The House - 10/11/2007

Rating:




Name: The House
Location: 121 E. 17th St. Manhattan
Price: $126.79 for two
Corkage: $25
Server: Filippo
Chef: A great mystery

It was a stormy day (and by stormy we mean pouring down rain, with us sporting galoshes) when we stumbled upon The House. It's a beautifully restored Carriage House located in the Grammercy Park area. They accomodated our soggy ensemble even without reservations, and gave us a beautiful table for two upstairs, with a private window.

The server, Filippo was attentive, gorgeous and knowledgeable. We're a sucker for that combination. The music was eclectic but not obnoxious, and the atmosphere was elegant, clean, simple and warm.

We two soggy bitches brought our own bottle of wine, which they gladly accomodated, but on it's own, their wine list boasts an impressive collection of boutique and more widely known domestic and european wines. Our server knew his wines and his food, and was even talked into tasting our wine. Filippo double checked our allergy requests, suggested pairings of food and genuinely made our dining experience more than wonderful.

We shared the Bibb salad and the Clams in Broth. The salad was great, but paled in comparison to the clams. The clams were in some heavenly sauce that made us imagine we were having some torrid orgy in our mouths. Needless to say we're addicted and we aim to have some more.

I had the Corriander Tuna, which seemed to be in a similar prepartion as a Nicoise Salad, but minus the eggs. Myste had the NY Strip in a Chimichurri sauce. The ingredients in both dishes were perfectly balanced, not oily, fattening, rich or unsatisfying. The bitter, salt, sweet and savory palates all harmonized together well. All the dishes were beautifully plated and the proportions were generous without being ridiculous.

Chef Nameless is truly gifted and he's doing a wonderful job. We'd love to list his name, but after calling, it's become clear that the front of house staff needs some training, as no one there during the day could figure out his name. We got a "Shawn, maybe?"

All in all this is one of our favorite new spots, and aside for some education of the Front of House Staff, we think The House has got its own thang going on.