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“The Harrison”

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

and had mentioned that the food was quite spectacular. I had to check it out for myself. And now, I can say this with certainty: It will not be as long until I return for dinner again.

I love a chef who gets seasoning. And by seasoning, I don’t just mean salt and pepper. I mean acidity—whether from vinegar, citrus juice, or wine. Food needs acid. Like women need long talks and lots of shoes, and like men need, well, actually, I don’t know what men need, which is another topic all together, but food? Food I know. And it needs acidity. And it is so sad that many chefs often leave this element out of their cooking. This is not the case at The Harrison. What becomes clear very early on—say after the silky Pacific yellowtail sashimi in a pool of granny smith apple jus hits your mouth with a bright tart pucker—is that Brian (and the folks cooking with him on that line every night), knows that the mouth is not merely excited by food. It is excited by joyously seasoned food. It is sort of like a kiss. Yes, it’s nice to be kissed. Way back, when I was kissing someone regularly, I remember enjoying it quite a bit, actually. But if the guy doesn’t know what he is doing and you end up with a slobering wet kiss, well, that is not good people. The same goes for food. No finesse? I’d rather eat a bowl of cereal.

Anyway, back to that yellowtail. It is served in a granny smith apple jus that is nice and tart, but its flavor is rounded and softened thanks to some toasted pecans and diced Asian pear. And don’t forget the element of heat—Brian adds a bit of Daikon radish just to make sure you are really paying attention. I was rapt.

His Peekytoe crab salad ($15) was another winner—lovely lumps of sweet crabmeat, topped with diced avocado and juicy grapefruit supremes, and a soft purr of heat from mustard oil. But the cavatelli with braised rabbit ($12) shows off another gift. They guy can make pasta. The cavatelli are plump and light, and they are served in the rabbit’s braising jus, with ribbons of escarole, and some mint to wake it all up. Love that touch of mint in there. It was a perfect kiss.

The one clunker for us was a dish that has gotten a lot of favorable press: The Biscuits and Gravy ($12)—a pair of dense scallion chive biscuits smothered in a thick opaque gravy made from roux and clam broth ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 29, 2006

Other restaurants in Tribeca :
+ Lunchbox Food Company--Closed   + 66: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Ola-- Closed   + Bouley   + Dominic   + Landmarc   + Pace-- Closed   + EN Japanese Brasserie   + Centrico   + Cercle Rouge   + The Harrison   + Turks & Frogs Tribeca   + Devin Tavern   + Dani-- Closed Now   + Bacaro/Smith & Mills   + The Harrison   + Matsugen, By Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Forge   + Macao Trading Company   + Harbour   + Review text tbd...   + Mehtaphor   + Brushstroke   + Jung Sik   

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