A Walk Down Cornelia Street

At the ripe young age of 27, Cornelia Street Cafe goes back a long way. And more than a restaurant, it is a place thriving with art. Where else would you find live jazz by night, art workshops, book and poetry readings and other musical performances...numbering up to 370 events in a year! Cornelia Street Cafe bears an out and out 21st century stamp serving as a favourite hangout for intellectuals.

So it was during a weekend recently in New York, when Alyona and I decided to eat out at a good restaurant, that we thought of Cornelia Street Cafe. Since the chances of getting reservations at good restaurants in the Big Apple are slim, we thought of using our friend Chris’s influence there. He and his brother had played at Cornelia Street Cafe a few weeks ago. Owner Robin Hirsch not only obliged us with a table but also with wine, champagne and his company.

Once we are seated the menu is handed to us. It seems to offer enough to serve diverse clientele. There is Thai Bouillabaisse, a salad of warm red beets and Danish blue cheese or pumpkin-seed-crusted salmon. There is flat-crust pizza Provençal and grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes. Chef Mario Batali says that at brunch too the place is packed. There is the standard array of pancakes, French toast and omelettes...but a crowd is always waiting. We see musicians surrounding a table by the bar sipping their long slender glasses of beer. Then a young, relaxed crowd filters down the wooden stairs and find a place close to ours in the narrow cabaret space with bright blue painted brick walls. Hirsch says some clients descend to the basement for jazz after dining upstairs, others come weekly for a bit of theatre, poetry, storytelling, or whatever performance art happens to be going on.

We start off with an appetiser - home-made country pate (US$ 8) with cornichons, croutons and tarragon mustard. The pate is the smoothest ever and tingles the tongue with its perfect flavour.

Next came the entree - Boudin Blanc (US$ 15) which is grilled veal and pork sausages with roast red bliss potatoes, savoury red cabbage, and an apple, black mustard seed vinaigrette. The roasted potatoes of the red bliss variety taste just right after being baked with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and tossed in Parmesan cheese and parsley. We also order a Roast Baby Rack of Lamb (US$ 18) with garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and a Mission fig port wine sauce.

What follows next is Black Sesame Crusted Salmon (US$ 16) which is Scottish salmon, accompanied with jasmine rice, warm snow pea, red pepper and carrot salad, and a ginger wasabi sauce.

On Hirsch’s recommendation we order for Caramel Butterscotch Creme Brulee (US$ 6). This classic custard inherits its delicate flavour from the simple mixture of cream and eggs. And the taste is truly memorable.

Well, it does not end here for we do indulge in the Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bread Pudding with whipped cream (US$ 6). Chocolate bread pudding is laced with hazelnut bits and centered with melted chocolate. And the liquid chocolate centre is really a very pleasant surprise when we dig in.

All in all, excellent food coupled with impeccable presentation.