The John Dory Brunch Edition

This weekend was the John Dory’s first weekend open for brunch. Maybe people don’t all get the constant food blog updates that I do, because the place was pretty empty at 12:30. Who was there you ask? Oh, just me and Tom Colicchio (with wife and son). No biggie. Just the head judge of top chef and owner/chef of the Craft restaurants. I tried my hardest to speak loudly when rating the food, just in case he needs a pedestrian judge next season. So, with my two celeb chef sightings (April Bloomfield was in the kitchen), I was ready to eat!

I’m not a cheater. So, don’t take this as me cheating on Cookshop. I still love it, just want to spread my Chelsea wings (or I guess Meat Packing District wings).

We started out with the apple and Guinness fritters. (Days when I plan to not workout at the gym, I make sure I eat the most fattening item on the menu.) They came to the table looking like donuts, with the crispy sweet crust of a glazed munchkin. In fact, they were apples coated with donut tasting dough, topped with beautifully crispy bacon. The bacon pieces were small but delightful and a great salty addition to the dish. The apples were warm and crunchy. Next, we had the Crab en Cocotte and the Hangtown Fry. I had to look up Cocotte to see what that meant: “a small fireproof dish in which individual portions of food are cooked and served”. That is exactly what I got (and what Mr. Colicchio’s son ordered in case you were keeping tabs). There were chunks of peaky-toe crab served in a soup of eggs (I had to crack the yolks), cream and mushrooms. The dish was a little heavy for my tastes, but very delicious. The soup (ok, it wasn’t a soup but it’s hard for me to describe it any other way since it came in a bowl and was liquidy in texture.) was accompanied by crispy buttered bread.

The Hangtown Fry came with a back-story, always a nice addition. (Supposedly) In the time of the gold rush, rich men would come into restaurants and ask for the most expensive item on the menu. Back in those days, the most expensive items were eggs and oysters. Therefore, a new dish was born. The Hangtown fry was a very thin frittata with grilled oysters on top. Sounds a little odd, but it was great. Frittatas are normally too heavy or dense, but since this was so thin, it was perfect. Ok, I just looked up Hangtown fry and this is what I got for you:

Hangtown fry could possibly be the first California cuisine. It consists of fried breaded oysters, eggs, and fried bacon, cooked together like an omelet. In the gold-mining camps of the late 1800s, Hangtown Fry was a one-skillet meal for hungry miners who struck it rich and had plenty of gold to spend. Live oysters would be brought to the gold fields in barrels of sea water after being gathered in and around San Francisco Bay. Such a meal cost approximately $6.00, a fortune in those days.
However it came to be, ordering a Hangtown Fry became a mark of prosperity for gold-rich miners, the status symbol of the day. The recipe swept the entire Northwest Territory, from California to Seattle, in the mid-1800s. A few drinks and a Hangtown Fry were considered a gentleman's evening.

The John Dory was one restaurant where I wish I remembered to bring my camera. Not only for the celeb sightings, but also for the food. The menu is small yet unique and flavorful.

L'Artusi

I doubt anyone wants to hear about the Boca Raton Diner where I had a very dry yet satisfying Boca burger yesterday for lunch. So, I’m going to tell you about L’Artusi, where I had dinner with The Pod (Happy Bday H!) Thursday night.

This new spot hails from the chef-partner from Dell’anima, one of the west village hot restaurants. Needless to say, I like neither at first glance. I went to Dell’anima the first month it opened, which I came to find from most new restaurants in the city is not a good idea. I did not enjoy it. Yet, everyone I know likes it there. Is it because I’m a food snob? Is it because I tried it to early? Maybe I just didn’t care for the wine. Who knows? I vowed to try it again, and I will one day. Next time, I’ll sit at the bar on the kitchen. I like to have the experience of watching my food be prepared.

I digress… I had a similar experience at L’artusi. The Pod (consisting of my two best friends H and R) raved about this place and we went for a little girls dinner Thursday night (Thursday is the new Weekend night around NYC). The hostess attempted to seat us upstairs, but no one puts The Pod in the corner, so we quickly asked for a seat in the first floor dining area. Our table was situated in front of the bar, which I assume lead to me not being able to hear any part of the conversation (lest any chance of eavesdropping which I love doing at restaurants). The bar area was not crowded, but I think the acoustics of the place was just horrendous. I read elsewere that someone called the restaurant energetic and cozy, I would agree if it wasn't decorated so trendy and energetic meant extremely loud. I think a place can be energetic without being overwhelming, but maybe I am wrong.

We, being girls, ordered a meal for one for three. We started with the Marlin crudo and Nantucket Bay sea scallops as our apps. The marlin, albeit tasty (never had Marlin before and was pleasantly surprised), was mixed with pieces of ginger which completely overwhelmed the taste. The slice of green apple (a fave) was a nice compliment. The dish would have been better off as a simple marlin tartar on the apple slice and it would have been much more enjoyable. Remember how much I love scallops? Well, this appetizer was a huge letdown. Nantucket Bay Scallops are small and sweet. Like the marlin, the dish should have been left simply as the scallops, with a hint of citrus. Now, I can’t be sure, but I think that the scallops were not even Nantucket Bay scallops. There were slices of scallops (instead of whole) in the dish, which made me feel like they were regular scallops cut up into pieces to look like the small ones. I believe that Scarpetta (see blog post) might have done the same thing. The L’artusi scallops do not hold a candle to The John Dory or the Union Square Café scallops, both phenomenal. I would not even suggest you get them. I heard the other scallop dish was far superior.

The rest of the meal partially made up for the noisy restaurant and the depressing appetizers. The skate was cooked nicely (I like Skate a lot, especially at Lure Fish Bar), but coming from a pescetarian, there was no need to throw in a piece of pork belly in the mix. I would say that usually when people order fish, they want to eat fish…or else I would have ordered a land walking animal. The brussel sprout side dish was excellent, well cooked and flavored nicely. The best out of all the dishes was to Pizzocheri, which N had at the last place we went Insieme (see blog post). This dish was slightly different, as his had meat in it and the pasta was obviously handmade. This was purely a well cooked buckwheat pasta dish severed with a generous portion of fontina cheese on top and then seemingly baked, because the cheese had melted and hardened on top. If you do go here and order pasta, I definitely recommend.

Needless to say, I do not need to go back any time soon (at least the company I keep is great!) I heard, but did not see, that they have a very nice group dining area on the second (quiet and uncool) floor. Yet, just like Dell’Anima, maybe I am being too harsh for a first try and will probably go again. Feel free to prove me wrong and try it yourself. I would appreciate any challeges. http://www.opentable.com/single.aspx?rid=26869&ref=1244

I could not find a website and the menu on Menupages is outdated. If you google map it, you should note that is the same spot as Maremma. I hope for L’artusi’s sake it fairs better…

Late Addition: I can not believe I forgot to mention the horrifyingly bad service! We sat at the table, after we told our waiter we would be odering wine, for atleast 10 minutes before he returned (after a mean look and hand gesture). When we got our food, all the dishes came without serving utensils, so we again had to wait for the waiter (who obviously had better things to do) to bring them to us. Eventually, someone did. This happened at each course. The only thing this guy did right was to bring the correct food we ordered, which I guess is a plus?