the dutch

After hearing about this Soho restaurant from in-the-know friends and trusted restaurant reviewers all summer (love for The Dutch from the New York Times here), S and I used one of our first weekends home in months to sample the much hyped restaurant with our friends R and R.

The restaurant comes from the same trio behind Locanda Verde (yummy, yummy brunch) in Tribeca lead by chef Andrew Carmellini.

The restaurant serves each table a charming little loaf of spiced cornbread. I also noticed that the cocktail menu heavily favored Tito's vodka (my favorite). We were off to a nice start.

Our table kicked off with the Little Oyster Sandwiches and the Asian White Boy Ribs from the "Snacks" portion of the menu. Both were rich and delicious.

Next, we sampled the Local Beets, Smoked Egg and Dill appetizer. With these beets, I fell in love.

The orange and red beets, the chopped, smoked egg, the yogurt sauce, the pumpkin seeds=perfection! I would eat this every day if I could.

For the main course, we ordered the black cod with smoked mushrooms (sadly, not much flavor), the scallops with sweet corn, bacon and chipolte (a classic, tasty dish) and the grilled quail (tender with a little zing).

The winner of the main course was the duck with figs and rice pilaf with pecans.

The Dutch's pies come heavily recommended. My favorite was the Peach Cobbler Pie whose quiet sweetness was surprisingly complimented by the subtle flavor of tarragon.

All in all, I think this place is slightly overhyped, but it was a super tasty meal. The beets alone are worth a return visit!

Next time around, I plan on hitting up The Oyster Room. Lobster Cocktail? I'm looking at you.

P.S. I'm usually not into celebrity spotting, but Mike Myers was sitting at a booth in the corner. It took every ounce of composure S and I could muster NOT to shout a la Wayne and Garth:"We're not worthy" ...or at least pull a quick, but serious Dr. Evil backwards-pinkie-to-the lip move... They don't call us mature for nothing, folks.

(images courtesy the dutch, time out new york, jyjelly eats and om noz hero)