Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Love. Calliope: East Village


I'll start with this- Calliope is wonderful. Now, we've had a bit of a struggle going to new restaurants, falling in love and being dissapointed on our follow-up visits, but this will hopefully not be the case here because I'd be REALLY sad. A walk from Gramercy to the East Village on election night to meet a friend for dinner, I was hungry and cold by the time I arrived. I had received a text en route "the bread here is amazing"  and the rest is history:

- Bread (third basket upon my arrival) was toasted perfectly and drizzled with a lovely olive oil that saturated every nook and cranny- crispy crust and airy, oily inside and served with cut radishes.

- Appetziers were Traditional Eggs with Celery Salt and a Tallegio, Leek and Chanterelle Tart. Wow! My friend described the former as an "egg truffle"...boiled medium with a mayonaise sauce...salty, creamy. The latter was what seemed like a flat quiche with a buttery, flaky crust and a cheesy, earthy filling topped with arugala. Both were amazing.

- Dinner? The Crispy Roast Chicken and a Rabbit Papardelle. The chicken, swimming in a light broth had the dark meat removed and stuffed into cabbage leaves. The pan-fried white meat had a crispy skin and tender, lovely meat. The Rabbit was fantastic! Tender and light meat in a smokey sauce with a hint of citrus. Both were earthy and hearty, perfect on a cold November evening!

- For Dessert, a dense chocolate cake sprinkled with sea salt in a luscious hazlenut crean and the best rum baba I've had in years- Warm, soft cake with rum poured over it and fresh whipped cream dolloped on top at the table. Great cup of coffee too!





Where? 84 East Fourth Street at Second Avenue
What? Bistro serving "European Farmhouse Food"
When?  Dinner 5-11pm every night, Breakfast and Lunch is Tuesday- Friday, 9 am -2:30pm

No comments:

Post a Comment