7; above right) were nearly as good, if a bit messy.

Focaccia bread (above left) is so hearty that it’s almost like a slice of pizza. Gnocchi with local tomatoes ($17; above right) were as good a rendition of that dish as I have had.

Lamb meatball sliders ($11; above left) are succulent and gooey, but you had best wear a bib. Blue Crab with jalapeño and tomato ($9; above right) were my least favorite of the three crostini I tried, not because there was anything wrong with them, but because the others set such a high standard. 

Some of the dishes have odd names, like “My Grandmother’s Ravioli” ($17; above left), which will make you think Carmellini had a blessed childhood if his grandmother could cook like that.

I was fortunate enough to see the Porchetta ($22; above right) come out of the oven. The carcass is wrapped in a cylinder, the skin scored and seasoned. I assume that they cook one of these slowly for many hours. If you order this dish, which you should, you’ll get a substantial helping of it.

We also had the Orichiette ($16; above left) with rabbit sausage, sweet peas and fiore sardo, a rich, satisfying dish. We finished with the panna cotta (above right).

On both visits, service was attentive and polished, much better than I would expect for a restaurant this new, this busy, and this inexpensive. The staff transferred our bar tab to the table without our having to request it.

At Locanda Verde, the concept that was so expasperating at A Voce comes together perfectly. Let’s hope that Andrew Carmellini remains here for a long, long time.

Locanda Verde (377 Greenwich Street at N. Moore Street, TriBeCa)

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

City Hall

The TriBeCa restaurant City Hall has been quietly turning out reliable food for just over a decade. In the Times, Ruth Reichl awarded two stars in January 1999. It’s located in a gorgeous landmarked 1863 cast iron building not far from the real City Hall. The renovation—a wide, comfortable room decorated with life-size vintage photos—is still fresh and elegant.

You don’t hear much about City Hall. The restaurant doesn’t get its name in the press. The menu seems to offer the same “steakhouse-plus” cuisine it die when Reichl reviewed it. My sense is that it attracts more of a lunch crowd, partly due to its location. On a recent Thursday evening, it was less than half full.

We started with a small tomato soup as amuse-bouche and moved onto the bone-in double-cut Delmonico for two ($82) with a side of hand-cut fries ($9).

The beef was dry-aged prime, and tasted like it, but didn’t quite have the flavor intensity or the rich char of the better ribeyes in town.

Service was more friendly, and the ambiance more pleasant than most steakhouses. The deep wine list has won awards, and on a cursory glance looked well worth exploring. However, we weren’t in a wine mood, and did well by the respectable beer selection (two Saratogas, $7 each).

City Hall seems, in short, like a restaurant you can count on, but not one worth traveling for.

City Hall (131 Duane St. between Church & West Broadway, TriBeCa)

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

The Lamb Burger at Bar Artisanal

Note: Bar Artisanal closed in mid-2010 after a brief, ill-fated Spanish-themed do-over. After a re-vamp, it is now the Mexican restaurant Pelea.

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I don’t usually post so many times about the same restaurant, but Bar Artisanal is right next to the subway station I use every day, so I have an excuse to keep exploring the menu there.

The lamb burger ($16) has a terrific goat cheese center. I’d probably rate it a tie with the Classic Burger (reviewed previously), except that I wasn’t at all fond of the chickpea fries that come with it. I give Chef Brennan credit for trying something different: no one would have considered themselves cheated if it came with regular fries. But the regular fries are indeed better.

Bar Artisanal (268 West Broadway at Sixth Avenue, TriBeCa)

Secession is Done

Last week, we returned to Secession to see how the ill-begotten restaurant was faring under four-star chef Christian Delouvrier. We found it much improved, but alas, mostly empty. Frank Bruni also circled back, finding the food better than it was, but marred by service gaffes. We often disagree with Bruni, but we believe him on matters like stale bread, absent servers, and wine served too warm.

