Sheridan Square

CLOSED! Such a loss… too bad, I had a wonderful meal (despite the A/​C not working on a particularly warm eve), but the food was delicious! The chef had high hopes to incorporate his unique touches to the menu, but I guess he’ll have to find a new venue!

This is one of the best restaurants I have dined at in New York. It’s hard to understand the other lukewarm reviews listed here considering how we went as a party of four, ordered appetizers, entrees, and desserts, and every single thing we ate (we sampled eachothers plates) was perfectly done and delicious.
Among the appetizers, the Foie Gras Ravioli and the Squash Blossoms were among our favorites. For the main course, it was hard to choose. The duck was just perfect – flavorful, not overly sweet, wonderfully juicy and tender. The pork loin was uniquely flavored, and played well off the delicioius pork belly. The prime rib was simple and elegant and just a perfect piece of meat. The veal also was excellent.
Perhaps others went on an off night, or we went on an «on» night, but its still hard to believe such lukewarm reviews for such a great restaurant. Look up Gael Greene’s review – much more on the mark.

Surrounded by business men and a few casual couples, I sat in a bright, aerated corner of this newly-​opened restaurant as I waited to be acknowledged for what seemed like the Mesozoic Era.
When finally greeted by my server, I decided to go with a mint julep because I was fascinated by the presence of such an ancient cocktail amongst a sea of playful drinks. It ended up tasting like what I imagine rocket fuel to be like, so needless to say I wasn’t interested.
Not a big bread and butter person, I still enjoy gnawing on good, serious bread before a meal, and chose the olive roll over the sourdough; the few green olives tucked away in its pillowy body were the only highlights.
I went with two other people, but I’ll mention my meal first, and then the dabbles of their food which I tried.
For my appetizer, I went with grilled head-​on prawns (gahhhh) with a salad that possessed fennel, red onion, and parm, half an artichoke *too tough,* and very obscure white beans. The prawns were excellent, meaty and juicy, but they were the only gem of the dish.
My entrée consisted of dry pork covered in a far too sweet berry sauce. The pork belly was a bit tough but still flavorful, while the haricot verts and broccoli rabe were crisp and clean. My favorite part, however, was the creamy corn flan. If you’re an influential enough person, I recommend trying to persuade the aloof yet well-​meaning waiters to give you an entire vat of this velvety piece of sweet angel pooty tang; the mushrooms on top are chewy and add to the sexy package.
As for the other dishes, skip the market salad, though the perfectly poached egg is good, and head straight for the grilled quail with spring onion risotto. Stuffed with a mixture of cheese and greens, the quail (which I’ve never had before) is succulent and surprisingly meaty, and though the risotto is a bit heavy, it too is delicious. Entrée-​wise, monkfish is fresh and indeed flavorful, but my vote goes for the pancetta-​wrapped veal. Cooked medium rare, it tears apart under the knife like real baby flesh, and is accompanied by an intriguingly sweet jus of sorts, exceedingly creamy polenta (the type you want to stick your face into) and morels *yum.*
For dessert (my favorite part,) we shared hazelnut semifreddo which was both smooth and crunchy with little choco-​nibs that appealingly resembled the stuff in between a Carvel ice cream cake. Paired with wine-​soaked cherries, it was great. I felt even more loyal to the butterscotch pudding topped with a refreshingly thick whipped cream. It came with a little shot glass of blueberry juice and Prosecco, and these awesome black walnut tuiles that were ever-​so-​slightly soft enough to bend and shape.
Overall, the food is pretty good but the wacky service and high prices might deter patrons. But who knows? They’ve only just opened, and might just be working out the kinks.

I’ll start by saying that the food was quite good, albeit overpriced.
The service, however, was appallingly bad. It started when we had to wait 15 minutes to be seated for our reservation, despite the fact that there were open tables and that the hostess kept telling us «it will be just a minute.» We waited another 5 – 10 minutes just to get menus (the hostess didn’t bother with those) and that was only because our busboy (the lone bright spot) noticed we didn’t have them and fetched our hapless waitress.
Drinks came somewhat more quickly, although they were a mixed bag (my gin-​ger fizz was so tart it tasted like straight lime juice). It took us ten minutes to flag down our waitress to order a bottle of wine and another ten to get it. One glass in we realized it had been 45 minutes since we ordered with no sign of food.
When we mentioned this to our waitress, she seemed truly annoyed and explained that the people behind us had only just gotten their food and that things like duck and prime rib take time to cook (we had one pasta and one fish dish… I guess she forgot). Never mind that the people next to us who arrived at least 30 minutes after us had just received their food.
The food did finally arrive (well more than an hour after ordering). It was quite good and almost made us forget the service… but not quite.
Between the service and the prices, I wouldn’t go back or recommend.

Chef Gary Robins’s (of the Russian Tea Room fame) new restaurant. With its wood burning oven and wood grill, it promises to deliver rustic food in an elegant setting. Elegant? Yes. Rustic? A bit of a stretch, which is not a bad thing. It’s just not rustic, but the food is good.
Went there with work and some clients, so you know the drill. Hooray for FREE food! With no damage to our own pocket in sight, we all ordered a bit of everything and then some.
Some of us started with the oysters, which I was told was pretty good. Then we all shared 2 appetizers that were more delicate and milder than they sounded. The foie gras ravioli has just a hint of foie gras, and it came swimming in the most delicious broth, cooked with mushrooms, fava beans and some cippollinis (or some sort of mild onion-​ish veggie).
I wanted to go for something light, but ended up ordering the anise scented crisped duckling breast, which sounded much more interesting, with the creamy cauliflower, braised fava beans and sour cherry and rhubarb chutney. The breast was a bit dry and tasteless to me, but the cauliflower was delicious (although lacking in quantity). The chutney had a little punch, but didn’t taste like sour cherry or rhubarb to me.
There was no strong positive reaction to any of the dishes, which makes me think that everybody thought their dish was pretty good, but not amazing.
Dessert was very good as well. We ordered the warm choc cake and the pot de crème (kudos to the accompanying prosceco and strawberry shot, which was delicious) and the so-​so goat’s milk panna cotta.
All in all, pretty good restaurant with a fun atmosphere.