The actual restaurant is pretty big and has a very nice ambiance inside. It would've been a bit nicer if it wasn't torrentially raining outside, but I can't really hold that against them since they can't control the weather. They have a pretty big drink list, which includes some homemade sodas, juices, cocktails, and an extremely long wine list. My sister got the Pink Sangria, which was Rose, Plum Gin, Orange, Pineapple, and a Hibiscus Flavored Pineapple, and she said it was a nice, light drink. Then, after we ordered, they brought an amuse bouche to the table, which was beet carpaccio with a horseradish foam and topped with some pumpernickel breadcrumbs.
This was so delicious, and had a perfect balance to it. The horseradish was not too strong, and the breadcrumbs added a really nice texture to the beets. I was super happy because normally when chefs actually make an amuse bouche, it has some sort of fish in it so I never get to eat it, but in this case it had my favorite ingredient, beets!
Then, someone came to our table with a nice basket of bread and you could choose a slice of sourdough bread (I think thats what it was) or a peasant roll which was basically a wheat roll with a lot of seeds on it. To have with the bread, they brought yellow lentil hummus and some ricotta cheese. I had the peasant roll, which was really good with all of the seeds. I tried the hummus, which was pretty good but I am not a big hummus person so I chose to ate the roll plain.
For the appetizers, I ordered the beet salad which came with pineapple, pumpernickel breadcrumbs, and burrata cheese.
When it first came to the table, the first thing that I noticed was the presentation. It just looks so colorful and pretty that I didn't want to eat it! Of course, I quickly got over that and dug in. Every component of the dish worked so well together and the pineapple and breadcrumbs created a nice contrast with the beets. I have had a lot of beet salads, and this one is by far one of my favorites. My sister had the Wild Mushroom seasonal toast, which she said was really delicious. It was two small pieces of sourdough toast topped with tofu aioli, sauerkraut, wild mushrooms and broccoli. I tried one bite and it was delicious, and I usually don't like cooked mushrooms!
Having already had great bread, a nice amuse bouche, and amazing appetizers, we had really high expectations for the main course. I ordered the Spring Pea Tofu with Buckwheat, Onion, Peanuts, Peas, Coconut and Rhubarb, and my sister got the Arctic Char.
Again, the first thing I noticed when the plate came to the table was how pretty and colorful it looked! You can tell that they really think every component of the dish through and they spend a lot of time on presentation. The tofu was really delicious, and I usually don't order tofu. It has a nice pea flavor to it, which set it apart for an ordinary piece of tofu. All of the components of the dish worked really well together, and it is definitely something that I would recommend and order again. I was only able to make it through one piece though because I was already pretty full and wanted to save room for dessert!
The dessert menu had some really great options, but my sister and I choose to stick with the small plates because we were pretty full. Apparently the chocolate sphere is the most popular dessert, which I usually would get since I am a chocoholic, but I was too full and knew that if I ordered it, I would end up eating the whole thing and then would regret it later. So, I choose the soy chocolate ganache with banana, olive oil powder, and cocoa nibs, and my sister got the small strawberry shortcake.
The soy chocolate ganache was the perfect dessert! The ganache was extremely rich and chocolatey, and you would never know that it was soy! The bananas underneath the chocolate were really sweet and had great texture, which worked well with the ganache. The size of the dessert made it the perfect way to end the meal without feeling overly stuffed. And, while I did not try the strawberry shortcake, that got rave reviews as well.
Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant! Every single thing that my sister and I got was delicious, and you could tell that they really pay attention to detail. While it is on the expensive side, it is a nice place to go to for special occasions or when you are looking for a little splurge. You will leave here knowing that you had a very satisfying, delicious, and healthy meal, which is hard to come by in NYC.
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