Below 14th Street ...
Two relatively recent spots on MacDougal and the best new offering from The Major Food Group …
Ann texted me she’d gotten reservations at Dame, the hot young seafood spot on MacDougal between Bleecker and Houston. It’s a few doors down from Dante, which I mentioned in a previous NL (fab cocktails and veal Milanese the size of manhole cover).
This was surprising because reservations to Dame, which has maybe 24 seats, are impossible to get, especially on a Friday night. But she’d gotten them because, 1) she’d reserved three weeks ahead of time. (Typically, even though I know I’ll need a reservation somewhere a month from now, I still wind up saying the day before, “Oh shit, I’ve got to make a reservation somewhere.” Exactly when there are no reservations anywhere except at places that serve Happy Meals.)
And 2) because she’d gotten a 5:30 reservation, as she’d bought tix to Dead Outlaw at the Minetta Lane Theater (yet another outrageous show in the Village; Oh Mary was the first—both fantastic).
And so it was that we had a choice table at Ed Szymanski’s and Patricia Howard’s restaurant that claims to serve the best fish and chips in the city (top photo). Wait, they never claimed it—I did, and do! Not to be missed. Apparently vodka in the batter is key to exceedingly dry crisp crust.
We also had grilled oysters with a Chartreuse Hollandaise, squid and scallion skewers, and a bizarre and delicious dish of grilled cabbage with mussels and horseradish. The meal was a real pleasure. We can also recommend Ed and Patricia’s British menu at nearby Lord’s same block but on LaGuardia Place (love the long wood bar here, and the Welsh rarebit).
Related:
Pro-tip on getting seated: if you’re a walk-in and see empty tables but the host cannot serve you, this is usually because the tables are reserved, not because the host doesn’t like the looks of you. It doesn’t hurt to say, “We have a hard out before seven—guarantee we will be gone.” If they have an open table reserved for 7 p.m., they may offer it to you. Just be sure to honor your part of the bargain.
The New York Times has even more suggestions and explains how electronic reservations systems work.
And here’s a terrific video from Eater on how Chef Ed makes his fish and chips.
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