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“Goat Town”

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

e the rear door, and the “Exit” sign, a legal requirement at the front door, which usually looks rather like a legal requirement might, here transformed into a work of art. It reads “Sortie” in red old world font, and is framed in a rectangular cooper light box, in that same Art Deco railcar style. Note also the cooper bar sconces that line the walls with bare bulbs the shape of perfect peaches. And the restroom with its deep ceramic butcher’s sink and its dark, heavy wooden double doors, like a wardrobe that might magically transport you to somewhere far away. The restaurant's transformation is truly remarkable. If there is an award out there somewhere for most beautifully rehabilitated restaurant, Goat Town should certainly be the recipient.

Now, about the name of the restaurant. Certainly “Goat Town” might justify thoughts of a menu dedicated to this sweet, bleating farm animal: goat butter, goat steaks, goat burgers, even goat Bolognese, but this is not the case. The name was inspired by Washington Irving's description of New York as "Gotham," the Dutch translation of "goat's town." However, at the moment, goat meatballs are on the menu. While I didn’t try them, if the rest of the menu is any indication, they are probably worth trying.

Kiri and I had dinner at Goat Town last week on the night of yet another snowstorm (here we are in the Metropolitan Arctic), and the room was already abuzz when we arrived at 7:30. The crowd is pretty predictable in some ways, what with all the handsomely scruffy young men sporting beards and flannel and the fresh-faced girls trying to be Alexa Chung. But there were a couple of rather regular looking middle aged couples dining here too (aside from me and Kiri), and a few other folks who looked like they might have driven down from the UWS or Westchester, even. Huh.

Reservations are only taken for large groups, so parties of two to five congregate at the bar, which is very large and quite a nice place to spend 30 minutes or so. There’s a solid list of beers by the can, bottle, and on tap, and a very reasonably priced short list of wines (the house red will set you back seven bucks for a glass and it’s good – nice and juicy with a little backbone in there, too). While balancing on a swivel stool, you can dampen hunger pangs with a platter of oysters or go buck wild and have one of the seafood towers ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 23, 2011

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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