Today, the penny dropped: Secession has closed. It will be replaced “by the end of the year” (meaning sometime in 2010, if we’re lucky) by a Japanese concept called Brushstroke, which David Bouley had intended to open across the street in the old Delphi space. That space, according to the Times, “ran into structural and other problems.”

The Burger at Bar Artisanal

Note: Bar Artisanal closed in mid-2010 after a brief, ill-fated Spanish-themed do-over.

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There are three burgers at Bar Artisanal: Classic ($13), Lamb ($16), and Tuna ($18). We dropped in the other day for the Classic. The black angus beef had a nice beefy taste. The accompanying fries were perfect too.

The meal was a carb overload, as the also came with excellent bread service, and a bucket (yeah, a bucket) of gougères were comped.

The lamb burger comes with a got cheese center. That’s the next thing to try.

Bar Artisanal (268 West Broadway at Sixth Avenue, TriBeCa)

Secession

After a horrific beginning, there are signs that Secession may be turning into a good restaurant.  [Update: So much for that. Less than a week after our visit, Secession has closed.]

This is the place that replaced three-star Danube and promptly crapped out, earning zero stars in this blog and from Frank Bruni of the Times. We’re seldom simpatico with Bruni, but we entirely agreed with him on everything at Secession—even the rude coat-check lady. How on earth did David Bouley believe he could serve a menu with 70 items and get even half of them right?

A few months after Bruni’s review, David Bouley wisely hired Christian Delouvrier to take over the kitchen at Secession. Delouvrier once earned three stars at Maurice in the Parker-Meridian Hotel, three stars at Les Celebrites in the Essex House, four stars at Lespinasse in the St. Regis, and three stars at Alain Ducasse, again in the Essex House. If it’s classic French cuisine that you want, Delouvrier is your man.

The menu at Secession has now been very wisely pared down to less than half its former girth. In our view, it could stand to be pared down even more, but it has taken a huge step in the right direction. We ordered two dishes that Delouvrier himself is responsible for, and we went home happy.

A cold pea and mint soup ($9) was terrific. Duck confit ($21) was exactly what this classic dish should be, but they ought to jettison the cast-iron serving dish, which only gets in the way. The fries are perfect, but those closer to the bottom of the pan got soggy.

It won’t be easy to get the critics back. None of the patrons seemed to be under fifty. The server mentioned that Danyelle Freeman of the Daily News was in last week, but she already posted an irrelevant pre-Delouvrier rave and is unlikely to review it again so soon. Mimi Sheraton was in the house. She is precisely the demographic that this restaurant appeals to, but she doesn’t have a reviewing platform these days.

Secession is a lot better than it was, but getting the recognition it deserves won’t be easy.

Secession (30 Hudson Street at Duane Street, TriBeCa)

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

Matsugen

Note: Matsugen closed in March 2011, after failing consistently to draw crowds.

*

Jean-Georges Vongerichten really, really, really wants you to visit Matsugen.

The other day, Grub Street ran the feature where it asks a restauranteur to chronicle his eating habits for a week. Among other things, we learned that Jean-Georges Vongerichten always eats dinner at Matsugen on Sundays, but apparently he eats there Tuesdays as well. He does not mention JoJo, Vong, Mercer Kitchen, or Spice Market.

Vongerichten spends most of his time at the flagship, but he’s supposed to be there; and he visited Perry St, where he was testing new recipes. But Matsugen is apparently the only restaurant in his empire where he dines regularly for pleasure. Maybe it’s because when we arrived at 7:00 p.m. on a Friday evening, the staff outnumbered the customers. To be fair, it got a bit busier later on, but it never filled up. On a weekend, that cannot be an encouraging sign.

We’ve written about Matsugen twice before (1, 2), so we’ll go easy on the background. There’s some intermittently compelling food here, and a good meal need not break the bank. Four appetizers (two more than we needed), a bowl of soba apiece and an inexpensive bottle of sake were just $125 before tax and tip. You can do even better if you have the multi-course $35 prix fixe, but we didn’t go that route.

