Kalina, 10/5/07.
Allen & Delancey is a week-plus into its run on the Lower East Side. Though the opening of the venue was delayed by a full year, and there was a very serious chef shuffle from Aktar Nawab to Neil Ferguson along the way, the restaurant is now open. With a high profile opening kicking this one off, we'd expect there to be at least a few early-on haters in the group. But, in this rare, credit-where-it's-due, good news only version of Good News/Bad News, it looks like chef Fergie has the place on track.
1) Good News: "We had the hamachi, terrine, leeks, bone marrow and raviolo. The bone marrow and terrine with the hands down winners...Overall, given they have been open for a little over a week, it was a pretty amazing meal. The service was spot on, and the kitchen was definitely firing on all cylinders. I highly recommend going before it becomes impossible to get a reservation." [eGullet]
2) Decent-to-Good News: "I've been twice during the past couple of weeks and personally, I like it. Favorite dishes include the bone marrow, raviolo and dorade. I think it definitely fills a void in the LES dining scene. Yes, there's WD-50 (which is lit like a school cafeteria) and maybe Falai, the Orchard, etc. when talking about other "thoughtful" cuisine, but A&D will hopefully will be the hip, sophisticated place that I think Stanton Social tried to be, but failed miserably at. Great atmosphere - it's sexy, without being intimidating or trying too hard. One gripe - I hope they do something with their cocktail menu - the variation on an old-fashioned I had was pretty poor." [eGullet]
3) Least-Good News: "the food is a little too classic french fussy, some of it is decent to good. the bread, while decent and home made, was not good. Bacon bread did not taste of bacon in the least but was very good with the (too cold) butter. The french roll was good, topped with tons of salt though, if you are sensitive (easy to remove)...food a little too ambitious for what it is. cocktail list of mostly classics looked good (another phrase of the moment - "libations"). it's very early on and it needs work but you can't stop hoping they will prune the decor a touch and work out the food/service issues." [Mouthfuls]
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