Restaurant Evaluate: The Glittering Pleasure of a Good Uncooked Bar

One of the simplest ways to soak up the bounty is by the use of the ninety-eight-dollar Ice Field Plus, Penny’s model of a seafood platter. It’s an exquisitely organized, gloriously over-the-top tray that on my visits bore brawny oysters, plump smoked mussels, tiny periwinkles (a sort of snail), an enormous scoop of calmly dressed Jonah crab, a slippery-sweet scallop crudo, and a tangle of vividly pink cocktail shrimp, tails entwined. Most thrilling, among the many jewels, are two shot-glass-size parts of vichyssoise (a calming potato-leek soup), dolloped upon arrival with voluptuous parts of caviar, green-gold and elegant, which slide virtually seductively beneath the opaque floor of the soup. It’s not low cost eats, by any stretch, however it’s the form of factor that makes cash really feel well-spent.

Two modestly hungry folks might very fortunately make a meal out of the Ice Field Plus. (A smaller, inexpensive choice, the Ice Field, leaves out among the extra extravagant parts.) Order a bottle of skin-contact Spanish white to go alongside, or possibly splurge on a deep lower from the wine record’s placing assortment of white Burgundies. You would throw in a dish of flamingo-pink tuna carpaccio, drizzled with olive oil and a bay-leaf-infused vinegar and enlivened with slivers of cipollini onion and smashed inexperienced olives, or the razor clams, that are chopped up uncooked and tossed with a zippy oregano-flecked, celery-forward giardiniera. (Celery, to my nice delight, seems to be a secret theme on Penny’s menu, not solely threatening to upstage the razor clams however zhuzhing up the mignonette that comes alongside the oysters with a whispery, watery, bittersweet be aware. And the one soda on provide is Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray.) Spherical issues out with a petite, fresh-baked loaf of squishy brioche with butter, which is ideal for sopping up any lingering dregs of sauce or oil. (The bread exhibits up on the temporary dessert menu, as nicely, sliced thick and sandwiching a scoop of vanilla ice cream plus a smear of jam.)

At Claud, Pinsky has displayed a flair for making use of warmth to marine creatures. His tackle Spanish gambas al ajillo—during which a pile of candy purple shrimp are dropped uncooked right into a serving dish that’s slicked with scorching, garlicky olive oil, which cooks them simply barely—is straight-up incredible. At Penny, the all-seafood conceit provides him much more room to discover. Oysters are confited in hen fats till sumptuously wealthy, and served with spice-dusted Membership crackers and a blob of crème fraîche. Squid filled with tuna and Swiss chard is charred to a young, near-caramel sweetness. Its smoky, paprika-laden harissa sauce—a surprising purple towards the cool-toned room—swimming pools on the plate with all the fundamental depth of blood. Dover sole arrives in a thick hunk, with ribs intact, topped with wobbly bits of bone marrow and drizzled in sauce Bordelaise–a usually fussy fish cleverly recast as a diminutive carnivorous feast. My apologies to that lobster who was searching for liberation. He (or maybe it was his brother) was scrumptious, poached in court docket bouillon, wearing a brown-butter French dressing, and served in items, organized round an fragrant bundle of contemporary sage and rosemary. It’s simple consuming, in all senses of the phrase.

Penny takes reservations, however it holds a substantial portion of the room for walk-ins, which supplies the well-orchestrated operation a glittering fringe of spontaneity. (Once I did make a reservation, and needed to cancel sooner or later earlier than eating, the restaurant charged me a hefty cancellation payment—probably the primary time that’s occurred in my important Resy-using expertise.) It could be tempting to attempt to have appetizers at Penny and end the night downstairs at Claud, however it will be one thing of a miracle to get into each in the identical night—and, extra to the purpose, why would you wish to go away? Simply as Claud has its showstopper dessert—a gargantuan slice of night-black chocolate cake—so, too, does Penny. It’s a tidy serving of chocolate mousse, splashed with grassy olive oil and topped with hazelnuts. Made out of a rigorously calibrated mixture of darkish and milk candies, it’s dense and easy and deep and candy, a plate of pure, relaxed luxurious. ♦