Barachirashi, or raw fish over warm sushi rice ($12; above left) was the highlight of the evening—looking as good as it tasted. I was less impressed with Toro Tataki ($21; above right). When you’re serving premium tuna, it shouldn’t be drowning in gravy.

Meatballs ($7; above left) were a bit dry on the outside, but luscious on the inside. Tempura vegetables ($12; above right) were forgettable.

The Matsugen Special Soba ($16; above) comes with a blizzard of ingredients: scallion, bonito, yam, sesame, okra, wasabi, cucumber, myoga, shiso, egg, nori. It would be refreshing even without the thin, delicate soba noodles.

Ordering at Matsugen is an exercise in frustration, as you never have a sense of how big the plates are, and the servers provide very little guidance—that’s useful, at any rate. I’ve loved the soba dishes every time, but the appetizers aren’t as consistently enjoyable. The space is sterile and charmless, and for the price I think there are more comfortable destinations where the food is equally or even more compelling.

Matsugen (241 Church Street between Leonard & Worth Streets, TriBeCa)

Food: **
Service: *½
Ambiance: Sterile, charmless
Overall: *½

Bar Artisanal

Note: Bar Artisanal closed in mid-2010 after a brief, ill-fated Spanish-themed do-over. It is now the Mexican restaurant Pelea Mexicana.

*

Bar Artisanal is Chef Terrance Brennan’s quickie replacement for the doomed Trigo, which sank like a stone after barely four months in business. What a difference the right concept makes! Trigo was always empty; Bar Artisanal, at least in its early days, is always full.

This being a Brennan restaurant, cheese is naturally the focus. I dropped in on opening night for a glass of wine and four cheeses à la carte (left), telling the fromagier he could choose whatever he wanted, as long as they were soft and at least two were blue.

Although the name is suggestive of Brennan’s Artisanal Bistro in Murray Hill, the menu here is considerably different. Most of the selections are essentially “tapas” — about a dozen in a category called amuses-bouches ($4–15) and another dozen petits plats ($11–18). There are just five entrées ($16–20) and three kinds of burgers (classic, lamb, tuna; $13–18).

Yet another menu category is devoted to pissaladières, or a kind of pizza from the south of France. There are seven of these ($11–15), several with unusual toppings, such as “Duck” (Gizzard, Confit, Egg, and Cracklings) and “Bianca” (Asparagus, Ramps, Bottarga).

Brennan gets full credit for challenging his audience. He isn’t serving duck gizzards, lamb neck, sea urchin custard, and smoked paprika popcorn because diners demanded them. And it appears the menu will change frequently. On the current menu, ramps figure in three different dishes, and they are in season for only a short time.

Last week, I dropped in again for dinner with a colleague. The server encouraged us to order small plates to share—which we did.

Naturally, cheese figures in many of the dishes. We started with a hunk of fresh burrata ($12; above left). Octopus ($12; above right), perfectly cooked, was complemented with smoked paprika.

Skate ($12; above left) was spectacular. I am not sure what was in it, but it seemed to be stuffed with a spicy sausage of some kind (the menu said choucroute garni). Pork Belly ($12; above right) was so good we ordered a second helping. A minor complaint: if the plates are meant for sharing, why serve three pieces?

As he does at his other restaurants, Brennan offers several pre-composed “tasting flights” of cheeses ($16), or you can choose your own from a long list. The one shown at the right is called “Blue Notes” (blue, stilton, gorgonzola).

The wine list is priced in line with the menu, with plenty of reds below $50, and even a decent selection below $40.

There have been some reports of slow service here. Our food came out quickly, but servers weren’t always available when you wanted them, and a couple of times utensils didn’t arrive with the food. Management recognizes me, so I suspect we got slightly better service than the average patron.

There is much still to try here, but so far I am very impressed with Bar Artisanal. If the food program remains on track and the service glitches are smoothed out, this restaurant could have a happy future.

Bar Artisanal (268 West Broadway at Sixth Avenue, TriBeCa)

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