In restaurants I usually go for the smaller, more intimate spaces rather than the splashy stage sets of which Jean George’s Spice Market was an early, successful example. But EN Japanese Brasserie on Hudson and Leroy doesn’t sacrifice its food to the textured, dramatic, warm interior design. A large restaurant, it offers three types of dining experience – sushi bar, individual dining tables and communal tables with high, comfortable bar stools.
The food is beautifully presented and delicious.
Small Kyoto dishes, fresh tofu which is sublime, wagyu beef and all manner of seafood added to traditional sashimi and sushi make for a wide assortment of choices. And the cocktails are marvelous, most particularly cucumber and vodka with lime, a touch of simple syrup and salt and pepper. That, with a plate of uni, is enough to lure me back right now.
And it is breakfast time as I write…
Metta, Norberto Piattoni's Fort Green neighborhood restaurant[/caption]
Francis Mallmann, the revered Argentinian chef made famous by his many restaurants around the world, a couple of books on his cooking style and a hit television series, Chef's Table, has ensured his legacy with a diaspora of chef proteges, two of whom have rolled up in New York. Norberto, better known to his friends as Negro, recently opened Metta, a neighborhood restaurant located on a quiet corner two blocks from the Fort Greene farmers market in Brooklyn. It offers sustainably sourced, vegetable-forward dishes all cooked in a custom designed, open-fire kitchen, using South American asado techniques, utilizing all aspects of the fire (smoke, flame, ash and embers) to create layers of flavor in dishes. Packed with happy diners the night I went, it is relaxed, delicious, interesting and fun.
[caption id="attachment_8248" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Flora Bar, Ignacio Mattos' third opening in New York[/caption]
Ignacio Mattos was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of Mallman and Slow Food legend, Alice Waters. His two other restaurants in New York, Estela, with its bold, Mediterranean-inspired cooking, and Altro Paradiso, with its Italian cuisine, are favorites of mine. Now, Ignacio has come with his team to the Met Brauer on 76th and Madison, offering small bites as well as main dishes in a comfortable setting either indoors or on the open terrace. Service is superb, wines delicious and the food captivating. The space, in my opinion, could do with some tlc - easily accomplished. If you can serve food like that, a bit of flower planting and decorating should come easy.
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