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“Bar Blanc”

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

is impeccable, elegant, and serious. Rather than offer a great roast chicken, some hearty meatballs or a good juicy steak a la Little Owl, Shorty’s or Market Table, Cesar and his partners have aimed high with the menu. Understand something—this is not haute barnyard. This is haute cuisine. Period. End of story.

An appetizer of tuna takes a strong swim away from the ubiquitous carpaccio/tartare formula and instead presents a slice of luscious tuna confit paired up with a ruby red circle of tuna sashimi, plated in a miso sauce flavored with squid ink and brightened up with ponzu and a drizzle of black truffle vinaigrette ($18). This dish was truly thrilling to eat. I can’t remember the last time I felt a thrill while eating tuna. It’s sort of the chicken of the sea, you know?

Ditto the slow roasted rabbit and sweetbread salad ($14). I loved the creativity and was also tickled by the idea of calling something that contains offal and small cute furry animals, a “salad.” Vegetarians everywhere are cringing. But this “salad” was fantastic—with a “dressing” made from sheep’s milk ricotta and just a fluff of baby greens on top to bring some honesty into the “salad” terminology. My only addition would be a bit of texture to the plate—the rabbit and the sweetbreads are soft and tender, and some contrast, some crunch or a better sear on something, perhaps, might be nice.

One of Cesar’s hallmarks is his very gentle touch. Like that rabbit salad, most of his food speaks quietly. Delicate flavors are coaxed out in a dish of red snapper perfumed with ginger and set on a mound of rather bland tofu puree with a clear shiso sauce ($29). This dish, to quote Seinfeld, is a soft talker. Its flavors are so gentle they’re barely audible. It’s almost annoying actually, since I tend to like food (and people) that raises its voice. Still, the fish was exquisite, cooked to a silky gloss and just barely infused with ginger. Cesar’s chicken is also a soft talker and quite a departure from the crispy skinned pan-roasting technique so popular at spots like Red Cat, Market Table, and Little Owl. Rather, this bird comes skinless, and slow poached, so its flesh is transformed into a sort of chicken cashmere, resting on a smooth as silk whip of brie cheese and fingerling potato puree (read: liquid brie with potatoes tossed in for fun), with a ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 21, 2008

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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