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“Braeburn”

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

There are days when I feel like the restaurant version of Dear Abby. Not that people are writing to me about their issues with their mothers or husbands. Emails flood my inbox from a different sort of advice seeker. This week alone, a random sampling looked something like this:

“I am looking for a place to celebrate a 40th birthday and I forgot to plan something. It’s this Saturday for 8 people! Looking for good food, but not too loud and not a scene. Help!”

“My husband’s birthday is this weekend and I have no idea where to take him. He’s the planner. I want something special but not pretentious and I haven’t reserved any place yet! Help!”

“My girlfriend and I are having a baby and we’re not getting married. We need a place to break the news to her parents. Elegant, quiet and not too expensive.”

“I am proposing to my girlfriend, and I want a cozy neighborhood spot for drinks before dinner that won’t give anything away.”

I am happy to help, and often times I get great reports back after the fact, which is always nice. Now that I think about it, it seems to me that that my advice seekers from this week might all consider dining at Braeburn. It fits the bill for almost every one of these requests.

The restaurant, which is located on a quiet, idyllic corner in the West Village (the space used to be Voyage), has that farm-in-the-city vibe made possible by rough farmhouse beams, sunflower colored walls, polished wood tables, hardwood floors and soft amber lighting coming through sconces fashioned from twigs. A spacious tavern area with light walnut wood floors and a concrete bar seats after-work couples and groups of friends stopping in for a drink and a bite from the stick-to-your-ribs bar menu: Pork Slap battered onion rings ($6), a burger with cheddar and fries ($14), a plate of braised St. Louis style ribs ($11) with pints of Abita and refreshing rhubarb margaritas ($10).

In the dining room, which is anchored by a pastoral mural of the countryside (it’s actually a painting of Bistrong’s apple orchard and family farm in East Haddam, Connecticut), bread plates are quickly filled with flaky cheddar chive biscuits, easily eaten by the dozen as they arrive fresh from the oven with a side of soft butter (as if you’d need more than the allotted pound ... [more, click below]

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Posted: April 17, 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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