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Unless you're buying food at the Greenmarket, Union Square is pretty much always a nightmare, and it gets even worse during the holiday season, when a candle-scented maze of stalls selling handmade baby sunglasses and cat-shaped soap dishes descends. But Union Square has improved dramatically this past year, at least in the good-places-to-drink category, with newcomers Raines Law Room and, just down the block, Rye House, brought to you by the same folks behind Woodson & Ford and Freemans. Not to be confused with Williamsburg's Rye (which is itself a newish restaurant), Rye House is an upscale and completely inviting mini-cavern. Let's take a look!
Digs: The flatteringly lit front room is equipped with a beautiful marble-top bar, a handful of narrow, wood-slab tables and a surprisingly unobtrusive flat-screen TV (on now: football). The vaguely Hogwarts-ish back room (pictured) is more dinner- and date-friendly, with wooden booths and a long communal table. The overall vibe is laid-back but polished, with plenty of room for a crowd of 100.
Drinks: The booze list is an ode to American spirits, with a 10-strong and whiskey-heavy cocktail menu. Go with something brown and bracing, like the excellent 17th Street Sazerac, made with Rittenhouse rye, Hine cognac, demerara sugar, two kinds of bitters and absinthe. On the other hand, the Fleur de Lis—made with Aviation gin, St. Germain, lemon, orange bitters and champagne—is a deliciously fresh and icily refined adult lemonade (both $12). Interesting but less drinkable is the Orange Blossom Special, an albino cocktail of snowy egg whites blanketing a half glass of Overholt rye, lemon, simple syrup, orange flower water and soda. Ask for a straw—the egg whites bury the booze under a mountain of froth.
Food: Rye House's food menu aims high and skews eclectic (like the foie gras and duck ham quesadilla, $12) but the results are, so far, slightly less impressive than the cocktails. Stick with more traditional dishes—that foie gras quesadilla is tasty, but it would have fared better without the clunky tortilla envelope. The tarragon and lemon rinds in the wheat beer drunken mussels ($10) were interesting, but take note: Although they may look a bit like stray onion bits, those rinds are definitely not edible! Least appetizing, however, were the $6 puffed pastry appetizers of smoked trout, sheep's milk cheese and crème fraiche, which tasted like golf ball-sized blobs of plain dough. Next time: hamburger ($12).
Crowd: Late 20s, 30s and 40s, decent-looking but not too trendy. Lovably scruffy. The kind of crowd where on Sunday evenings there's someone carrying a baby around and everyone's happy about it, including the baby.
Soundtrack: Awesome oldies. "Walk on By," Petula Clark, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," etc. Couldn't be better.
Service: Great. The bartenders are nice, easy on the eyes and fun to watch as they hand-crack ice and all that. Plus, we were given free shots of "Cat Daddy" moonshine rum punch before we left—nutmeggy, sweet and apparently illegal. Free booze: always a smart move.
Bottom line: A classy, slightly rustic oasis of snacks and terrific cocktails in an otherwise sorely lacking neighborhood. With a few food tune-ups, Rye House will be a double threat. Plus it's the only speakeasy-esque place to tastefully sneak in a flat-screen.
Rye House
11 W. 17th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves.
212-255-7260
Photo by Sam Horine
What other people are saying...
saraht from Cobble Hill, Brooklyn - December 02, 2009 at 4:37 PM
This area has been in DESPERATE need of something like this for a long time. I am very excited to try it as I am sick of having to resort to Republ...
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