Review: Recipe

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The much-heralded Upper West Side dining boom is soooooo 2008—we've since moved on to pizza, banh mi, anti-banh mi and, well, more pizza. But, like a good mutual-fund investment, the UWS dining scene—so Jurassic in light of our city's hyper-Darwinian food evolution—continues to yield some rich dividends. Case in point: Recipe, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it New American restaurant along Amsterdam Avenue, owned by the same folks behind Land Thai. Unlike other recent A-list eateries on the UWS, it doesn't have a Boulud, Valenti or Fraser. But after sampling the goods, and walking away very, very satisfied, you'll want to remember the name of its chef, Shawn Dalziel. —ALL

Keep an eye on Dalziel
“Some of the best restaurants are the small-little-nooks-and-cranny restaurants,” Dalziel told me back in May, the day before his opening, as hammers clanged loudly in the background. “Like the Little Owl, which serves outstanding food given the size.” It was sorta bold, comparing his unopened 26-seater to the Bedford Street pork chop palace. But  the conversation was a revelation: The chef, a four-year vet of the Blue Water Grill industrial complex, was focused and confident. After two visits to Recipe, the similarities between it and Little Owl are profound. Recipe’s dishes sometimes lean southern French/Italian Mediterranean. The chef knows his way around chops and whole fish. The space is small, but not crowded. Warm and inviting. —MR

Good cop: Foie gras terrine, steak carpaccio, pulled pork rilette, mac 'n' cheese, pork chop, duck confit
There's a real thoughtfulness to the food here, which opts for focus over flash. Our starter, a lush foie gras terrine dotted with sweet dates and apricots, was a good sign of things to come. It's obvious Dalziel knows his way around his proteins, which he interprets with such cheerful range: He goes Latin with a delicious steak carpaccio laced with chimichurri and a kind of cubanelle pepper–avocado "mash," and then channels the South with a tender pulled-pork rillette crackling with yummy garlic chips. In a case of highbrow meets low, mac 'n' cheese comes jammed with sharp yellow cheddar, bechamel, Black Forest ham and peas, but has the wonderfully smooth consistency of your fave childhood Kraft mac 'n' cheese—it's upscale nostalgia. Duck gets a hearty shout-out, surfacing in a crisp confit (we detected a lovely anise-cinnamon scent) and in large-cut potato chips fried in, well, duck fat. (Who doesn’t love duck fat?” suggested our charming Chilean server.) The capper: seared pork chop in a sweet sherry-pineapple glaze. "We just kept watching you eat!" the woman next to us marveled as we finished out last bite of the pork chop, which we then promptly recommended to her. —ALL

Bad cop: Pickled artichokes, muted halibut, soft shell crab BLT
Unlike the well-proportioned foie gras jar, the acidic artichoke hearts arrived fully submerged in a cloudy pool of pickling liquid. It reminded me of Damon Wayans unfortunate pickle jar on "In Living Color." But giving us the most trouble was the soft shell crab BLT special, which arrived speared with a precious oar-shaped skewer, hinting at the pan-fried crustaceans within. The actual soft shells were nice enough, light with hints of the sea. It was the pesto, layered on top of bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and melted Gruyere, that took the dish one step too far. As for the bland halibut, it needed fat and a pronounced flavor—tomato confit, melted leeks and brocollini added little to the slightly undercooked filet. —MR

Hints of Brooklyn on the UWS
Despite the area's tremendous restaurant growth, many of the establishments still have a distinct Upper West Side-y tone to them. There's two schools: You’re either "big box" fancy—places Columbia kids would wanna take their parents ('Cesca, Dovetail). Or you’re a proficient, casual, neighborhood favorite (Good Enough To Eat, French Roast). Recipe strikes us as neither. There’s an unforced coolness—the narrow space is designed with 1950s on the brain, with checkered napkins and hanging lamps taken from a Chicago opera house. The sink in the communal wash closet is a repurposed eye wash. Remember? With the foot pumps? From chemistry class? Combine that with a menu that borders on trendy (cocottes and jars, a BLT spin, etc.), squint your eyes enough, and you might just be on Grand Street in Williamsburg. We cast this as a big compliment; there’s some pretty solid restaurants in that hood. —MR

Small space, big ambition
All told, Recipe holds its own among the more bombastic restaurants in the 'hood, and with loads of charm and good service to spare. Plus, it's got a bang-up prix-fixe lunch deal (app and entrée for $11.95), and—in an ultimate nod to its nabe cred—delivers its entire menu, lunch and dinner. Recipe may only have 26 seats but it's big on ambition—no Napoleonic complex here. —ALL

Photo by Sam Horine

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