Perry St
176 Perry Street at West Side Highway
New York, NY 10014
212.352.1900
Subway: 1 to Christopher Street
Bus: M20 to the closest stop to Perry Street

Perry Street, part of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten empire, is touted as a casual “neighborhood” restaurant. Yet, besides the Richard Meier building where the restaurant is housed (and its twin building next door), the neighborhood seems pretty sparse (there's certainly no public transportation and one entire side of both buildings is flanked by the highway).

Its décor doesn’t give a “neighborhood” vibe either. The all-glass walls of windows make for a spectacular view of the Hudson River; however, the dining room is angular, modern and cold. In fact, everything in the restaurant is square or rectangular, down to the dishes and even the teacups. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the spoon were square. However, none of this wreaks coziness or "neighborhood". I must also add that everytime I have been to Perry St (weekday or weekend), there’s barely anyone there, which may bolster my “lack of neighborhood” theory.

I have only been to Perry St for lunch because they have one of the best deals on the planet: 2 small plates plus dessert for $24.00 (each additional plate is $12). They even begin your meal with an amuse-bouche (a refreshing watermelon gazpacho on every visit so far). And the deal is offered every day, all-year round! To be able to indulge in Jean-Georges’ creative, delicious fare for a relatively piddly amount (how many of you spend more than $10, even $15, on a less-than-mediocre lunch?) is just genius.

The chef de cuisine is Justin Bazdarich, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in SoHo, and an incredibly talented and nice guy. I’ve known him and his interest in food since he was a student, and he’s worked his way up from the kitchen first at Jean-Georges to chef de cuisine at Perry St where, at lunchtime, he whips up a menu of approximately 10 dishes, which showcases seasonal ingredients.

The peekytoe crab salad with edible flowers, radishes and cucumbers was a hit on each occasion. My husband devoured the fresh mozzarella with sun-dried pineapple and Thai basil so quickly that not a bite remained (for me) on the plate. I didn’t understand the foam “sauce” that topped the asparagus with herbed risotto; the dish was delicious and delicate but the foam texture reminded me of poached egg whites. It began to sicken me by the time I completed the dish. The grilled salmon with cockles and fingerling potatoes made me a salmon convert on my first visit, with its crispy skin and moist, flavorful, perfectly-cooked center; however, on other tries, its meat was drier, its skin less crisp. I longed for my first time again. Hanger steak with creamed basil, fava beans and topped with a single onion ring was a crowd pleaser, although a bit overspiced in my opinion. The onion ring is probably one of the best you’ll ever taste, and it’s almost wrong to only serve one since it just leaves everyone wanting more.

Of the breakfast genre foods, who knew how amazing pancakes could be; my companions claim to be pancake aficionados (I would never try to boast that title), and they agreed that these were the best pancakes ever tried. Same with the omelet offered; light and fluffy – eggs were taken to a new level.

I’m not a dessert person, but the two choices will never disappoint. One is a chocolate concoction, a layer of moist chocolate cake topped with a layer of rich, dense chocolate pudding topped with a light-as-air whipped cream. The cheesecake was amazing; the poached fruit was boring but still tasty. Go with a friend, get one of each and share.

Although I’ll never feel at home at Perry St (perhaps because I will never be able to make one of the pricy Richard Meier lofts my home -- if you haven’t heard, the buildings boasts a celeb-studded tenant list), I advise one and all to trek here for lunch (every day if you can); it is beyond worth it and unbeatable.

Ditch Plains
29 Bedford Street at Downing Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 633-0302
Subway: A/B/C/D/E/F/V to W. 4th Street
Bus: M5/6 to Houston Street; M21 to 6th Avenue


For Sister#3’s birthday, she wanted seafood, and more specifically, lobster rolls. We considered our old standby, Pearl Oyster Bar; she had gone to Mermaid Inn with her boyfriend; and we couldn’t stomach the thought of the wait at Mary’s Fish Camp. That’s how we stumbled upon Ditch Plains.

Ditch Plains definitely does not feel like a seafood shack, except that it’s casual. It has a tin bar, some comfortable wooden booths, and small tables very close together. Waitstaff wear t-shirts and don’t look messy, but not entirely neat. The entire place is hooked up with wireless Internet access, and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner all day.

We knew one thing for certain: we were definitely getting the lobster roll. We started with a dozen Prince Edward Island oysters on the half shell (these were the only ones offered), which were excellent. Slightly briny yet still creamy, they had the best flavors of each coast (even Sister#3 enjoyed them, and she's fully a West Coast oyster fan). Sister#3 was really excited for littleneck clams on the half shell, but these weren’t what we’d hoped for at all; not briny at all, they lacked that delicious explosion of littlenecks, and instead had a slightly dirty flavor to them.

