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“Bistro du Vent-- Closed”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	French	Midtown	Moderate	Great

well to the piquant kraut and Dijon mustard and was quickly demolished. The House-Smoked Tuna ($11) is a wonderful dish that takes tuna out of the ordinary (tired) realm of sashimi, carpaccio or tartare. (YAY!) Pasternack serves generous slices of dark and silky red tuna—lightly smoked so the flavor is more like a sheer veil than a heavy opaque fabric—with a refreshing salad of blood oranges, fennel and watercress. We also had the Grilled Shrimp with Panisse and Chickpea Vinaigrette ($11)—three amazingly juicy head-on shrimp served with a silver dollar sized chickpea cake dressed in a fabulous lemony vinaigrette that was sort of like a thin version of hummus.

Then came that perfectly cooked cabbage which we paired with Pasternak’s Spit-Roasted Lamb Shank with Moroccan Spices ($20). (Make a mental note to order something from the in-house spit. Pasternack offers organic chicken, pork loin, or lamb shank—each roasted until tender and lacquered to perfection in an a spit that resembles a fire-breathing armoire—a glass-doored closet with shelves of fire.) The shank—about the length of the distance from your wrist to your elbow—is spit-roasted until moist, flaking off the bone, and smacked with intense flavor. It is glorious, and the perfect cold weather meal. In fact, though I hate to say this, it is the sort of dish that makes you want winter all year long. Who needs warm weather and light summer meals delicately plated with asparagus and peas when you can have that shank? Bring on the snowy weather! Forget that groundhog and his shadow! We cleaned the shank of all its deliciously moist meat and returned a naked plate (save the bone) to the kitchen. I was ready to go back and kiss the executive chef (Lawrence DiJoseph), but thought the better of it considering we had never met before, and I didn’t want to be arrested or ejected from the restaurant. If I do meet him, I plan on kissing him (or at least thanking him), if he lets me.

More kissing was due to the chef when dessert arrived. We loved the Spit Roasted Pineapple—sort of like a tarte tatin without the tart dough—topped with this wild Pepto-Bismol colored scoop of pink peppercorn ice cream that left a little fire of spice on the tip of my tongue. Come on, you have to kiss someone after that.

Anyway, despite the fact that I kissed no one that night, I liked Bistro du Vent for many reasons. First, the food and the vi ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 13, 2005

Other restaurants in Midtown :
+ Lever House   + Aquavit   + RM   + Joseph's (formerly Citarella The Restaurant)   + Town   + Artisanal   + The Oyster Bar   + Geisha   + David Burke and Donatella Restaurant   + Riingo   + Amma   + Cafe Sabarsky   + The Stone Rose Lounge   + BLT Steak   + V, The Steakhouse-- Closed   + Bar Masa   + Cafe Gray   + The Bar Room at The Modern   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + Bistro du Vent-- Closed   + Shaburi   + Xing   + The Modern   + Bar Americain   + Alto   + Park Blue   + Mainland-- Closed   + Nobu 57   + Quality Meats   + Dona-- CLOSED   + Daisy May's   + 7Square-- CLOSED   + Amalia   + Fireside   + Anthos   + Patroon   + BLT Market   + Toloache   + Mia Dona   + Park Avenue Summer   + Convivio   + The Oak Room by guest reviewer Julie Besonen   + At Vermilion by guest reviewer Elaine Weiner   + Lunching at Inakaya, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Marea, by Guest Reviewer Susan Kane Walkush   + Le Bernardin   + New York Central -- A Reason To Eat at the Grand Hyatt Again   + Pampano Botaneria by Dara Pollak   

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