Description
This is the quintessential "sceney" New York restaurant, the one filled with fashion industry types, gawking tourists and European playboys more concerned with the celebrities they might spot than the food they are eating. Not that the food is bad; David Santos, formerly of Five & Diamond, brings a touch of Portugal to the American comfort food menu, plus all of the owners are vets of restaurants that got the scene-to-quality-of-food ratio somewhat right (Freeman's, Pastis, La Esquina). Seafood is well represented with the cocoa and coffee-dusted monkfish and grilled Spanish mackerel, complemented by meatier dishes like the whole-roasted chicken for two and dry-aged prime rib-eye steak. The cocktails are decidedly old-school, a nod to the space's rich history as a boarding house frequented Mark Twain and Edna St. Vincent Millay. The restaurant is absolutely draped in nostalgia, with each of the many small dining rooms packed with quirky artwork, antiques and reclaimed wood, all hidden by a discrete speakeasy-style entrance.—Keith Wagstaff
