Aarti and I sat outside since it was beautiful weather outside. The service was a bit confusing at first since one person took our drink order and then 5 minutes later someone else came and asked to take our drink order. But then after that we did have 1 clearly defined waitress (who forgot to tell us about the Specials which was a bit annoying but not a complete deal breaker). Aarti and I split the summer vegetable pot pie ($9), Aarti got the quinoa risotto ($16) and I got the hanger steak ($19) - the prices were all fairly reasonable considering it is smack in the middle of the West Village.
The vegetable pot pie came out and at first glance it seemed kind of small. But Jesus, the flavor and taste were HUGE. It was corn, beans, and other fresh summer veggies in a bechamel sauce topped with a few puffy pastry triangles. You could really taste the butter and milk but the vegetables were incredibly fresh and the combination was simply amazing. So it really set the stage for the rest of the meal. My hanger steak looked delicious from the start. I ordered it medium rare and it was definitely more on the rare side which I definitely prefer. It cut and tasted like butter. The crust was perfectly cooked and the inside was nice and pink but not tough to eat at all - I probably didn't even need the steak knife they gave me. It was drizzled with a chimichurri sauce which added a tangy touch to the steak. The outside of the steak was a little bit salty but once you mix it with the potato-gratin/onion side and/or kale side the dish came with, it neutralized the saltiness. The potato-gratin had nicely thin sliced pieces of potato with a mild sauce on top of it and the kale was just the leafy parts done in a quick sautee. Aarti's dish was a huge plate of quinoa (which I've never really had in its pure state - it's kind of like fluffy see through cous cous) with sauteed mushroom and other vegetables. She also got a side of roasted corn ($5) with spicy farmers cheese - which I thought would come out on a stick like they do at the Mexican food trucks, but it came out like a corn salad. While she liked her meal, she said the quinoa dish taste a bit better by mixing in the spicy corn to give it some kick. I had a small bite of both and yes the corn definitely had spice to it and yes the quinoa needed that extra kick to it but it did taste very healthy.
For dessert our waitress had suggested the strawberry and blueberry shortcake ($8) which Aarti and I had already decided on even before she suggested it. In my mind I thought it was going to be spongy cake with cream and berries inside but instead it was 2 almost scone-like biscuits with fresh cream and berries just plated on the side. It was a bit disappointing because it wasn't what I thought it was going to be but it wasn't a horrible dessert (the cream was super fresh tasting), they should just call it something else. Overall, the place is incredibly adorable and the food was fresh and outstanding and price-wise nothing was over $20, so you can't really beat that combination. I would totally come back here again and I hope they open up for brunch soon. Total bill was $43/pp with tax and tip.
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