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“Irving Mill”

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

menu. Others come close. Every time I have eaten at Irving Mill I’ve had to have the grilled quail ($16), even though I generally like to order new things rather than repeat. But the quail is deserving of seconds. It’s juicy and gamey, and served split down the middle on a mound of toothy stone-ground cheddar grits spiced up with smoked paprika. My only suggestion would be to offer the option to do this as an entrée with two birds because one just is not enough.

The chicken liver crostini ($12) falls into this category of “more, please” as well. If you’re a fan of chopped liver, you won’t want to miss it. Served already slathered on wide slices of country bread, it’s creamy but with some texture, and it’s got that rich livery unctuous flavor happening. But it gets a first class upgrade from its garnish—crisped bacon, cooked quince, and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar that cuts the fat just the right amount. Another favorite was the pickled sardines ($12), plated in a long thin strip layered with roasted beets, blanched fingerling potatoes, plump black olives, and a few little dots of saffron aioli that are not really even necessary; the flavors are bright and punchy enough on their own. I’d love to see all the ingredients of this dish in a sandwich at lunch, with an egg on top. Yum.

Other appetizers are not quite as successful. The pretty handmade cauliflower ravioli ($15) didn’t have enough personality. While I thought the sauce of capers and red onion would wake up the Parmesan and hazelnuts, I really didn’t find this dish all that interesting. It lacked that last pinch of zip. Ditto the grilled baby octopus ($15), which while textbook correct—the octopus was tender and marked by a good smoky char, its flavors were rather ordinary despite a supporting cast that included roasted pepper caponata, shaved fennel and preserved lemon. It just didn’t sing. Indeed, if there’s a weakness to the cooking, it’s that sometimes that one last element is missing from a dish that would make it really pop.

And this is surprising to me considering so many other dishes do. Schaefer’s striped bass ($26) was wildly good—two pieces of fish each the size of a deck of cards, seared off so they’re both buttery and golden, resting on a mound of spinach, with fingerling potatoes, and a roasted pepper and rosemary vinaigrett ... [more, click below]

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Posted: December 24, 2007

Other restaurants in Gramercy :
+ Casa Mono/Bar Jamon   + Pure Food & Wine   + Parea   + Gramercy Tavern (Lunch)   + 15 East   + Tocqueville   + Irving Mill   + Bar Milano   + Irving Mill   + Maialino   + Asellina   + Corkbuzz Wine Studio   + Breads, by guest reviewer Tracy Weiss   

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