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“Market Table”

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

nside four walls of a restaurant that feels hip but casual, that's intimate and comforting. That formula is what makes up the backbone of The Little Owl, owned by Campanaro and his genuinely hilarious and charming front-of-house partner Gabriel Stulman, and it is also the foundation of the general store/restaurant known as Market Table.

Market Table may be on everyone's lips as the table to eat at, but walk inside and you're not in the hot spot du jour, you're in a slice of Mayberry that somehow got transplanted to the West Village. The double life of the restaurant as both grocery and restaurant contributes to its countrified charm. There's a general store up front-the market-stocked with flowers, olive oils, breads, assorted jars of mustard and fancy condiments, as well as cheeses, housemade sauces, breadsticks and more. The glassed-in deli case which separates the store from the open kitchen (it's okay to wave to Mikey) is filled with what you might find in a chef's walk-in-butchered meat and fish, fresh herbs, gravlax, sauces and stocks, and dairy products like cheese and butter. Counter tops are covered with that day's baked goods, including muffins, grissini, and a sheet of must-have tomato pie.

I've gotta say a few words about that tomato pie, actually. Partner Joey Campanaro hails from Philly and his recipe for tomato pie is quite special. It's essentially a cheeseless pizza with a very intense, almost meaty tomato sauce studded with brackish cured olives. The sauce has a somewhat puttanesca zing to it. It makes me wonder why Joey has not opened a tomato pie shop here. (Joey?) Hang around long enough in the market and you're bound to get a cooking tip or two, or a taste of something one of the chefs is working on-a nibble of gravlax, a bite of tomato pie, a blini with caviar. It's sort of like being at home with mom in the kitchen, except that mom in this case is a team of cooks and one super talented chef. Plus there's less guilt.

But soon you'll want to leave the Mayberry Market and settle in for dinner, where you'll find a modest menu made of seven apps and seven entrees. The simple format belies Mikey's straight-forward approach to cooking: let the food do its thing by doing as little as possible to it. The result is chicken that tastes like it came from Kobe, crab that tastes just plucked from a claw, and eggplant that's left to be an eggplant, with flavors coaxed out by little more than a hot oven, salt, and olive oil. Cra ... [more, click below]

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Posted: October 8, 2007

Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   

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