One of the best things about working in an NYC restaurant is the instant connection you have when you meet a restaurant employee. I have spent the past 6 months getting to know the bartenders at Daltons - my favorite sports bar around the corner from Esca where I know I can unwind after a busy night at work. However, there has been an empty space across from Esca for about two years. On December 9, 2010 Elsewhere opened its doors in the wide-open, perfectly decorated space at 401 West 43rd St in Hell’s Kitchen. It seemed as if the space went from empty to done in less than a week and, as an Esca employee, I was lucky enough to be invited to their Friends and Family event. Friends and Family is a concept that was foreign to me before living in the city. The idea is that a restaurant can open a few days early and give friends and family a free meal as a way to generate buzz and excitement about the new venture.
On December 11, after a long Saturday night at work, I walked across the street to take advantage of this event. I sat at the bar and instantly started talking to the bartender, Tim, and one of the managers, Allen Stanford. The concept is simple: small plates, good wine and only artisanal soft drinks and liquor. I, of course, had to start off with a gin martini. I was not familiar with the gins Tim had available so he let me taste all three. The winner: Greylock Gin from Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Delicious!
From the menu of small plates I chose 5 dishes to sample (remember everything was free! so why not take a bite or two of as many things as possible??) First were the Brown Butter Biscuits and Salt-Baked Fingerling Potatoes. The biscuits - AMAZING! They come out wrapped in aluminum foil and once opened the four small biscuits - smell, sight, heat - put me in sensory overload. The first bite was unbelievable and, needless to say, all four biscuits were gone in less than a minute (maybe a slight exaggeration). As for the potatoes - they were ok. The were roasted in salt but the seasoning was all that you tasted. The potatoes were bite size but the salt was so over whelming that you couldn’t taste the soft, starchy flesh of the fingerlings. The dipping sauce was an anchovy aioli with bacon butter. I believe it is wide-spread knowledge that anchovies and bacon are naturally salty. I agree an aioli is needed for potatoes (my time in Holland taught me to appreciate potatoes with mayonnaise) but making a salty, anchovy mayo with the already over salted potatoes was too much then adding bacon? I only had one or two of them...
Next we enjoyed the Marrow with sel gris, french fries and parsley ketchup. As those of you who read my blog regularly know, I had marrow for the first time at Blue Ribbon. I actually enjoyed this marrow (and its presentation) more; however, I prefer the oxtail marmalade at Blue Ribbon to the fries and over-parslied (I just made up that word) ketchup. I actually had to ask Tim what the sauce was. It tasted as if parsley had been pureed and put in a ramekin - no resemblance to ketchup in appearance or taste.
For our final tastes we had the Seckel Pears and Berkshire Pork Sausage as well as the Hanger Steak. The pear/sausage mixture was nice but the pear-to-sausage ratio was off - too much pear to barely any sausage. And, honestly, a month later, that’s all I can remember about it. As for the hanger steak, all I can remember was that it was cold.
All-in-all it was not a wonderful first impression. Actually, if I didn’t work across the street, I probably would not have returned. However, I have wandered in now and then for a quick after work drink (they just got Hendricks!) and a few biscuits or cheese. Through this, I have become friends with Allan and Brian Keyser, the owner and General Manager. I have become a loyal customer and I am glad. Their menu has been tweaked by adding items and changing around dishes to make all the flavors work. I have not returned for a full meal but I am excited to go back and try some of the new dishes now that they have a month under their belt and have worked out a few of the kinks. I don’t mean to deter anyone by this post because you should give them a try. Having a restaurant in New York is hard and opening one with such an amazing concept as Brian and Allan’s is even harder. Support them and their local producers! You won’t be disappointed - at least not by the drinks!
Check out their website: http://elsewherenyc.wordpress.com/
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