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“Northern Spy”

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

oducts and beers, and a wall of cute wooden cubbies lined with jars of jams, preserves, brines, and pickles. It’s a great place for impulse purchases – having people browse while on line to pee. Brilliant.

The rest of the space has a kind of country farmhouse meets urban loft vibe. Walls are covered with large rectangles of sheets of framed wallpaper—ticker stripes, flowers, and petals in greens and blues—each lit with an individual sconce like a piece of high art, inset against the weathered gray wainscoting. The room is lit by steel grey bulbs in industrial lamps. A lone ceiling fan hums along above. The crowd is mostly of the young variety, with lots of beards, tattoos, flannel, and skinny leggings in the mix. Jamie and I may have been the oldest ones there (gasp).

Menus, printed on brown paper in courier new font, include selections of local and domestic beers (four on tap and a dozen in bottles), and a selection of French, Italian, and Spanish wines, with just three domestic selections: one from the Finger Lakes (Herman Wiemer Riesling), another from the North Fork (Shinn Estate Cab Franc/Merlot), and a third from California (Joel Gott’s Cabernet Sauvignon) for good measure. While the beer list is quite a nice list, with mostly small batch brews from local spots, the wine list could certainly use a few more local selections. Hopefully that is in the works.

But other than the wine list, which is a small quibble in any case, Northern Spy hit the mark in every respect. While the place is mobbed, the servers are lovely, patient, happy, and genuinely knowledgeable about the food, both its preparation and its source. The bearded, flannel shirted host, who took my name and informed me of the (dreaded) hour-long wait, could not have been more hospitable, offering to serve us some snacks at the bar while we waited, and keeping us updated about the status of our table. And the food is remarkably good: seasoned perfectly, cooked beautifully, and with inspired combinations of flavors and textures.

For instance, a kale salad ($10) is served chiffonaded and tossed with little nuggets of nutty clothbound cheddar cheese, roughly chopped almonds, tender chunks of roasted kabocha squash, a fluff of grated pecorino, and a bright lemony dressing to sharpen all the flavors. Pickled eggs ($3 for two large eggs, each one split in half) are served with a tangle of pickled red onions and are so boldly ... [more, click below]

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Posted: March 14, 2010

Other restaurants in East Village :
+ Yujin-- Closed   + Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar   + Mermaid Inn   + Five Points   + Lavagna   + Five Points   + Bond Street   + Jewel Bako   + Alphabet Kitchen   + In Vino   + Bao 111   + Chikalicious   + Il Buco   + Hearth   + Lima's Taste   + Mercadito   + Hedeh   + Momofuku   + Una Pizza Napoletana   + Winebar   + Uovo-- CLOSED   + Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction   + Gotham Bar & Grill   + Colors   + Chinatown Brasserie   + Knife and Fork   + European Union-- NEW CHEF; SEE APRIL 2007 Review   + Aroma Kitchen and Winebar   + Stand   + European Union   + Mercat   + Gemma   + Back Forty   + The Smith   + Seymour Burton   + Belcourt   + Graffiti   + The Redhead   + Double Crown    + Apiary   + Joe Doe   + Apiary by guest reviewer Kiri Tannenbaum   + DBGB   + Northern Spy   + Goat Town   + Saxon + Parole   + Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria   + Acme   + Calliope   + Nicoletta   + JEPPNEY by Claire Jaffe   + Feast   

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