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“Dovetail”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Upper West Side	Break the Bank	Great

o;s cut into a circle, but this one’s made up of chocolaty red-wine braised beef cheeks, layered with thin sheets of potatoes, turnips, and celery root. Think haute Shepherd’s Pie. It’s really quite extraordinary, and while it’s merely a side dish to the sirloin, it could really stand on its own. Our other entrée, the scallops, was like spa food compared to the sirloin. They’re the size of crab cakes, and served caramelized to an amber glaze, paired up with refreshing grapefruit segments and a nutty parsnip puree, dotted with almonds ($28).

Pastry chef Vera Tong is also quite a talent, and her style dovetails (sorry, it had to be done) very nicely with her savory counterpart. She takes classic America desserts and brings them a bit of whimsy and style. I’m a huge fan of carrot cake, and if it’s ever on a menu, it’s in my tummy. Hers is moist and soft, and piped with a topping of golden raisin and fennel puree and served with a scoop of brown butter ice cream that’s officially my new favorite flavor. Why has it taken me so long to realize that brown butter ice cream is the way to go? Forget chocolate, it’s all about the butter, baby. Her citrus supreme is quite elegant and delicate, a soft cake with Meyer lemon curd and almonds. The brioche bread pudding takes a wild route with the addition of bananas and bacon brittle, bringing an unexpected salty smoky flavor that’s the perfect foil for sweetness. Apparently, what bread pudding has needed all along is just a little bacon. (That can be said for most things in this life.)

So, yes, the food at Dovetail is terrific. It alone deserves the three stars that Bruni awarded it in the Times, but those three stars are also its curse. There's an expectation of excellence that's created with those stars that's not being met. The front of the house service is not as polished as it should be (the scrum at the door should not have happened), and the depressing decor seems at odds with creating atmosphere. A three-star restaurant needs to nail all of these elements and in my mind—hospitality, design, and food—and Dovetail doesn't. While the kitchen puts on Nicole Kidman or a George Clooney performance—smart, refined, passionate, and irresistible—the room lands squarely on the Red Carpet’s Worst Dressed List.

Dovetail is located at 103 West 77th Street, at Columbus Avenue, ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 27, 2008

Other restaurants in Upper West Side :
+ 'Cesca   + Asiate   + Blue Hill Stone Barns   + Per Se   + The Neptune Room   + Spigolo   + Telepan   + Aix Brasserie   + 'Cesca   + Bar Boulud   + Dovetail   + BarBao   + Dinosaur Bar-be-Que   + Kefi   + Bar Luna   + Ed's Chowder House   + Red Rooster, by Rachel Barbarotta   + Loi by Dara Pollak   

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