<< previous review   next review >>

reviews

“The John Dory”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Seafood	MeatPacking	Break the Bank	Great

For those of you who might be under the assumption that The John Dory is just some sort of fish-centered iteration of The Spotted Pig, I’m here to tell you that you’re way off base.

The John Dory may have come from the same parentage of the Pig (Ken Friedman and chef April Bloomfield) but it is different in almost every way: style (more elegant), substance (reservations accepted), décor (live fish instead of framed pigs), and service (waiters in starched white shirts and Windsor knotted ties, rather than vintage Rolling Stones tee shirts). The similarity between the Dory and the Pig is singular: the food. Just as your life changed when you had your first plate of gnudi, and your first Roquefort-topped burger, so will your culinary life be altered when you taste Bloomfield’s whole fish and Ochs' crudo.

Friedman envisioned his sophomore project as a British seafood pub in the style of London’s J Sheekey, as a sort of English version of Balthazar, “but with more oysters and Guinness than Sancerre,” he told me last fall. What’s resulted after over a year of planning and building is a actually quite a bit more formal than Balthazar. Tables are draped in creamy white linen and set with formal china and flatware, and the menu is priced to match the elegant accessories; most entrees are over $30 and two are $50. The Spotted Pig this ain’t.

The restaurant offers three choices of where to dine: at the lively food bar (equipped with swivel stools upholstered in fisherman prints, set aside for walk-ins only), in a small dining room seating about 15 that’s secreted behind the fish tank, or in a rather narrow section of elevated banquettes that face the open kitchen and make you feel as though you are dining on a stage. We were seated on the stage, which is quite frankly, not terribly comfortable. The tables take up most of the room on this plank-sized elevation, leaving little room for getting up once you are seated. If you need to use the ladies’ or men’s room, do so before you sit down.

Susie, Jamie, Adrienne and I had dinner at The John Dory (reservation for 8:30pm) after seeing Slumdog Millionaire (a heartwarming and heartbreaking film that’s a must-see) and were ushered inside the narrow entry way like children from a snow day and a warm, smiling, beautiful (natch), young (see previous parenthetical) woman took our coats and welcomed us insi ... [more, click below]

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  

 Make a reservation

<< previous review   next review >>

Posted: December 11, 2008

Other restaurants in MeatPacking :
+ Paradou   + Florent   + One   + Bivio   + Spice Market   + Ono   + 5 Ninth   + Fatty Crab   + Del Posto   + Morimoto   + Los Dados   + 5 Ninth   + Merkato 55   + Scarpetta   + The John Dory   + The Standard Grill   + Bill's Bar & Burger   

Share ! Post a comment