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“European Union”

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

 

MY DINNER AT EUROPEAN UNION

Drama happens a lot in the restaurant business. Witness the latest round of chef casualties—Neil Ferguson (Gordon Ramsay), Chris Albrecht (Craftsteak), Ed Witt (Varietal)—and you get just a taste of the constant soap opera that unfolds behind the swinging kitchen doors. But drama is an understatement when one examines the long and winding road that makes up the history of European Union. Indeed, the story of EU—Jason Hennings and Bob Giraldi’s raw-bricked urban pub—was starting to taste Shakespearean. I hate to rehash it again—the closings, openings, the chefs, the battle with the community board—so you know what, I’m not going to. Let’s give this restaurant a fresh start shall we? After all it’s got a new (wildly talented) chef and it deserves a clean slate. The past can take up a lifetime in the present if you let it. So I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say, let’s not look back to the struggles that these guys have endured to get here. Let’s stick to the present, to where we find them now.

And where we find them, friends, is smack dab in the sweet spot. They’ve landed Akhtar Nawab, one of my favorite chefs, and coincidentally someone who’s also got a ghost or two in his kitchen past. He left Craftbar to open a place of his own—Allen & Delancey—only to have his backer pull the plug on the last round of financing. Ouch. When chef Sara Ochs left EU to work at The Spotted Pig, a mutual friend introduced him to Jason. They hit it off, and within days he was at the stoves of EU, developing a new menu and retraining the staff to kick some, well, you know. After cleaning house (save one cook), and bringing in and training a new kitchen crew, Akhtar and his team have hit their stride, turning out food that’s not only beautifully executed, and quite a joy to eat, but that also seamlessly fits with the concept. You kinda need to do all three to really hit the mark, and he does.

The menu at EU, which is actually also your placemat, printed in tall black sans seraf typeface on a wide rectangle of butcher paper, starts with tapas—generously portioned, palate igniting fare to share while you look over the wine list and plan out the rest of your meal. Mushrooms a la Greque ($6) are spectacu ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 9, 2007

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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