FoodMayhem

My friend Angie, always reading up on the latest noteworthy openings in NYC, instant messaged me this week. She read about The Redhead The Redhead and had to go. Skimming through the publicity they’ve had, the food sounded interesting, but it was a bar. I think you can tell, Lon and I are not bar people. Yea, we’re no fun.

I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at The Redhead. It was indeed a bar, but a much cleaner one, a decently lit one, not at all smelly, not at all noisy. It was filling up by the time we left, but the crowd was calm, mature, and clean looking.

Starting off with the Bacon Peanut Crunch and the Chips & Dip, we were all pleased. Perfectly roasted nuts, with the aroma of bacon (Lon wished there were big chunks of bacon) and perfectly fried waffle chips with a fresh and chunky dip, showed off their concept well – gourmet bar food?

The Crabmeat and Leek Tart impressed us all. There was already tons of crabmeat and the wild mushroom meuniere sauce made you feel just a bit more spoiled. As much as I loved it (really loved it), it was a bit too elegant and almost out of place here.

The Sausage & Pretzel brought me back to Germany, where pretzels put the NYC street pretzels to shame, and sausages taste like real meat.

The Duck Confit was tender with a nicely crisped skin but just a tad too salty. The pickled okra was fibrous and hard to chew while the dirty rice, sitting in a meaty stock, stole the show for all three of us.

The Buttermilk Fried Chicken was really well executed. Even the white meat (boneless) was juicy and tender. No one cared for the dry cornbread but the salad with strawberries was a wonderfully refreshing side. Some of the dressing pooled in the middle of the plate, making the underside of the chicken soggy, so ask for your salad on a separate plate.

The Farmers’ Market Cheese Ravioli, covered in wonderful zucchini slices, was lighter than expected. The filling was under-seasoned for me but the fresh pasta was perfection. I love runny quail egg (inside the ravioli) but again, this dish was a bit too elegant for the concept here.

All of the desserts called to me but after a rich dinner, I couldn’t afford to eat more than two. Surprisingly, they weren’t very sweet. Thank You! I actually wanted more salted caramel with the fresh Ho Ho because the few bites with it, really heightened the flavors.

The Warm Berry Bread Pudding with Greek Yogurt Ice Cream was so comforting without being too heavy.

We were full and happy at a reasonable price, prices that allow for a few imperfections. To the owners Meg, Gregg, and Rob, who wrote on their menu, “We’ve long dreamed of opening our own neighborhood restaurant…” Congratulations, you have succeeded. It is exactly what you wanted it to be, a wonderful neighborhood restaurant.