Recette

Where:  328 West 12th Street, NYC

Menu:  http://recettenyc.com/dinner.htm

What:  Dinner with a girlfriend

Scene:  A tiny, working class Parisian bistro.  Dimly lit; tiny, close-together tables, bistro chairs.

Drinks:  Champagne, mais oui!  (Note, though, that the wine menu is quite pricey.)

Food:  Believe it or not, the beef carpaccio was near-transcendental.  Generally, I'm not that into the dish - it feels "done" at best, and lazy or dated at worst.  But this was something else entirely.  First, the beef was perfectly sliced.  I can't bear carpaccio that's cut too thin because it makes it seem fibrous and unpleasant.  But, if you cut it too thick then it's mushy ... and also unpleasant.  In my opinion, this was just right - about the same thickness as an inner ring of a medium-sized shallot.  The carpaccio was wrapped around a lovely ball of burrata and topped with micro-basil, watercress, and what they called a "tomato jam."  It looked like tiny caviar suspended in gel, and in my opinion, it was terribly misnamed.  I would call it the Platonic form of the perfect summer tomato.  All together, it was a flavor explosion, and wildly evocative of a dream day in the Tuscan countryside.  (Also on the plate was a porcini puree that neither added to nor detracted from the taste.)

Other strong dishes included:
- a fresh cut spaghetti topped with a lush, velvety tomato sauce, sweet shrimp, and sea urchin
-a side of fall vegetables - perfectly roasted, earthy delights

But.  But.  Other dishes just didn't work.  We tried salt cod fritters (bland, overly breaded) with a lamb ragu (cold, dry, overly chunky) and a baffling curry aioli. 

The jamon serrano was fine, but the plate was a mess - just tangled pork and a smear of mustard.  The jamon went very well with a raisin nut bread which we purloined from the cheese plate.  (We decided not to waste it on the waxy, unpleasant goat cheese and the waxy unpleasant jam it came with.) 

Most curious of all was the foie gras, which was singularly unappetizing.  I didn't know foie could be unappetizing, truly, but this plate was just a heavy, greasy mess.  The foie was unevenly seared and cut too thick, and it was served with hunks of additional grease and the most dry, inedible biscuit I've ever tasted.  It compared unfavorably with hardtack, which is saying something.

Dessert (a deconstructed s'more sundae with an unadvertised hit of jalapeno) was interesting, but ultimately fell flat.

Bonus:  The service from the busboys and second waiters.  (Our main waiter, however, alternated between indifferent, impatient, and absent.  Ugh.)

Overall:  Writing this review surprised me, because it seems that I should have enjoyed the meal more than I did.  After all, several dishes ranged from solid to divine, and I was having bubbles with une amie.  But between the service, the near misses, the flops, and the price tag, I felt like the experience fell flat.

More NYC and Boston to come,

the U.E.