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“Provence”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	French	Soho	Moderate	Great

blanc, Cointreau, Pastis, and lemon. They hired Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton (a food photographer and food editor, respectively) to spiff up the place. The pair traveled to Europe to hand-pick chairs and antiques that would lend an authentic Provençal flavor to the restaurant. They reupholstered the chairs, wrapped the room in lace and toile, painted walls yellow and blue, and shined up the bar—a heavy slab of ivory marble veined with gray—and the wide facade of French doors. Adding a bit of whimsy, they wallpapered the bathrooms with the pages of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the ladies room and Three Musketeers in the men’s (a mesmerizing experience and has caused a delay in my return to my table on more than one occasion). They opened the doors in April, and the crowds descended, right on cue.

Jamie, Alison, Kiri and I had dinner early on in the life of the new Provence. It was a rainy Friday night, and we found Provence bursting at the seams with life. It was three-deep at the bar, with icy platters of oysters and glasses of sparkling wine littering the marble top. Banquettes were lined with faces aglow with the sunny warmth of Provence. Rosé flowed, even though the night was cold and rainy.

Dinner was, for the most part, terrific. A platter of golden salt cod fritters were fat and firm, all salt cod, served with a creamy aioli warmed with the flavor of orange ($9). An endive salad was dressed in anchoide—a lemon and anchovy dressing that’s bold and naughty—and tossed with Treviso (a red radicchio from the city of Treviso) and Parmesan ($10). The goat cheese soufflé ($10), made from Westfied Farms cheese, was something from a cheese-lovers dream sequence—high, fluffy and warm and tangy with fresh chevre. When punctured, it remained spongy but still light and buoyant, slowly falling down over grilled asparagus.

For dinner, the whole dourade, grilled in a splash of lemony chervil vinaigrette and topped with Nyon olive puree, was magnificent ($M/P). The skin was nicely seasoned, and the right wrapper for delicate meat. A plate of glossy melting braised shortribs was set up with roasted fingerling potatoes and a punch of fresh horseradish could not have been simpler, or better. But even so, a side of long, hot ... [more, click below]

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Posted: July 9, 2007

Other restaurants in Soho :
+ Balthazar   + Savoy   + Blue Ribbon   + Lupa   + Public   + Kittichai   + Lure Fishbar   + Barmarche   + Porcupine-- CLOSED   + Ama   + La Esquina   + Jerry's- Closed Now   + The Tasting Room   + Papatzul   + Shorty's.32   + The Monday Room   + Ed's Lobster Bar   + Aurora   + Provence   + Tailor   + Hundred Acres   + Delicatessen, By Guest Reviewer Julie Besonen   + The Mott   + The Dutch   + Cherrywood, by Guest Reviewer Dara Pollak   

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