Wannabe Chef Steph

This is my third and final post on my trip to NYC, which I am finally writing a few weeks late… sorry!  This post covers one of the most important aspects of our trip: the Birthday Dinner!  The main reason for the trip to New York was to celebrate three birthdays among our group of friends.

Of course our celebration had to revolve around food, so we made a trip to Elettaria in Greenwich Village (33 West 8th Street at MacDougal).  We considered a bunch of NYC restaurants for our big dinner but decided on Elettaria, based on a friend’s recommendation.  The restaurant highlights the heritage of its owners by fusing the flavors and ingredients of India and the Philippines.  I was intrigued by the restaurant’s location after reading about its history on the website:

“a reclaimed barn-wood ceiling, plank floorboards and exposed brick walls. The landmarked space was previously home to The 8th Wonder, a musical venue where a young Jimi Hendrix headlined. The former stage is now the site of an open kitchen, which overlooks the dining room. A glass-enclosed, temperature-controlled wine room is another focal point of the space, along with a 14-seat, steel bar where handcrafted cocktails and the full menu are served.”

It is an absolutely beautiful venue for eating, a warm rustic interior with the food as the main attraction highlighted on stage for all to see.  We really lucked out because we were given a table directly off the completely open kitchen… a foodies dream!  I found myself completely distracted, and couldn’t get enough of watching them in action.  I analyzed their tools and absorbed their methods, I loved it!  I am certainly no chef (only a wannabe of course), but I can imagine working in a restaurant would be filled with chaos and stress.  Not the case here, everyone in the kitchen was cool as a cucumber, almost relaxed.  Impressive!

Now onto the food!  The menu was somewhat small, though sometimes I appreciate that because I have often have difficulties with such decisions;)  I settled on the Greens salad with shallots and citronette to start. It was extremely simple, just lettuce and a vinaigrette, though it was probably the most delicious vinaigrette I have tasted to date.  In the craziest way it almost melted in my mouth.  I definitely recommend.  The lettuce was absolutely beautiful too, extremely fresh.

My husband ordered the Dayboat Sea Scallops with mushroom tart tatin and chive puree for starters.  It was also very good, but I have to admit I liked the mushroom tart better than the actual scallops.  The tart had a sweet caramelized flavor that went really well with the flaky pastry.

For dinner I had the Cod Sunchoke Fondue with ravioli and papadum.  I thought the cod was pretty good, though it was a bit salty and kind of bland.  I did however love the ravioli.  I’m not completely clear on what was in it, but it was savory and delicious.  I am not very familiar with papadum, but I actually wasn’t that fond of it.  It was very dry and almost reminded me of a thick egg shell.  I didn’t really think it added much to the dish.

My partner in crime got the Bavette with salsify, gnocchi, king oyster mushrooms, bacon and fenugreek.  I actually really liked the dish, especially the incredibly tender Bavette, a cut of beef I’m actually not very familiar with.  My husband liked it very much as well, but felt the portion was small and was still a bit hungry afterward.

Lastly we had to do desert;)  Sadly my camera died so I don’t have any pictures of our last course, though I will try to describe as best I can.  I ordered the sour cherry clafoutis which was tangy and tasty.  For some odd reason I keep hearing about clafoutis lately, as one of my friends just made one and I recently read a blog entry from The Cupcate Avenger about a pear and almond version.  Not only was the custardy treat filled with plump cherries, it was also sitting in a pool of a delicious sour cherry sauce.  I highly recommend!  My husband ordered a chocolate themed desert which he liked, though my main memory of it was a caramel-like gelato topped with salt… yep salt, which was an interesting compliment to the sweet and creamy taste of the gelato.

Overall review (1=poor-10=excellent):

Atmosphere (9):  Rustic and captivating, not sure how it could get much better than a front row seat to culinary theater, unless I was invited to play around in the awesome kitchen of course;)

Service (7): The staff was very nice, though the wrong entree was delivered to a friend who then had to ask for the correct dish

Price (5): It was expensive.  I felt the cost was a bit excessive, though I was glad to find that they used incredibly fresh and high quality ingredients

Menu variety (7):  The menu was fairly small, though included an impressive variety of ingredients

Taste (8): I thought it was overall very tasty

I recommend this restaurant for its food, but most importantly for the ambiance it presents.  I had an extremely enjoyable experience, and would possibly go back in the future, but only after exploring more of the culinary goodness NYC has to offer!

Well, that is the final bit about my trip to NYC.  In planning my next post, I will be getting back to my cooking exeriements.  I’ll be blogging about one of my favorite recipes, Mexican chicken soup!  Until next time!