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“Brushstroke”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Tribeca	Break the Bank	Off the Charts

I will say here, at the beginning of this review, that I am not a writer with enough talent to do justice to the food I will attempt to describe to you. I know Ruth Reichl could, and the author Nicole Mones, who wrote "The Last Chinese Chef" and brought every meal in that book to life so that I was practically licking my fingers as I turned the pages. I will try, but I do urge you to go and eat here for yourselves. It's not just the food that is exquisite, it's the space, the service, the dinnerware (all of the dishes are handmade ceramics or beveled glass and gold etched and are all washed by hand, no dishwashers here)-and it is the combination of these elements that makes the evening quite magical. I found it utterly otherworldly.

First, a little about the space, which was designed and built by Super Potato to reflect the centuries-old history of Kaiseki cuisine with materials like aged iron, reclaimed lumber, antique books (they scoured the Strand for some 20,000 paperbacks that form the somewhat spongy walls of the lounge), rocks, stones, and even some mud to bring Brushstroke to life. The effect is a sense of harmony and peace. Walls are lined with honey colored wood and hand-laid stone in various shades of soft grey that add an organic element that seems to root the space to the earth.

The kitchen, which is open and overlooks the vaulted dining room and food bar, is staffed by mostly Japanese men (with a sole woman in the mix) who cook with the seriousness of a team of surgeons in the O.R., all dressed in pressed white shirts and ties topped with pristine single breasted chef coats that adds to the surgical vibe of the experience. The chefs also wear those white soda jerk caps that make you feel as though they might scoop you up a deluxe sundae after slicing through a nice slab of toro.

In the lounge before dinner, we relaxed over a few exceptional cocktails, in particular the Sweet Tomato ($15) which tastes as though this heavy summer fruit was pulled from straight from the vine and magically zapped into drinkable form. If you prefer a couch to a barstool, you will find several cozy nooks and Japanese tatami booths for relaxing and nibbling sushi and a bar menu that includes several of the dishes off of the main menu at remarkably reasonable prices ($8-$22). Surprisingly, the bar was filled with families with toddlers in tow on the evening I was in, in addition to after-work suits and friends from the ‘hoo ... [more, click below]

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Posted: June 22, 2011

Other restaurants in Tribeca :
+ Lunchbox Food Company--Closed   + 66: THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED   + Ola-- Closed   + Bouley   + Dominic   + Landmarc   + Pace-- Closed   + EN Japanese Brasserie   + Centrico   + Cercle Rouge   + The Harrison   + Turks & Frogs Tribeca   + Devin Tavern   + Dani-- Closed Now   + Bacaro/Smith & Mills   + The Harrison   + Matsugen, By Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Forge   + Macao Trading Company   + Harbour   + Review text tbd...   + Mehtaphor   + Brushstroke   + Jung Sik   

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