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“Seymour Burton”

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

e place was buzzing. The smooth, long slender communal table was filled with the usual suspects, 20- and 30-somethings from the neighborhood dressed in hipster rag-tag thrift and a few cozy older couples with bifocals happily digging into latkes with applesauce and sour cream. Along the banquettes a few larger groups gathered, glasses of half drunk red wine in hand.

Ana, Shawn and I had a few glasses of Cava to start while we looked over the menu, which is written in white chalk on a smooth oversized blackboard that runs the length of the restaurant. It reads (with some strain from across the room) like a cross between Prune and Five Points. You’ll find duck liver toasts, polenta with burrata and marinated olives, quail stuffed with pork sausage, chestnuts and kasha, and brussels sprouts Grand Mere (with bacon and brown butter). We were having trouble deciding what not to order. Meehan had raved about the burger, but we weren’t in the mood. It was cold outside and we wanted some hearty winter food. But to start, we matched our Cava with the JW Pancakes ($15), an ode to Cohn’s mentor Jonathan Waxman. The dish is a classic: buckwheat blini topped with smoked salmon crème fraiche and American caviar—what could be wrong with that? When paired with Cava and good friends, not really all that much. But to be honest, the blini were really too much like silver dollars—rather sturdy and thick, and not delicate and thin as I’d expected.

Our oyster chowder ($9) was also disappointing. It arrived merely room temp, not piping hot, and was rather watery and lacking in any discernable seasoning. Hmm. I was confused. Maybe the rush of people had derailed the kitchen? But then we ordered another round of Cava and went to work on a shallow bowl of fried clam bellies that were perfectly cooked so that their briny juice squirted through a cloak of crunch ($10). Maybe not? But then our entrees that night were also middling. The pan-roasted chicken ($19) was spectacular, but the five-peppercorn pork shoulder with creamy polenta and gremolata ($18) was not. It was tender, sure, but shockingly bland considering the five-spice braise, and the “creamy” polenta was seemingly cooked with tap water and was utterly tasteless. Oh no. We were getting ready to be very sad for this adorable little restaurant. But then we tried the chicken and things changed. We were wowed—bowled over, even. The chicken is d ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 28, 2008

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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