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“Yumcha-- CLOSED”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	West Village	Moderate	Great

There is just one thing I didn’t like about Yumcha. But aside from this singular issue, the rest of the dining experience—from the magnificent “Modern Chinese” cuisine, to the fine service, to the serene and elegant space designed by Glen Coben (with a bathroom that is so peaceful and relaxing I felt like I was in a spa), to the rosebuds imported from Beijing that bob around in their homemade infused teas—is flawless, and one I would like to repeat, and often. The one thing I don’t like is, well, you know what, I’ll make you wait until the end of the review for that. (NO CHEATING!)

Yumcha, a cool, clean and modernly Zen space warmed with rich garnet tones and dark wood, is located in the space that was formerly Bar D’O. The restaurant has undergone a radical makeover since those days. You’ll now find soft lantern lighting, glass walls etched with Chinese characters, and a lean open kitchen that allows the trance-like aroma of ginger, chiles, and star anise to fill the room, and permits diners to watch chef Anglelo Sosa, a handsome guy with a great smile, at work. Sosa, who has spent most of his career in the tutelage of Jean Georges (Spice Market and at Restaurant Jean Georges), describes his menu as “Modern Chinese”—he spent a month working in Hong Kong and learning real Chinese technique—but to me it is so much more than that.

His cooking style, which clearly contains elements of Modern and Chinese, more importantly illustrates the development process of a brilliant young chef—one who is pulling from past experience in multi-starred French kitchens, and layering those skills with his own personal vision, along the way producing a menu of rare and wonderful dishes fueled by his own imagination and steeped in the exotic senses and flavors of the Far East.

I dined at Yumcha last week with my friend Robert Oliver, a Fijian chef (most recently of The Cleaver Company) who will open a new place in the East Village (more to come on that later this summer), and a few friends of his—a fabulous group of men that included Dan Dimin, an entrepreneur who has just started over-nighting sustainable, line-caught fish from the West Indies (Tobago) to New York City. (If you are a chef looking for quality fish, check out www.tobagowild.com. He is selling to Le Bernardin, 71 Clinton, and Gramercy at the moment.) We all gathered ‘round a big circular table and ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 24, 2005

Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   

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