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Friday night we had a late reservation for Craft - the flagship of the Colicchio restaurant empire.
With the great food we had a Craftbar (Craft's younger and less expensive sister restaurant) - we decided it was time to open up the wallet and give Craft a try.
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The ambiance is very Colicchio - simple lines, a mix of modern and organic materials, and an elegant yet comfortable feel. The lights were dim and filament bulbs (pictured above) hung from the ceiling. There was an extensive wine collection - the wine list was a small book that was completely overwhelming (as a result we stuck to cocktails). The restaurant was crowded, but the acoustics were outstanding - it wasn't loud and you could easily hold a conversation.----
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We had to wait a little bit for our table, our patience was rewarded with the 'best table in the restaurant'. Well that's what the hostess told us - we were pretty sure she was feeding us a line until we were seated. She was right, it was a great table. We were seated at the corner of a banquette (yes, the ever present banquette), we could easily talk to one another and we could both look out over the restaurant. It was great people watching (no one famous).
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I had an amazing cocktail - a ginger martini, vodka, ginger syrup, and a lemon twist. It was really tasty, but you couldn't really taste the alcohol so I sipped slowly and stuck to just one cocktail with dinner.-----
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Everything at craft is served on small plates in the middle of the table - sharing made easy. Michael started with raw hamachi served in sashimi style fillets and tar tare. I had grilled sardines. Michael preferred his hamachi - but the sardines were really tasty.----
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For dinner Michael had the diver scallops and I had the halibut. Both were very good, but the scallops win this round - they were cooked to perfection. Caramelized golden brown on the top and bottom but still tender. For sides we had the chestnut risotto and Hen of the Woods mushrooms. The risotto was really creamy and the chestnuts added a nice crunch, but the mushrooms were clearly the better side dish.-----
Hen of the Woods mushrooms are also know as Maitakes. They are woodsy in flavor, the base of the mushroom is firm but the top fans out and the way it was prepared the tops were crunchy, salty good.If you want to learn more about this mushroom:
http://mushroominfo.com/varieties/maitake.html
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Dessert, similar to the dinner menu, is a list of components that you put together to create your perfect meal- the Colicchio way. I chose the ice cream sampler and enjoyed 3 scoops of ice cream: caramel, cinnamon, and banana. The banana ice cream was my favorite - great flavor and a smooth creamy texture. The cinnamon was second and the caramel paled in comparison to the other two flavors. And even paler in comparison was Michael's cheese tray. It was fine, but it wasn't ice cream.----
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I almost forgot to mention all of the little extras. We started with an amuse bouche (small bite before the meal begins) - it was a crispy little round topped with eggplant and something else I can't remember now. After the tiny appetizer they set down a board with whole grain and sourdough bread - both had chewy crusts and soft centers. The whole grain was my favorite. Before dessert we were served a classic egg cream in a shot glass - a starter for the dessert course. With the check came a small bowl of crunchy, buttery caramel corn and with the check came 2 small bags of chocolate dipped coconut macaroons. Lucky for me Michael doesn't like coconut.
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We had a great dinner and we definitely enjoyed the experience. That being said I will probably stick to Craftbar with it's less exotic menu and lower prices.
