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“The Strong Buzz November 6th: The News (Klee, Kava, BLT Burger, Kyotofu, Merenda), My Dinner at 7Square”

Hello all and Welcome to the November 6th, 2006 Edition of THE STRONG BUZZ! This Week: The News (Klee, Kava, BLT Burger, Kyotofu), My Dinner at 7Square.

THE NEWS

Klee

Between Cookshop, Tia Pol, Trestle on Tenth and my old favorite, The Red Cat (somehow I never get tired of eating at the bar there), I'm ready to move to Chelsea. And this charming new brasserie from chef Daniel Angerer might have me really considering it if I weren't in a rent controlled apartment.

Anyway, Daniel has done time in some serious culinary temples-Robuchon in Paris, Marchesi in Milan, Bouley and Jean-Georges in the city, and he's finally got a place to show off the culmination of this culinary history. The restaurant, which is named for the Swiss expressionist of the same name, offers plat du jour that harken back to his Austrian homeland-Wiener schnitzel, Viennese fried chicken, housemade sausages with smoky sauerkraut-but the menu itself is an expression of this chef's breadth of experience. There's a salad of grapefruit supremes with pink pepper vinaigrette ($9, which sounds so simple and so good to me), a thin crust pizza in the style of a tarte flambé (crème fraiche, speck and Vidalia onions, $12), and a porcini chowder topped with bits of crispy speck ($8). From the woodstone oven comes a pine-crusted halibut with a basil and lemongrass broth ($26) and a Niman Ranch pork loin ($26) with red cabbage, apples, and mustard relish, and from the mesquite grill a Waygu beef hanger steak with baked potatoes, spicy paprika and Gruyere cheese ($27). A snack menu features oysters (p/a), house-smoked almonds ($3), lobster rolls ($6), and duck proscuitto sandwiches ($6). Desserts ($9) flip back and forth between Vienna and America-there's a Sacher Torte and an Oreo ice cream sandwich ($9). Klee, which will open around November 15th, is located at 200 Ninth Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Street, 212-633-8033.

Kava Lounge

Opening November 13th, this new subterranean lounge is located in the space under Michael Symon's modern Greek restaurant, Parea. The space is styled like an old world wine cellar with banquettes and wine racks along the walls, and soaring red brick columns, and tiled floors. The lounge is available for private parties (it seats 40), but it's otherwise open for ouzo and wine pairings, sipping a cocktail, and sharing mezedes like Greek sausages, zucchini kefetedes and pork dumplings. The lounge is open 7 days a week from 5:30 pm till 4 am. Kava is located at 36 East 20th Street, 212-777-8448.

BLT Burger

For a seriously gifted fish chef (remember Cello?), Laurent Tourondel has sort of turned his back on his beloved seafood. He's got BLT Steak, BLT Prime, another BLT Steak opening in Puerto Rico and another soon to open in DC, and now BLT Burger. Not a fish in sight. It's not so bad though considering the burgers are killer, though the kitchen is not having an easy time of pumping them out.

Kathy and I checked it out on Friday afternoon and found this cozy retro diner space jam-packed, like fries into a takeout sleeve. The kitchen was in the weeds and the hostesses were instructed to stop seating the dining room. I ran into a few friends at the bar who had been waiting almost an hour for their burgers and had to leave without lunch to get back to work. Things were quite hectic. And so we did the only respectable thing to do on a Friday afternoon while waiting for a kitchen to reopen. We had a few pints. By the time the kitchen re-opened the bartender had refilled us a few times and Kathy and I were into our third and feeling no pain. We ordered some spicy chicken wings (8/$7.50)-super-plump wings slicked with warm spicy saucy-and a pair of burgers-the classic burger ($7)-a fine blend of certified Black Angus beef, and the BLT Burger ($11)-a double stack of Black Angus patties topped with smoked bacon with lettuce tomato and smoked peppercorn sauce. (Tourondel's menu also includes an American Kobe burger ($16), and a Prada-priced Japanese Kobe burger ($62).)

The ground Angus burgers-a toothsome mix of sirloin, short rib, chuck and brisket-are terrific. They're salty, meaty and juicy, and simply tucked inside soft potato rolls. You can add your choice of cheese ($.50) or other toppers from a fried egg to a mound of chili and a tangle of smoky bbq onions ($1.50), but we decided to have the burgers naked to really see what they were all about and we loved them. Granted we were drunk and starving by the time they arrived close to 3pm, but I believe they were really quite good nonetheless.

To go with your beef beauties, try the fries-we had the sweet potato and the hand-cut Idaho, and both were top notch-crisp, nicely salty and completely greaseless. Sadly, we didn't get to the milkshakes because we were deep into beer mode, but I've heard great things. Flavors include classic Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry, as well as Rocky Road Oreo and Peanut Butter.

