Lonesome Dove Western Bistro
(Southwestern)
29 West 21st Street between 5th and 6th Avenue (Flatiron)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 414-3139
http://www.lonesomedovebistro.com/
Subway: N/R/W/F/V to 23rd Street
Bus: M2/3/4/5/6/7 to 23rd Street
When we were in Dallas recently, we had dinner with my husband’s brother and sister-in-law. They live in Fort Worth and told us that an amazing Fort Worth restaurant was opening a NYC outpost. They said it was their favorite and raved about its chef Tim Love and the restaurant for quite a while. I had completely forgotten about it, until I received my local Daily Candy (http://www.dailycandy.com/) a couple weeks ago which featured Lonesome Dove. With my 11-month anniversary rapidly approaching, I thought it was a perfect excuse to make a reservation.
A bearskin rug lies on the sidewalk in front of Lonesome Dove, a dimly lit, casual restaurant in the Flatiron district. As you enter, a long bar encompasses the entire front half of the restaurant, making the entrance narrow while heading into the dining area. Although the restaurant was fairly empty at 7:30pm on a Friday evening, we were seated at a small uncomfortable table right next to a vertical beam. Within minutes, a table of four was seated right beside us, so close that I was practically cheek-to-cheek with one of the diners.
The wine list wasn’t very familiar to me, so we asked for the sommelier, who suggested only one wine which, at $75, ran higher than average. I personally think it’s the sommelier’s duty to request a price range, but this one didn’t. We were, however, pleased with the suggestion: J. Wilkes Bien Nacinto Vineyards Hillside Pinot Noir 2004.
Upon reviewing the menu, I found it interesting and quite different with a lot of sweet, fruity additions like huckleberry, raspberry, wild cherry and even candied jalapenos to spicy savory dishes. The attention-grabbing main course was the entrée for two: a Tomahawk chop, lobster tails, scallops and mashed potatoes carved and served tableside by the chef for market price (that night, $125, which was more than I had in mind). We decided on two appetizers, two entrees and two side dishes and waited in anticipation.
After ordering, bread was finally served to us; it tasted fine, nothing spectacular, but I’m not sure exactly what it had to do with Urban Western food – it was similar to Middle Eastern flatbread or pita bread. The softened butter was a highlight that I appreciated.
When our appetizers arrived, I was surprised at the lack of presentation. Both the buffalo corn dogs (3 for $12) and rabbit & manchego empanadas (4 for $9, I think) were served on the same white oversized dinner plate, the corn dogs separated by being placed in a concession-stand-esque red & white paper food basket. The corn dogs were very greasy, and the State Fair sauce that accompanied them tasted like mayo mixed with relish juice which I’m still not sure is a good combination. The empanadas had potential especially when when paired with the accompanying sauce; however, barely enough sauce for one was drizzled on the plate.
After an unsuccessful round of appetizers, we hoped that entrees would have better luck. My husband’s hand-cut beef tenderloin (medium-rare, $3.40 per ounce) with Serrano-lime butter was a tasty piece of meat, but was overly seasoned with very coarse black pepper. As my husband describes it, “It was like eating a hunk of black pepper with meat.” My grilled veal chop (medium-rare, $34) was similar where the quality of the meat was actually quite good, but it was so overseasoned and salty that some pieces were impossible to eat. Also, none of the fat seemed to be trimmed and the overseasoning and oversalting extended to the sauce to the point that I was unable to eat the grilled forest mushrooms or the crispy ricotta dumplings that came with it. I actually like salty food, so for it to be salty for me, it had to be VERY SALTY. The side dishes were unremarkable: $6 French fries were limp and not crispy; $12 white truffle mac & cheese used orzo rather than standard elbow macaroni and wasn't very cheesy (although it was creamy and white truffley). That said, the mac & cheese was the only passable part of the main course. Other dishes did look interesting: the seared monkfish and spicy posole stew with fried lobster bacon, garlic-stuffed beef tenderloin and, of course, the Tomahawk chop.
To round-out our meal, we ordered the ice cream sandwich for dessert, a simple dessert of vanilla ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies, but even the simple was poorly executed: the cookies were overcooked (burnt on the bottoms) and so hard that we couldn’t even dent them with a spoon, which was a bad match for softened ice cream, because if you tried to pick up the sandwich to take a bite, the ice cream smushed right out while trying to bite into the hard-as-a-rock cookies.
Our waitress (from Oklahoma) seemed overly enthusiastic about everything at the start, but it was hard for her to access our table throughout the meal since the table next to us was basically on top of us. When we got our bill after this unsatisfying meal, we were surprised at how expensive it was, even though the prices were on the menu. Considering the size of the appetizers, the taste of the entrees and the lack of care in the dessert, prices were high. And then I noticed an error on the bill; rather than charging us $75 (the price on the wine list) for the wine, we were charged $90, which is a bad mistake for a new restaurant. When I pointed it out to our waitress, we barely received an apology; she just changed the price of the wine and returned the bill to us.
Poor execution of interesting ideas may keep this restaurant from being a success. The only saving grace of this dinner was the wine because I’ve found a new wine that I really enjoy.
