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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Craft NYC

I was invited to have dinner at Craft recently and I welcomed the opportunity. I'd never been so I was excited! The dining room is cool and the tables and seating generous enough for larger guests. But before I continue with the rest I want to say that I don't like to make bad judgments on only one visit but this restaurant has been around a while and it's reputation doesn't stand.

So, here goes....First we ordered a white wine, a 2005 Gewurztraminer, very tasty by the way.  The sommelier proceeded to decant and vigorously swirl the wine all the while sniffing it. In general white wines are not decanted.  Let me first say ("No one orders a Gerwurztraminer without knowing what it is".) So I asked the sommelier why he decanted the wine, his response was that this wine has off smells and he didn't want us to be put off (well ok I guess). 

But lets just say this is an odd procedure and red wines are not vigorously swirled in decanters so why practically shake a white? Needless to say the wine was great with the food. Next we ordered a red which I didn't photograph but by then the light faded and I didn't want o use the flash on my camera. Next we ordered a red which should have been decanted while we were drinking the first bottle. The sommelier brings the decanted bottle to the table along with broken cork my companions didn't notice. (The Sommelier should have said something). The wine was corked and he should have known this. Of course we mentioned it and he immediately took the wine away note: he did not taste the wine or smell it until our meal almost ended upon which he agreed the wine was corked. He then opened and brought another bottle to the table which we just accepted though this was also strange since it was not a wine we chose. But at this point we were already over this restaurant.

The food was ok, nothing really special considering the prices but I wouldn't recommend going here or spending the money. It's unlikely I will return unless someone picking up the tab insists. I'd choose ABC Kitchen Gramercy Tavern  Eleven Madison any other on Lexington Ave or any number of Indian restaurants in the area.

Alright if you hadn't noticed by this time I was already bored. Though I am very grateful to have been invited to dine with my companions and finally graced the inside of this restaurant.

First an amuse of Mackrel~ the best of what was to come.

A beet salad, lovely but served too cold and the beets tasted boiled and refrigerated.

An artichoke salad was just nice. Let me say everything looked good it just wasn't as special as I had expected. A copper pot of short ribs also nice, I guess what I'm saying is that the food was good but nothing special. It didn't knock my socks off and certainly didn't justify the price. So, if someone is taking you out and you want them to spend money for no reason then go here.

Craft NYC
43 East 19th Street
New York
(212) 780-0880
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Have Fun & Enjoy!