We were hungry so we wanted food to come out as it was ready. The lobster roll, sitting atop a mound of sweet potato chips (not fresh), was fine. I had some excellent tender, buttery chunks of lobster, but then had some that were a bit too soft or rubbery. It was bathed in an herby mayonnaise that wasn’t bad, just different.

The crab dip is served in a small individual soufflé-sized ramekin surrounded by bagel chips, but the contents barely come to the halfway mark in its dish, so it looks like someone has already eaten half of it (in fact, the girls at the table next to us ordered the crab dip as well and commented, "Is it supposed to be half-empty?"). I liked the dip, but Sister#3 thought it was sweet. She was convinced she tasted cinnamon. I think it was just the sweetness of the crab.

I thought the highlight was the salad of marinated white anchovies, long shreds of cucumber, cherry tomatoes and capers. It was bright, acidic and fresh, lightly dressed, and the anchovies were mild and nice.

After all of this, we were still hungry, so we finished with roasted oysters and a side of French fries. I’m trying to avoid carbs in the evening, so the fries were incredibly tempting. Unlike most restaurants, the basket came with ketchup and mayonnaise without a special request; it was a large order of medium cut, golden brown, crispy-looking fries, but Sister#3 had a hard time finding ones that were actually crispy.

I liked the roasted oysters, but I was expecting something like an oyster pan roast. Instead we received six oysters barely warmed in a garlic, parsley and butter sauce nested in their shells atop crispy croutons that have soaked in some of the oyster and flavored butter – it sounds better than it was.

It’s slightly disappointing when a restaurant self-proclaimed as a “New York-style oyster bar & fish shack” has only decent dishes and when a salad with barely any fish/seafood is the most successful of meals. I may return for breakfast sometime (any time since it's served all day) because I would be interested in seeing eggs Benedict with lobster (plus I like the feel of the restaurant). But next time I want a lobster roll, I’ll walk a little further and wait at Pearl.

Barbuto
775 Washington Street at West 12th Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 924-9700
Subway: A/C/E to 14th Street; L to 8th Avenue
Bus: M11 to 12th Street (or closest street); M14 to 9th Avenue


Barbuto makes me smile. I’ve walked by 1000x, and I always look through its greenhouse windows (that open in summertime) to see a bustling scene of eaters, drinkers and revelers, and that energy is one of the things that I love about New York.

There’s really nothing about the décor that stands out; it’s simple and industrial-chic with very hipster servers wearing all black and the Barbuto baby-t’s. A great long bar spans 2/3 of the restaurant’s length, and at 7:15pm on a Thursday evening, Barbuto was empty (way too early for the normal customers in that neighborhood, but perfect for our girls’ dinner to catch up).

Our server began by “explaining” the menu which is broken up into five sections: formaggio (cheeses), antipasti (appetizers), primi (first course – essentially the pasta course), secondi (entrees) and contorni (side dishes). I love that the dishes on the menu are seasonally-influenced, and it seems that dishes could change daily since the date is printed at the top of the menu.

We chose to forgo the cheese course and begin with the Treviso salad (chicory, anchovy dressing, sieved egg). None of us knew what chicory was (I was imagining frisee, but thinking of New Orleans chicory coffee), but it turned out chicory is just a broad name for radicchio and Belgian endive, both “greens” that I love. I liked it, and the bitterness was offset by the slightly-too-strong anchovy flavor in the dressing, but it wasn’t spectacular.

The cappalunga (Italian for razor clam, a long skinny clam) consisted of five moist and tender razor clams served on an open shell with a crispy pancetta and Champagne vinegar dressing that complemented them wonderfully.

The pulpo alla piastra (seared octopus with chili & crushed olives) was probably my favorite; it was difficult to discern what was what, and I’m trying to research what “alla piastra” is, but it was so good, I didn’t care. Barbuto’s was delicious with chunks of olives and what I thought were caperberries, a little kick from the chili and the perfectly-cooked octopus.

I have a major weakness for pasta, and Barbuto’s don’t help. The gnocchi stagionati are not your typical gnocchi: perfect plump potato pillows are browned until just crisp and then served in a simple butter sauce with baby carrots, some greens and parmesan cheese. I could’ve eaten this for each course and have been happy. Although I was eyeing the carbonara (a favorite pasta of mine), we decided on the organetti con ragu on this cold winter’s night. This, too, was wonderful with its toothy ridged pasta (a cross between orecchiette and radiatore) covered in an earthy deep sauce of veal, pork and porcini, which could only have been improved had there been a light sprinkling of nutty Parmagiano Reggiano on top.

