Revel

Revel

Photo: Cititour.com

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Contact Info:

Address: 10 Little West 12th Street
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10014
map: View the Map
Phone: (212) 645-5369

Food Info:

Menu: View the Menu
Cuisine: American
2nd Cuisine: Italian

Cititour Review:

It takes only a few moments in the backyard garden of Revel – a space that takes up about half of this Meatpacking District eatery – to understand the appropriateness of the restaurant’s name. While the garden’s tables are perhaps half-full at 7pm on a glorious Thursday in June, the outdoor bar area is a hotbed of happy hour activity. A slew of well-dressed professional men and women – more women than men by a quick count – are mingling, imbibing, and enjoying their life of privilege.

You can also have a pretty good time sitting at those tables. The restaurant’s Mediterranean-inspired fare is both a bit pricier than necessary – par for the course in this overly trendy part of town – and less than earth-shattering, but its minor deficiencies are more than made up for by the enchanting setting (and, I should add, excellent service).

A list of over 15 starters resulted in some tough decision-making: Raw beef filet with black truffle sauce? Intriguing. Bay scallops on mizuna with chestnut honey and bacon? Tempting. Chickpea polenta fritters with capers and black olives? Tantalizing. But forced to finally bite the bullet, as it we were, we opted for the unusual sounding sautéed calamari cake, which turned out to be a pleasant omelet-like concoction filled with strips of tasty squid, and the house’s clever variation on tuna tartare, with a mound of jicama straws topped by a round of excellent raw tuna and salmon and a crown of tasty guacamole.

Choosing your mains is a bit simpler. Plan A is to pick one of seven pastas, ranging from a simple black taglioni in tomato sauce to more complex creations such as beef shank and salsify ravioli or pappardelle with a lamb-and-artichoke ragu. Plan B is to choose one of 15 meat or fish varieties, which all come grilled and served on either hot skillets or volcanic rocks, and accompanied by a trio of pleasant if mostly unnecessary dipping sauces. In the case of meat, be aware that you might wish to order yours a bit undercooked, since it can still cook a bit tableside. Nonetheless, the quality and flavor of both a filet mignon and sirloin (both decently priced at $28) was flawless.

The dishes come without side dishes, but Revel’s accompaniments – gently priced at $5 – are definitely worth ordering. (Indeed, vegetarians could probably make quite a delicious meal just from this category). Of the three we sampled, top honors went to the sautéed bok choy with garlic and ginger, though the creamed spinach and potatoes au gratin – far less healthier alternatives – were worthy runners-up.

Since most of the skinny-minis who frequent this part of town never indulge in dessert, it’s probably ok that the last course isn’t the restaurant’s strongest suit. True, I devoured every spoonful of the Mediterranean trifle – a variation on the Italian cake Zuppa Inglese – but that had as much to do with my sweet tooth as anything else. And my frequent dining companion had high praise for the main part of the yogurt cheesecake, but the ultradry “cake” – which tasted like a stale muffin top – was certainly nothing to celebrate.

 

Review By: Brian Scott Lipton

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