This is April Bloomfield's 2nd take at a seafood restaurant and it seems to be a big hit with the city because not only was Gail Simmons and Robert Verdi there, but it just seemed to have been filled with lots of "well to do" people. As my friend Nancy pointed out, there was a woman sitting next to us clutching to her Berkin bag because she refused to put it on the floor or use the hooks that were provided under the tables.
The decor is pretty funky and airy feeling. I dug the brightly colored chairs and the general open vibe of the place, although there seemed to be more high stool/bar seats than actual tables. The menu, while long looking, actually doesn't have a lot of entrees or big dishes on the menu. It consists of a lot of crudo, snacks and small plates. We started with the happy hour special of 6 oysters and 1 glass of wine for $15 (I took the wine since Nancy wasn't drinking). We got the west coast fanny bay oysters and they were delicious and fresh. Even though our waitress said that the east coast ones were bigger and plumper, these are just the right size. I don't like oysters that are so tiny you barely can taste anything but the salty water but I also don't like the ones that are so big that you kind of almost need to chew it for fear you may choke on it. These were served with a lemon and a nice light vinaigrette. I really wish oysters weren't so damn expensive, otherwise I really could just sit there all day and eat endless amounts of them. From the menu we got the chorizo stuffed calamari ($16) and the frika and mushroom salad ($14). I was afraid this wasn't enough food so the waitress suggested the parker rolls ($4.50) which I kind of thought was nice of her not to "suggest" a really expensive dish on the menu. I really did want to try the pan oyster roast since I had it at the Grand Central Oyster bar (and didn't really love it) but this one came with uni spread on a piece of bread to it sounded like it had potential. Unfortunately, it's just too hard to split that among two people so we decided to skip it.
The calamari and salad came out and they looked so small in size that I was sure I would still be hungry later. But on the plus side they were both excellent small plates. The calamari was the body part of the squid, not the tentacles, and then stuffed with a surprisingly very spicy chorizo and rice mixture and served with smoked tomato and beans. It was basically 4-5 bites worth of food but those are 4-5 very tasty bites. The salad came with mushrooms, frika (which is almost like a barley/brown grain) and arugala and onions. It was very lightly but appropriately dressed with what tasted to just be olive oil and vinegar. So simple yet so different from any salad I've seen before. I felt super healthy eating this salad but for $14 it could have been a lot bigger. What actually was kind of the star of the meal was the parker rolls. They are home-made rolls but then just covered in butter and drizzled with salt and pipping hot. I used them to sop up the smoked tomato and beans from the calamari and then proceeded to eat another half roll just on its own. These are dangerous rolls because I could just see myself sitting there and eating an entire basket without even knowing.
Overall, I really liked the vibe, decor and the service was pretty good. While I did enjoy the quality of my food, the portions could have been bigger for what we were paying. Although I do think that you really have to get a larger variety of plates (or at least more than 2 dishes) to really get the best meal here. I saw lot of people just ordering piles of oysters and other raw bar items, which do tend to add up on the bill if you're not careful, but they are also part of the reason why so many people come to a seafood place like this. Total bill $51 for two (excluding tip).
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