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“Knife and Fork”

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

MY DINNER AT KNIFE AND FORK
Over here at The Strong Buzz, I get all sorts of emails from readers. Some just write to say they like the site, others write to say they can’t stand it (or me). Then there are those looking for advice and help. Can you help with a restaurant to hold my mother’s 60th, my 25th, my brother’s stag party, my sister’s baby shower, my husband’s 40th?” I always send a few suggestions out there to help and often get feedback after the party about how things went which is always nice to hear. Then there are the lawyers in search of a way out. They write about once a week or so. Their plights are not really the quick fixes, but I do try to at least send a note of encouragement. Some days I think I should lead some sort of a support group. (Meet me in the LDR at sundown.)

So anyway, about a month ago I got an unusual email looking for help. This one was from a novelist named Alison Pace (www.alisonpace.com). And she wasn’t looking for a restaurant suggestion or advice about a career change. She said she was working on a novel about a restaurant critic, and she wondered if she might come to dinner with me to get the inside scoop on the life and times of a real food critic. This sounded fun to me. I assured her that while I was a critic, I was nowhere in the realm of Mimi, Grimes, Ruth, or Bruni, nor Gael, Hal, or Platt. I made sure she knew I was just a writer with a blog and a column in the New York Post. I told her I was often recognized and that I wore no disguises, but I told her I’d probably be able to share a thing or two about the business and would be happy to have her tag along to a dinner one night.

That night happened last week, at a little East Village restaurant that has gotten more food buzz than opening day at Shake Shack—a snug 30-seat spot called Knife and Fork. The buzz is not for naught. The restaurant is simply designed in that sort of ubiquitous warm and cozy way, with lots of bare wood accents including a heavy wood-framed mirror over the bar, and exposed brick walls. But here, tables are draped in white linen and the stemware is tall and by Schott Zwiesel. Knife and Fork may look like just your average bistro, but you get the sense that there’s more here than you might think. That something more comes from a small space located off the bar, where chef and owner Damien Brassel cooks and bakes (all of his delicious breads are done i ... [more, click below]

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Posted: July 23, 2006

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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