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“BLT Fish”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Seafood	Flatiron	Moderate	Great

tuna (we had it rare), layered with tapenade, bacon, hard-boiled egg, arugula and tomato. The sandwiches were both beautifully overrun by a massive attack of fries—golden, salted and perfectly cooked. Sides ($6) are sized for sharing with a group of twenty to thirty of your friends (portions are VERY generous). Onion strings—an avalanche of twisted fried ribbons of caramelized onions were fantastic, as were the firm and flavorful green beans, the lightly beer-battered jalapeños shamelessly stuffed with cream cheese (so bad, but so good), and the charred corn on the cob served with those little corn-on-the-cob holder things stuck into either side for easy eating. (The menu also includes a selection of fish—wild salmon, scallops, snapper, lobster, and fish & chips—with choice of sides, which we didn’t get to. Stay tuned for more on these dishes soon.)

Desserts are absolutely necessary here. No excuses, people. I don’t care if you have to jog ten extra miles on the treadmill, eat dessert. Pasty chef Nancy Olson is turning out homemade cakes and pies that will have you ready to come in every afternoon for an after school snack. Key Lime Pie is cheek-puckering and lovely on a crusty base of graham cracker, her chocolate layer cake is moist and fluffy and filled with alternate layers of hazelnut, and white and dark chocolate buttercream, her apple pie is a tall skyscraper of sliced apples with a crunchy coffee-cake like topping and a buttery pastry crust. (Yes, I devoured it.)

All together, BLT Fish offers simple, ego-free, great food. Tourondel, a chef who has cooked in France at Restaurant Ledoyen with Jacques Maximin (and staged with Joel Robuchon), in London at Boodles, in Russia at Restaurant Mercury, and here in the US at CT, The Palace Court in Vegas (where he won the Food & Wine Best New Chef award), and Cello, is not short of talent. But here his most amazing skill is letting go of his pedigree, and relaxing. At BLT Fish, he puts aside all pretension and just has a good time with America’s coastal cuisine.

That Laurent is having a great time at BLT Fish shows not only in the food, but also in the vibe of the restaurant. There’s a nice long bar with TVs, an awesome cocktail list from drinks-miester Fred Dexheimer (like the Squid Ink with crushed blackberries, blueberries and Bacardi limon, $11), and cool list of regional beers on tap like the Whale’s Tale Ale ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 16, 2005

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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