The spigola straccia is a dish our server recommended: striped bass with forest mushroom topped with a romesco sauce. I was disappointed because the fish was overcooked and slightly dry, but with a little imagination, I could see how this fish might be someone’s favorite especially with the romesco, a sauce traditionally made with garlic, almonds and chili and a favorite of mine. The gratin of swiss chard was amazing, slightly bitter chard baked with cream, parmesan and golden breadcrumbs… I could eat that now.

We also wanted a meat, and despite our server’s recommendation (and everyone else’s) of the chicken, none of us really wanted chicken. As one of my friends said, “Chicken is the one thing I can make at home.” That said, I was curious about the chicken after reading Adam Platt’s description of the “golden, crackly Peking-duck texture” of the skin, but we still couldn’t do it. Instead, we went with the pork shank (I almost always choose pork if possible), stinco di maiale, that is slow-cooked with cannelini beans and vin cotto (wine that’s reduced with flavorings to become like a syrup) until the pork is tender and falling off the bone.

We also ordered the polenta contorni, which I was hoping to have with the pork shank, but the timing was off, and we were practically finished with the pork by the time the polenta pillows arrived. On its own, the pork was fine; it was less flavorful, less fatty and less tender than I would’ve hoped, but it was okay. The polenta, on the other hand, was fabulous. Little nuggets of polenta that I believe were deep-fried to a puff – once you cracked open the puff, the inside was soft, creamy and lovely.

None of us could stomach dessert, after two bottles of wine and more food than I had imagined (many diners’ reviews complain about small portion sizes). Barbuto was packed by 8:30pm, and the noise level was loud, with acoustics that echoed in the open space. At a dinner where you’d actually like to hear your companions, I’d recommend that you go quite early. The food was excellent, and the tab was so affordable at $63 per person with tax and tip. Barbuto still makes me smile.

Pearl Oyster Bar
18 Cornelia Street between Bleecker and W. 4th Streets (West Village)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 691-8211
http://www.pearloysterbar.com/
Subway: A/C/E/B/D/F/Q to W. 4th Street; 1 to Christopher Street
Bus: M5/6/20 to Bleecker Street; M8 to 6th Avenue


On the last night my friend from Dubai was in town, we decided to gather our friends together again for a farewell dinner. We discussed options, and it came down to pizza or lobster rolls. And what made the decision was while you can get decent pizza wherever you are in the world, the lobster roll as good as Pearl Oyster Bar's is few and far between.

Pearl does not take reservations, and for our party of 10, I arrived around 7pm and put our name in for 8:15pm. We grabbed a drink down the street and waited for our perpetually-late friends to arrive. By 8:30pm, our group was complete, and we were seated just after 8:45pm. Pearl is a cozy restaurant, despite their expansion into the space next door. My favorite place to sit is at the bar, close to the open kitchen. Actually, I’d be willing to sit anywhere that isn’t the counter opposite the bar where there isn’t ample legroom which makes it quite uncomfortable.

The ambiance at Pearl feels beachy minus the squawking seagulls and lapping ocean waves. The menu is short but sweet, and I do not recommend Pearl to non-fish/seafood eaters. On the other hand, if you like seafood/fish, I recommend practically everything on the menu. Most of us had been here before, so we knew what would be good (lobster rolls, the chowder, salt-crusted shrimp, and anything from the raw bar), but there were things we had not tried. We've always considered the bouillabaisse or the crabcake; this time, we decided to go for it. The crabcake with huge chunks of lump crabmeat was really incredible, especially with the accompanying crunchy slaw. In fact, I prefer it to the highly-acclaimed salt-crusted shrimp. The bouillabaisse was also a pleasant surprise, although I can’t imagine ever ordering it instead of the lobster roll. Sharing it as a starter was an excellent idea. The lobster rolls were just as wonderful as remembered… a large meaty helping of mayo-based lobster salad served in a perfectly tender hot dog bun with a generous serving of shoestring fries. Another delicious surprise was the fried oyster roll (not on the dinner menu, but available by request) with approximately 12 fried oysters miraculously crammed into a small hot dog roll. My only change would be to request the tartar sauce on the side unless you really like tartar sauce; a large dollop is plopped atop the oyster roll which doesn't allow for even tartar sauce with each bite.

Although none of us were hungry, dessert is a given at a group dinner. The butterscotch praline parfait and Callebaut chocolate mousse were ravished by our group of 10, as well as an apple pie which was served to us by accident. It was a perfect finish to a perfect meal.

Pearl Oyster Bar is one of those places that can’t do no wrong.