The rest of my day was a bust, as I did nothing other than nap and have a pedicure, and then go to dinner with Jamie, but hey, what else are Fridays for?

BLT Burger is located on Sixth Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, 212-243-8226.

Merenda at ‘Gusto

Chef Amanda Freitag, most recently of Sette in Park Slope but who was also Tom Valenti's chef de cuisine at ‘Cesca, recently took over the kitchen at Gusto. She's a talent (and a sweetheart.) She's kept some of former chef Jodi William's signatures but introduced a few of her own dishes-house made pappardelle with braised oxtail ragu, ricotta and potato gnocchi (also made in house) with seasonal mushrooms, saffron orecchiette with pork ragu and crisp prosciutto, and fennel crusted tuna with cerignola olives and preserved lemons.

She's also started a new menu for midday called Merenda. The menu includes dishes meant to hold you over ‘til dinner-salumi misti (cured meats & parmigiano $14), warm focaccia with apple and gorgonzola ($12), fried artichokes ($10), and platters of cheese ($12), along with a few sandwiches and light salads. The Merenda menu is served from 3:00-5:30 so that the restaurant now stay open lunch through dinner. ‘Gusto is located at 60 Greenwich Avenue, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212-924-8000.

Kyotofu

It's sort of old news by now that the dessert bar will be making its imprint in 2007. While Chikalicious and Room 4 Dessert have paved a very sweet path, the next wave includes Pichet Ong's P.Ong, Sam Mason's as-of-yet unnamed dessert (and more) bar, and Jehangir Mehta's Grafiti. Kyotofu arrives this week adding more fuel to the dessert-only fire. This stylish new Japanese dessert bar features homemade ingredients and authentic Japanese flavors by pastry chef Ritsuko Yamaguchi (Daniel, Ringo, Cru). His signatures include Warm Chestnut Mochi Chocolate Cake, Tahitian Vanilla and Walnut Parfait, Green Tea Chocolate Dipped Okara (soybean) Cookies, Ginger Infused Sticky Rice Pudding, and Sansho Pepper Tofu Cheesecake. A specialty drink menu includes imported sparkling and aged Sake, champagne, sparkling, dessert, red and white wines, as well as ten kinds of Shochu. Kyotofu's will also host Sake Nights, prix fixe sake and dessert pairing events set to commence next month. Kyotofo is located at 705 Ninth Avenue (between 48th and 49th Streets), 212-974-6012.

MY DINNER AT 7SQUARE

I've always loved the theater. I got the bug at a young age. I was about six when my parents plopped me in a seat to watch a little red head girl named Annie sing her heart out. I'll never forget that night. My parents had not been able to get us all seats together and so I was sitting by myself. So there I was, alone as the theater grew dark, a little afraid, but quite thrilled. I thought Broadway was an opportunity for a sing along, and I had memorized all the words to the songs. As soon as the lights came down, I started to sing with Annie. I was quite shocked when people told me to hush. Ooops. From then on-as a silent observer and not a singing participant-I was hooked. Annie was followed by West Side Story, The Real Thing, Mornings at Seven, Steel Magnolias, and several visits to see A Chorus Line. (I loved the original but have not made it to this production yet.) Some thirty years later, I still go to the theater as often as I can. My Dad and I saw Shining City (great), Jamie and I went to see Stuff Happens (spectacular and essential), Diana and I saw Satellites (intense), Mom and I last saw Abigail's Party (rather miserable), and Craig just took me to see A Small Melodramatic Story (which we decided should have been called A Small Pointless Story). Sometimes I think that if I weren't writing about restaurants, I'd be writing about the theater, but since Craig is a playwright, there might be a conflict of interest there so I guess it's better that I stick to the food.

Anyway, the crappy thing about loving the theater is you've got to (a) venture up to the theater district (well most of the time anyway) and (b) eat dinner there. This combination, to me, is close to hell. I hate Times Square. I don't like the tourists and the crowds and the noise. I believe tourists should have their own sidewalks or at least separate lanes on sidewalks so that they can stop and stare and take pictures and re-apply minty pink lip gloss while the rest of us actually get where we need to go. What's more, I have never been a fan of theater district dining. It's often over-priced and too rushed and just not really pleasant. When forced to do it, though, my go-to spots are Marseille (great Mediterranean menu), The West Bank Café (very good American fare), and if I can get in, but I usually can't, Esca (seafood; terrific all around). And after a few visits to 7Square, a theater district newcomer, I am happy to add it to my list.

7Square is the latest incarnation of the restaurant that was most recently Oceo. The room, renovated and redecorated by Glen Coben, is affectionately modern, with soft lighting, and lots of dark wood paneling playing against white walls. Trays of verdant wheatgrass add splashes of organic color. The effect is masculine, but in a gentle way. Think metrosexual rather than big burly man.

