Spring Street Natural

Spring Street Natural Restaurant was founded in 1973 in the heart of SoHo. The Restaurant quickly became a neighborhood fixture, serving up fresh, healthy cuisine at affordable prices to local denizens.

We went to Spring Street Natural because we couldn't get in at nearby Balthazar. It was a cool space, very open and light and also very crowded. Unfortunately we weren't that impressed with the food. I ordered a shrimp and mushroom risotto which seemed more watery than creamy. V had the Mayan eggs which included two eggs on a yellow corn tortilla with black beans, Monterrey Jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, and ranchero sauce. She was disappointed because it wasn't as salad-like as she expected. I guess that doesn't mean it was bad, it just didn't meet her expectations.

Overall it is a really cool restaurant, with pretty reasonable prices and a neat atmosphere. Maybe we'll try a something else next time, because there's a lot of good looking stuff on the menu.

Lure

Lure is a pretty cool restaurant in SoHo. V and I met up there with some friends the night we got engaged for drinks and a bite to eat. The restaurant has a cool decor that reminded me of a cruise ship (though I've never been on one). The restaurant is below street level with large porthole windows at about the sidewalk level. It is dimly lit with somewhat of a lounge feel. Of course, following from the name, Lure, the menu focuses on lots of seafood. We ordered a variety of things, from sushi to calamari to oysters. Service was adequate, for a late Sunday night, though it did occasionally take us a while to get the server's attention. The food was good, though a little expensive (along with the drinks). In the end the bill for four of us was about equal to the bill from earlier in the day at Jean Georges, and while there were more of us there I don't quite think we got as good of a value. In the end, it's a cool location and a trendy spot for a drink.

Peasant

I happened upon Peasant a few blocks from one of my favorite restaurants, Public. I was immediately impressed by the space as we walked in, with a large wine bar at the entrance and rustic wooden tables in the back framed by a big brick oven. We couldn't get a table actually, they were booked full, but there is another bar in the basement that serves food. It was one of the coolest dining experiences I've had in New York.

The dynamic at Peasant interesting because of the unfinished peasant-like atmosphere combined with fancy food and wine. The basement bar is even more rustic, with distressed wood paneling on the walls, almost rickety handmade tables that were knotted and bumpy and bench seating. The space was dim and candlelit, and cramped. But I liked it. It is amazing the things you'll pay for in New York: dinner at a rickety table in a dark basement. The menu is Italian, with some good pastas, seafood dishes and some more unique offerings like quail and of course pizza. The food was good, not stellar. I really enjoyed the various olives that were set out in the bar areas that we munched on before taking our table.

I really was impressed by the atmosphere and the overall experience at Peasant. It was a little expensive, which is typical though oxymoronic for something whose name basically means poor, but I guess it goes to show that with simple ingredients you can make great things, and even in what might be though of as grungy a great space can emerge.

Zoë

The focus of Zoë is our open kitchen with its wood burning oven, grill and rotisserie.

When I walked into Zoë, the first thing I noticed was the smell. The aroma was sort of like fresh bread, kind of sweet and yeasty, it contented me to stay for a while. The menu looked a little pricey but their bar offerings were reasonable, so that's where I sat. I later discovered that they have a chef's counter where the culinary team will personally explain what they're preparing and provide tips from the chef! (I don't care if it is technically for kids, I'm going back to eat there.)

From the bar menu I ordered a mushroom pizza, made with a variety of seasonal mushrooms, pesto, bacon and goat cheese. When it came out of the oven it was topped with a good portion of arugula. This whole combination had a wonderful aroma and a great combination of flavors and textures. It was really unlike any other pizza I've ever had. There were several types of mushrooms, which I probably couldn't identify but which were quite tasty and really not that mushroomy. The pesto added a nice garlic flavor and the goat cheese was flavorful but not too chalky which it sometimes can be.

As I enjoyed my dinner I took a look around the restaurant. It seems pretty big for its location, with the open kitchen at the back. The ceiling looked like it was red velvet or some other fabric, and there were interesting "fourteen-foot terra cotta columns" throughout the space. The crowd varied from families to business travelers with several groups of friends meeting up for a glass of wine. The bartender definitely knew what he was talking about when it came to wines. The servers too seemed very knowledgeable and friendly. Sitting at the bar I overheard some of their conversation and I could tell they cared about the customers and treating them well.

Though it was a shade on the expensive side ($25 for my pizza and a beer), I was definitely satisfied and am excited to come back and try more from the Zoë menu and chef's counter.

Jerry's Restaurant

Jerry Joseph took a run down cafeteria and turned it into Jerry's--an upscale diner complete with booths, original stainless-steel fixtures and a counter that is not simply a bar, but a place to eat good food.

V's love of mushrooms and our recent experience with Manchego cheese while traveling in the Caribbean combined in one item I found on Jerry's brunch menu so we headed downtown to try it out. It was very good, but I read an inaccurate online menu and was a little surprised by the higher prices.

The decor was comfortable with cool cow-print (or cow skin) booths and bar stools. I didn't get too far into the narrow-but-long restaurant, but it looked more spacious in the back, where the bar is located. The service was a little pretentious, though I suspect that is normal for the neighborhood.

We both tried omelets, V choosing the Mushroom and Manchego while I tried the Chorizo, Onion and Red Pepper omelet. Our server wasn't terribly friendly, I think he could sense we weren't from SoHo, but came all the way from Queens...such tourists. So when I asked if my omelet was served with cheese, he just pointed at the menu, which said nothing about cheese. I added havarti.

Both omelets were tasty, I think we each preferred our own. I felt like V's was too mushroomy, but to her that is what made it good. For me most anything with onions in any form is good. My dish had a good combination of flavors including the onion, though the oil from the chorizo was a little unattractive on my plate. The home fries served on the side weren't anything special. I did enjoy the light salad of fresh greens served on the side, with a nice slightly creamy dressing that was not too overwhelming, but nicely coated the entire salad.

Overall it was a good meal, though the service could be a bit more friendly and the prices a little easier on the wallet.

Novecento

The idea was to make the Americans feel the real atmosphere of an Argentine place.

Novocento is an Argentine bistro in SoHo which I happened upon with a friend. Honestly there are only two reasons I chose it: first being there were a good number of people eating inside for a Tuesday night and second, the prices on the menu outside looked good (I didn't even look at what the actual food was).

Upon stepping inside I was happy with my choice. The atmosphere was warm and inviting with a good number of people eating and at the bar, but not too crowded that I couldn't sit down for a drink before taking a table. The music playing was loud but not overpowering, and I believe it was Argentinian.

Upon recommendation from our server, I ordered the skirt steak, with chimichurri sauce, and mashed potatoes. (My other choice was the more expensive pan-seared tuna.) I know that skirt steak isn't the most tender cut but I did expect it to be more tender than it was. The sauce was tasty, at bit salty, but good. The mashed potatoes seemed almost like they came from a box - they were overmashed. I wished they came with some kind of gravy or sauce or at least butter, but they were served plain. Odd.

I really liked the restaurant and the atmosphere and the rest of the menu looked good, but overall my meal wasn't as good as I had hoped. Still, Novocento has some allure to me and I will have to go back and try again sometime.