(Southwestern)
29 West 21st Street between 5th and 6th Avenue (Flatiron)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 414-3139
http://www.lonesomedovebistro.com/
Subway: N/R/W/F/V to 23rd Street
Bus: M2/3/4/5/6/7 to 23rd Street
When we were in Dallas recently, we had dinner with my husband’s brother and sister-in-law. They live in Fort Worth and told us that an amazing Fort Worth restaurant was opening a NYC outpost. They said it was their favorite and raved about its chef Tim Love and the restaurant for quite a while. I had completely forgotten about it, until I received my local Daily Candy (http://www.dailycandy.com/) a couple weeks ago which featured Lonesome Dove. With my 11-month anniversary rapidly approaching, I thought it was a perfect excuse to make a reservation.
A bearskin rug lies on the sidewalk in front of Lonesome Dove, a dimly lit, casual restaurant in the Flatiron district. As you enter, a long bar encompasses the entire front half of the restaurant, making the entrance narrow while heading into the dining area. Although the restaurant was fairly empty at 7:30pm on a Friday evening, we were seated at a small uncomfortable table right next to a vertical beam. Within minutes, a table of four was seated right beside us, so close that I was practically cheek-to-cheek with one of the diners.
The wine list wasn’t very familiar to me, so we asked for the sommelier, who suggested only one wine which, at $75, ran higher than average. I personally think it’s the sommelier’s duty to request a price range, but this one didn’t. We were, however, pleased with the suggestion: J. Wilkes Bien Nacinto Vineyards Hillside Pinot Noir 2004.
Upon reviewing the menu, I found it interesting and quite different with a lot of sweet, fruity additions like huckleberry, raspberry, wild cherry and even candied jalapenos to spicy savory dishes. The attention-grabbing main course was the entrée for two: a Tomahawk chop, lobster tails, scallops and mashed potatoes carved and served tableside by the chef for market price (that night, $125, which was more than I had in mind). We decided on two appetizers, two entrees and two side dishes and waited in anticipation.
After ordering, bread was finally served to us; it tasted fine, nothing spectacular, but I’m not sure exactly what it had to do with Urban Western food – it was similar to Middle Eastern flatbread or pita bread. The softened butter was a highlight that I appreciated.
When our appetizers arrived, I was surprised at the lack of presentation. Both the buffalo corn dogs (3 for $12) and rabbit & manchego empanadas (4 for $9, I think) were served on the same white oversized dinner plate, the corn dogs separated by being placed in a concession-stand-esque red & white paper food basket. The corn dogs were very greasy, and the State Fair sauce that accompanied them tasted like mayo mixed with relish juice which I’m still not sure is a good combination. The empanadas had potential especially when when paired with the accompanying sauce; however, barely enough sauce for one was drizzled on the plate.
After an unsuccessful round of appetizers, we hoped that entrees would have better luck. My husband’s hand-cut beef tenderloin (medium-rare, $3.40 per ounce) with Serrano-lime butter was a tasty piece of meat, but was overly seasoned with very coarse black pepper. As my husband describes it, “It was like eating a hunk of black pepper with meat.” My grilled veal chop (medium-rare, $34) was similar where the quality of the meat was actually quite good, but it was so overseasoned and salty that some pieces were impossible to eat. Also, none of the fat seemed to be trimmed and the overseasoning and oversalting extended to the sauce to the point that I was unable to eat the grilled forest mushrooms or the crispy ricotta dumplings that came with it. I actually like salty food, so for it to be salty for me, it had to be VERY SALTY. The side dishes were unremarkable: $6 French fries were limp and not crispy; $12 white truffle mac & cheese used orzo rather than standard elbow macaroni and wasn't very cheesy (although it was creamy and white truffley). That said, the mac & cheese was the only passable part of the main course. Other dishes did look interesting: the seared monkfish and spicy posole stew with fried lobster bacon, garlic-stuffed beef tenderloin and, of course, the Tomahawk chop.
To round-out our meal, we ordered the ice cream sandwich for dessert, a simple dessert of vanilla ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies, but even the simple was poorly executed: the cookies were overcooked (burnt on the bottoms) and so hard that we couldn’t even dent them with a spoon, which was a bad match for softened ice cream, because if you tried to pick up the sandwich to take a bite, the ice cream smushed right out while trying to bite into the hard-as-a-rock cookies.
Our waitress (from Oklahoma) seemed overly enthusiastic about everything at the start, but it was hard for her to access our table throughout the meal since the table next to us was basically on top of us. When we got our bill after this unsatisfying meal, we were surprised at how expensive it was, even though the prices were on the menu. Considering the size of the appetizers, the taste of the entrees and the lack of care in the dessert, prices were high. And then I noticed an error on the bill; rather than charging us $75 (the price on the wine list) for the wine, we were charged $90, which is a bad mistake for a new restaurant. When I pointed it out to our waitress, we barely received an apology; she just changed the price of the wine and returned the bill to us.
Poor execution of interesting ideas may keep this restaurant from being a success. The only saving grace of this dinner was the wine because I’ve found a new wine that I really enjoy.