The chef of 7 Square is Shane McBride, who spent a good deal of time cooking under Christian Delouvrier at Lespinasse, and who has been charged with creating a menu of modern chophouse fare by the restaurant's new owners. They wanted to offer steakhouse version 2.5-hearty, meaty fare with a bit of a style and a fresh, lightened point of view. They've done a fine job.

McBride's starters are mostly terrific, and for light pre-theater appetites, are enough for a meal. His take on the Caesar ($10) is one of my favorite versions in the city. McBride tops well-dressed ribbons of Romaine with a runny poached egg, and anchors the salad with two giant sourdough croutons-crunchy on the outside, soft and warm the inside. These ample toasts become perfect sponges for mopping up the resulting glorious yolky mess. Steak Tartare ($12) is also flawless-hand-chopped prime beef is cut into a wide dice and boldly seasoned with a heavy hand that I quite like-you can taste the spicy slap of mustard, the salty pinch of the capers, and meaty tang of the Worcestershire. To scoop it all up, homemade potato chips are provided so there's no need to resort to that quaint instrument known as a fork.

I've enjoyed the Dirty Rice Risotto, a frisky NOLA rendition of the classic Italian rice dish that McBride loads up with duck confit, smoked duck ham and andouille sausage, on two separate occasions in the past, but on my most recent visit, I thought the flavors were muddy and the whole dish was overly salted. Hopefully, it was an aberration. The tasting of hams ($14), however has always been great, and includes applewood smoked ham that rounds out a filling for deviled eggs (yummy), an American cured ham in the style of proscuitto that is called Jamon de Bayone (because it's made in Bayone, New Jersey) paired with a late summer tomato salad, duck ham with a nice bracing French bean vinaigrette, and a wild boar ham that left a lovely lingering spice on my tongue. It's perfect dish to have at the bar with a glass of wine if you're running late before a show.

Entrees follow the steakhouse route with chophouse portions paired up with sides ($6) like caramelized brussel sprouts, righteously good Southern creamed corn, and a heart-stopping crock of gooey, creamy mac and cheese capped off with a bubbly golden brown crust. But main courses vacillate between just okay and really great, which can be frustrating. In the Really Great category I'd list the Wolf's Neck Farm Ribeye with Buttermilk Onions ($32). The people at Wolf's Neck Farm must be putting some mighty fine grass (wink, wink) in the feed they are serving their cows because this beef was wildly good-impossibly tender and beautifully marbled. But it's not just buttery without depth or dimension; it's got some tooth, with a crust that's salty and smoky. Sadly, the thin buttermilk onions the steak was served with were dry and unimpressive.

The pork chop ($24), a giant cut the size of a catcher's mitt, was quite juicy and the meat had a slight sweetness to it that I loved. Perhaps it came from the accompanying apple cider and bourbon braised apples that were wonderful-the sugar in the apples tamed by mustard seed. I devoured the side of slow roasted hen of the woods mushrooms that came with the Upstate New York veal chop ($34). The ‘shrooms were rich and woodsy, but the chop itself, while tender and moist, was rather plain, like a blank slate. It was as if the flavor forgot it was supposed to show up. But I would not say that about the Amish Farm's chicken breast ($21), a humble bird with crispy brown skin capping a plump breast served over a hill of bright green garlicky spinach. Braised short ribs ($25), the house signature, are set over a silken parsnip puree. They've got a slight hint of ginger that could even be amp'd up a bit, but they are soulful and fork-tender, built for winter's most bitter cold nights.

Desserts by pastry chef Douglas Behrman were impressive. I'd even suggest coming in for dessert after the theater. You really don't want to miss the Square Ding, a house made version of the Ring Ding that puts that old childhood favorite in its place. The dessert, a fluffy cube of rich, moist and dark Devil's Food cake, is layered with Chantilly cream and set on a thin Oreo cookie crust (nice texture there) and then glossed in a sheen of dark chocolate. I don't even like chocolate desserts and my fork found this dessert over and over again. Ditto the adorable homemade apple pie with hand-fluted edges tucked into cast iron pan, the buttery lattice crust puffed into a dome so it resembled a Jiffy Pop bag about to reach its explosive limit on the stovetop.

The service at 7Square is earnest and effective and the experience of dining there is enjoyable. There's a peacefulness to the experience I don't often find in the theater district. The food is solid and at times, terrific. It is perfect spot for a light snack or a full sit down, before tucking into a dark theater for three hours. It's a shame, now that I think of it, that the next play Craig and I are going to see is Wrecks, down on Lafayette Street at the Public. It's okay, though. The Vertical Hour is next.

7Square is located at 224 West 49th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue, 212-333-7749.

And that's THE STRONG BUZZ for this week. Until next week, READ IT AND EAT!

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Posted: November 6, 2006

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