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“5 Ninth”

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

t we’re here to discuss. It is the reason for this review: Dinner at 5 Ninth. It’s good. Really good.

Craig and I had dinner in the garden at 5 Ninth with two friends, two Joshes, actually. One Josh was visiting from Dallas for the Fancy Food Show, and the other Josh lives, and explores the meaning of life (and how to meet and marry a nice Jewish woman on J-date) here in New York City. He’s 31, sweet, a real mensch, girls.

Anyway, we sat down in the garden and I thought, well, Andrea, this was a mistake. (The garden, not the restaurant.) I didn’t realize how much of an oven it was outside when I had requested our table in the leafy reprieve. Somehow I thought a magical breeze would be waiting for us back there. No such luck. While the lights were twinkling and pretty, I was contemplating how it might be if I took a wine bucket full of ice and turned it over on top of my head. Would anyone notice? If I was quiet about it, maybe not? Craig and the Joshes were mopping their brows. We were all melting. Oh, dear. Instead of the wine bucket over our heads, we kept hydrating with glasses of Vincent’s refreshing rum-based sangria. It helped a little, but eventually we just realized we’d lose a lot of water weight during dinner. Not such a bad thing.

So, back to that dinner menu. Chino’s palate is very Pelaccio (a good thing)—there’s still a lot of pork, tons of chilis, loads of picklings, and a nice respect for local ingredients. But Chino’s dishes are tuned down an octave. There’s less fear, more comfort. For instance, a luscious hunk of braised and roasted black pepper pork belly is tucked into a cool crisp cup of Bibb lettuce, and topped with a sweet-hot roasted garlic and chili jam ($14). A salad of cucumber mango and green papaya is tossed with charred long beans, peanuts and lip-licking spicy tamarind sauce ($14). Lobster wontons ($15) are piping hot and crunchy, made from egg roll dough folded over like origami envelopes, and filled up with lumps of lobster with a soy sake vinaigrette and a salad of spring garlic.

The menu also includes a selection of sandwiches, a nice option for those who aren’t interested in a huge dinner. But these are far from petite or delicate. There’s a smoked beef brisket with Vermont cheddar, grilled onions, pickled chilis and beef jus ($14), and a remarkable Cuban stuffed with Berkshire pork, prosciutto di ... [more, click below]

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Posted: July 16, 2007

Other restaurants in MeatPacking :
+ Paradou   + Florent   + One   + Bivio   + Spice Market   + Ono   + 5 Ninth   + Fatty Crab   + Del Posto   + Morimoto   + Los Dados   + 5 Ninth   + Merkato 55   + Scarpetta   + The John Dory   + The Standard Grill   + Bill's Bar & Burger   

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