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“Cookshop”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Chelsea	Moderate	Great

Saturday night was a reunion of sorts for me—it was the first night in almost two months that I had dinner with Susie, one of my closest and most treasured friends who had just spent seven weeks at Harvard for their Management MBA program for assorted geniuses of various industries. Susie is a total star, and she is like a sister to me—a sister you adore and cherish, not one whom you can’t stand. Not having her in my life these past weeks was like not having wine with dinner; you can do it, but it’s not pleasant—it’s just not right without it. And so for her first night back, Jamie, Adrienne and I took her to the most inspired new restaurant to open in her almost two month absence. We took her to Cookshop.

Cookshop, as most of you have probably already read, is the sophomore project of Marc Meyer, Vicki Freeman and Chris Paraskevaides, the owners of Five Points, and it bears similar marks of design and menu. But Cookshop is Five Points with a more ambitious agenda. Like Five Points, Marc always honors not only the seasons, but our region’s local farmers. But his mission at Cookshop takes this Five Points directive one step farther. Not only is his produce local, but all his fish is wild and all his meats come exclusively from small family farms that raise animals on grass feed, in wide pastures with no antibiotics or hormones.

The design of Cookshop is also reminiscent of Five Points, but it has a more lofty, urban slant. The space is larger and embraced with windows. Its ceilings are lined with smooth wood beams, sturdy tables are fashioned from solid pale wood, and erect chairs are handmade by a local Williamsburg designer who must be into very good posture cause these chairs are stiff and straight. Meyer and his sous chef Joel work in an buzzing open kitchen stocked with a wood oven and a custom made fire breathing rotisserie that faces the short end of the L-shaped dining room. And as at Five Points, the spacious bar area offers a few tables for walk-ins.

Cookshop feels warm, happening, and hip, but at times the energy can feel a bit frantic. Walking in the other night we were behind a line of about a dozen people waiting to check in with the hostess. It took some time to snake through the masses to even let her know we had arrived for our table. Once we made it over to her, we were seated quite quickly and the atmosphere in the dining room was much more soothing, but still with a he ... [more, click below]

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Posted: November 6, 2005

Other restaurants in Chelsea :
+ Matsuri   + La Bottega   + Tia Pol   + Bombay Talkie   + Cookshop   + D'Or Ahn: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Buddakan   + Crema   + InTent: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Trestle on Tenth   + Klee   + El Quinto Pino   + Socarrat   + Txikito   + Co. (Company)   

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