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“Primehouse”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	New American	Flatiron	Break the Bank	Good

ide and hot and potatoey in the center, but I’m over truffle oil. (I think I was over it about 5 years ago.) I’d remake that recipe with salt and vinegar or even a nice spice rub instead. But the creamed spinach is among the best I’ve had. You can actually taste the spinach more than the cream, and it’s ramped up with a good deal of nutmeg and onions. It reminded me of a Persian dish my Bibi makes called Booroni—essentially sautéed spinach with soft scrambled eggs, onions, cinnamon and nutmeg. You should try it. It’s a great breakfast or light dinner with salad and warm pita.

I returned to Primehouse again to expand my world beyond my favorite meal. Instead of oysters, this time we started with the classic Caesar salad ($11), which is prepared and served tableside in a neat little cart contraption that certainly seems to make a case for the Caesar salad making a foray into the world of street food. Our waiter explained the origin of the Caesar salad (it was invented in Tijuana, Mexico by a guy named Caesar Cardini, who was an Italian-born Mexican who created the salad from what was on hand in his pantry) as he added anchovy paste, fresh lemon juice, garlic, grated Parmesan and a stream of grassy green olive oil to a large bowl and began to whisk and whisk, and then dress the crunchy ribs of romaine. We could smell the garlic and cheese all along, to great effect. We opted to check out one of the more gimmicky items on the menu and added crab croutons ($8 extra) to our salad. While I loved the Caesar—bright, pungent, and ripe flavors—I’d skip the crabby croutons next time. They’re too dense and at room temperature they’re not particularly crisped. Instead just stick to those bagel-shaped rolls—served in two varieties: salt focaccia and black olive. They’re great slathered in butter but they also make for great bread mops for the leftover dressing in the bowl. Craig did such a good job of cleaning his bowl that I’m not sure it really needed to be washed.

This visit would require me to try something other than steak, which I wasn’t all that happy about, but I felt like I had to try a fish dish, just to test the kitchen’s ability to do something other than sear and roast beef. Craig decided he had to try one of the Reserve Cuts that’s aged in the restaurant’s Himalayan Salt Room and a side of Old School Hash Browns ($9) and a white re ... [more, click below]

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Posted: May 25, 2008

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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