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“10 Downing”

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

nspiration, chef Judy Rogers is not in the kitchen. But there’s a muse-like relation working the stoves—Jason Neroni (Tasting Room, 71 Clinton) who developed the menu with Katy Sparks. Together they’ve drawn on a flurry of Mediterranean flavors to create something terrific—the food at 10 Downing is approachable, invigoratingly seasoned, and at many points, fantastic.

On my first visit a few months back, I enlisted about a half dozen friends and we ate our way happily through most of the menu. The aforementioned beet salad with blue cheese, a relative snoozer in theory, was smashing thanks to the beautifully roasted beets, the quality of the cheese (ripe and pungent) and the addition of juicy tart supremes of grapefruit that woke that salad up and made it sing. A first course “salad” of marinated roasted brussels sprouts was topped with a lovely soft poached egg that ran its bleeding yellow heart over the sprouts, picking up hints of the anchovy vinaigrette, thin shavings of nutty Parmesan, and warm toasty bread crumbs (nice texture) along the way. It’s the greatest Brussels sprout preparation in the city at the moment. Please go have it if you haven’t already.

The entrée hit of the night was the roast chicken for two ($23/$43), a peasant dish made for a king that tasted like the chickens I imagine grandmothers in the south of France make every Sunday night: salty, lemony, crackling herbed skin capping juicy, moist meat. To accompany the bird, a salad of warm greens with chunks of grilled bread (they do well to soak up the juices), adorned with currants, almonds and preserved lemon. While the bird is offered for one or two, the portion for one is truly big enough to share if you’re not all that hungry.

Neroni is also showing off an impressive talent with pastas. A remarkably delicate squid ink agnolotti ($14/27) is set up with Peekytoe crab, piquillo peppers and lemon butter, bringing together some rare bedfellows who clearly should have been shacking up together a long time ago. And as seems de rigeur these days, he’s making his own charcuterie, serving a great starter platter ($25) to share with friends that includes mortadella, pork belly rillette, sopressata, chicken liver mousse and chorizo with pickled vegetables and grilled bread.

He’s also having fun with specials, which often can almost outnumber the items on the printed menu. On a return ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 15, 2009

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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