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“Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	East Village	Moderate	Good

It’s not every day you walk into a bar and find a room crowded with East Village hipsters throwing back beers, sipping cocktails, and snacking from, well, Seder plates. (Yes, as in Passover, that sort of Seder plate.) Indeed, it’s probably a sight that has never been seen, that is, until Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction came into being last month.

Mo’s is an absolutely fabulous trip of a Judeo-Latino brasserie, the creation brothers Phil and Jesse Hartman, of Two Boots Pizzeria. The restaurant celebrates the legend of Mo Pitkin: a Spanish Civil War vet who fled to Cuba where he played pinochle with Hyman Roth (and Castro’s half brother Mendel Hernandez) and become a competitive Samba dancer, and who then fled again to the United States (he was chasing the love of his life, Sadie), where he became a Chino-Latino short order cook by day and porter by night and eventually opened a successful stationary business. (Rare. I know. You can read the entire story of Mo on the back of their menu. It’s hysterical.) Not much more is known about Mo (other than his appearances at Jesse and Phil’s Bar Mitzvahs), but Jesse and Phil decided that his renegade spirit would be the inspiration for their East Village spot, a warm wood-paneled tavern and snug brasserie that celebrates the mixture of Jewish and Latin cuisine here in New York City. What this means in terms of a menu is a riff on every Jewish culinary stereotype, with a couple of Cuban touches thrown in for good measure. And what this means in terms of your evening is a very good time.

Really, fun is the thing at Mo Pitkin’s. It is frivolous, ridiculous, and just plain silly. If you need a laugh, which I did last week because this whole breakup thing with the chef is killing me, you must go. It will leave you smiling so hard your face will ache. We started our night with a round of cocktails. Jamie had Mo’s Orange Julius ($9)—a frothy, creamy intoxicating take on the original I remember getting at the Queens Mall when I was a kid. I had a Manischevetini ($8), a sort of sickly sweet variation on a Cosmo made with a splash of, yes, Manischevitz, and Steven had the Oso Blanco Margarita ($9), a tribute to the Latin side, a margarita with a splash of Mango simple syrup, served in a rocks glass that reminded me of the tumblers my Bibi uses.

When Kiri arrived, her car had broken down in the rain and so she was a bit tardy, we were in the mi ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 17, 2005

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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