Description
Moving into the old Rubyfruit space in the West Village, Swine occupies two floors of a Tudor town house. The bottom level is semi-subterranean and rec room--ish, with an open kitchen in the rear, while the upper floor is like an ancient tavern, lit by flickering candles and offering dark nooks here and there. Despite the name's suggestion, pork products constitute only a small proportion of the New American--style menu. Among them are a cool-to-the-tongue foie gras torchon served with toast, chunky headcheese with bread-and-butter pickles, and a rather predictable pork belly entrée. Go instead for the bacon-braised rabbit leg over polenta or the hamburger, made with brisket and bone marrow and moist. The menu favors small plates in myriad categories, and your best bet might be to assemble one of the three-, five-, or seven-choice boards from lists of charcuterie, cheeses, and cold cuts, making nice drinking snacks, but not really full meals. --Robert Sietsema
