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“Public”

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

o take a chance and do something that scares you. Even if its something as simple as trying a dish of grilled kangaroo on a coriander falafel, you need to do go there, or else you might as well go back to bed, or eat at Olive Garden. So I am happy to be forced to eat at Public where the chef is a daring and able challenger to my safety zone.

Now, lets talk about that now (in)famous grilled kangaroo on coriander falafel with tahini lemon sauce and green pepper relish ($11). It was terrific. Clearly these people know how to handle a marsupial. Kangaroo meat is very lean so it needs to be served rare. It comes out tender and gamey and gets a nice jolt of acid from the green pepper relish. The falafel, which is more of a hockey puck-style than a golf ball-shaped spiced chickpea cake, is terrific—providing a great flavor and textural contrast to the tender meat. I would have eaten a half dozen of these. And in fact, may make a meal of these pups next time.

Another appetizer that is also a risky proposition is the seared foie gras on cardamom scone with lemon-ginger sauce ($20). This is a cool dish, and I like the concept of foie gras on a scone or biscuit and the sweet heat of a lemon and ginger sauce as well, but the chef ruined it for me by sprinkling it liberally with Maldon Sea Salt that completely drowns out the bright flavors of the sauce and the richness of the foie. I usually like a bit of salt to wake up a dish, but in this case, it masked the individual flavors so all I tasted was salt. But other dishes show that the kitchen has a tame and articulate hand, like a recent appetizer special, a gorgeous green tea-smoked salmon salad—a lovely dish of lush, silky, preppy-pink colored fillets of salmon (magnificent) served over a bright salad of nori and shaved green papaya.

The striped bass ($22) was also a winner, seared so the skin was crispy, it arrived on a bed of roasted caramelized parsnips, and a pile of fragrant sweet-spiced curried lentils, topped with a smattering of shelled edamame. The fish was fleshy and sweet, and the lentils were almost like an Indian dahl. Unfortunately a side dish of colorful beets simply roasted and topped with Parmesan and avocado oil was a big disappointment. While colorful and pleasing to the eye, these roots were completely flavorless and tasted like some sort of food-colored tofu molded in the shape of beets. Just plain awful.

Not so for the roast lamb chump (that would b ... [more, click below]

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Posted: December 22, 2003

Other restaurants in Soho :
+ Balthazar   + Savoy   + Blue Ribbon   + Lupa   + Public   + Kittichai   + Lure Fishbar   + Barmarche   + Porcupine-- CLOSED   + Ama   + La Esquina   + Jerry's- Closed Now   + The Tasting Room   + Papatzul   + Shorty's.32   + The Monday Room   + Ed's Lobster Bar   + Aurora   + Provence   + Tailor   + Hundred Acres   + Delicatessen, By Guest Reviewer Julie Besonen   + The Mott   + The Dutch   + Cherrywood, by Guest Reviewer Dara Pollak   

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