I'm going to start off by saying that friends are the best dates. Tonight has confirmed this for me. After a year of trying to get on her calendar, I had the opportunity to catch up with one of my college schoolmates (damn, my mom says schoolmates!) Tuesday night. She'd just come from a stint from Dubai and I was excited. After an impromptu dinner offer made on MLK day, she asked me to surprise her. I merely gave her an address and told her not to Google it. What better way to surprise her than to take her to restaurant with a pawn shop as a front?
Beauty and Essex is located on 146 Essex St. near Rivington. The brains behind Midtown East's Tao Restaurant and the LES's Stanton Social came together to create a rare experience where small tapas selections meet mysitque. Without further ado, let's get to business.
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| Caesar Salad on Crostini |
The meal started off with complimentary small Caesar salads on a toasted baguette-like bread. They must have read my mind because I'm not one for salads. I don't even like Caesar salad, but this was tasty and just the right portion.
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| Tomato Tare Tare |
If you come here, you have to get the tomato tare tare. It's like a rite of passage. The tomato tare tare is like the Derek Jeter (pre-2009-2010) of the line-up: a guaranteed hit. Made only of tomato topped with quail egg (the most ballinest ish everrrr!) and served on thin crostini, the appetizer packed a punch! As my waitress succinctly stated, you could close your eyes and think you were biting into steak tare tare. My amazing friend doesn't do runny egg, but she ate two of these joints. Beauty and Essex makes you check your pickiness at the door.
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| Jewels on Toast Section: Roasted Bone Marrow |
My mom always said that bone marrow was the best part of any meat. This confirmed it. I've never had so much of is at once. We ate this with some light crostinis served with
with rioja braised shallot marmalade. The roasted bone marrow had a gelatin texture to it, but it was unquestionably meaty. Think about overly braised short ribs and you'll start to understand what this is like.
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| Accessories Section: Lobster Bisque Dumplings |
At point of the meal it was starting to get serious. Then out come the lobster bisque dumplings. Interestingly enough, the starch part of the dumplings had a light flakiness to it that distinguished it clearly from your dim sum. The sauce in the middle was addictive: the homie brushed the sauce on everything that came after that. Someone from the
Zagat Guide said that the dumplings were a true let down, but they were WRONG. I seriously felt like I had committed a little sin by eating my crustacean friend..
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| R.I.P. lil homie.. |
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| charred corn, lime, cilantro, chile | | |
Our mom's woulda whooped us if we did not get a vegetable, so we got some corn.
Now for the Main Event
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| BOOM! |
Excuse me if I dip into Ebonics, but
"Son!" By far, the Nori tuna was the Lebron James of the meal. I might have gotten the name wrong because this was JUST added to the menu, and we ordered it purely off of the strong recommendation of our waitress (she was the truth). This seared tuna was wrapped in cilantro, adorned with succulent mushrooms and sat on a yoga mat (I'm clearly having too much fun) of mashed potatoes. I told Stevie, our waitress, that I was going to arrest the chef for sprinkling narcotics of this food. It is addictive and is grounds for returning to the restaurant.
Clearly, we were going in, cuz we weren't done...
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| Oven Braised Chicken Meatballs with Sheep's Milk ricotta and Wild Mushroom Truffle |
You ever have chicken meatballs??? You haven't had them till you been here. Now I must admit, goat cheese is too much for me, so I wasn't too too happy with the dish, but my friend loves the stinky cheese and she was all over it. Strictly for the cheese lovers only.
Now that I'm writing this. We really did go in....
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| Chocolate Layered Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Ice Cream |
We finished up our meal by sharing this beautiful bread pudding desert. For all my Dukies, this is an improved version of the valrhona chocolate molten cake you get at the Washington Duke Inn. In that picture, you see my Irish coffee, which accompanies any fine desert of mine.
Service: Best I've experienced anywhere. Everyone is nice from the bartenders to the help to the coat check (all the ladies there called me hunny, which I liked). When they needed our table becuase we were yappin', the maitre d' politely interrupted us and offered us a gratuitous drink at the bar. Very classy. The restaurant understands service. I'm especially hard on service because, if it sucks, it can ruin the whole eating experience from the start. This has happen many times, but I won't name names (*cough*
Land Thai).
Additionally, everyone there is really really good looking! The place was packed, but the help were very attentive, courteous and
coordinated. Our waitress, Stevie, was well-versed on the menu, as she has been at the establishment since inception, when it used to make the waiters sample EVERYTHING. We put ourselves in her hands and she did not steer us wrong. If you plan on coming to Beauty and Essex, ask for Stevie. She's a doll.
Decor: Sexy. Gentlemen, this is where you go to impress a young or refined lady. Analyst, lawyer, partner, celebrity, spouse, it really doesn't matter. I give it the "Frank Lucas" guarantee: I stand behind it. I guarantee it.
That fact everything was so on-point made it easier for my friend and I to catch up on a year of life. We chatted on the Middle East, non-profits, marathons, and relationship ish. As I said earlier, friends make the best dates. Take care of them and cherish them and good things will come you way. Thank you.
-Food Mave
