Hearth Visited 6/30/2013 4 Forks

Hearth 403 E 12th St., (between 1st Ave & Avenue A), New York, NY 10009

Hearth is one of those places that I've walked past a million times and always say to myself that I should go but never end up at.  Luckily, Aarti mentioned it as a place to try for brunch and I was in.  We got there pretty late on a Sunday (around 1:45pm) so I figured it shouldn't be hard to get a seat.  But when we walked in they asked if had a reservation and we said no, they said we could either at the bar or one of these random side tables near the bar.  We picked the side table and it turned out to be fine.  When we sat down the couple next to us was eating the two dishes that I had been thinking about ordering: the veal and ricotta meatballs with polenta and the baked eggs with kale.  I was glad that I got to see the dishes before I ordered because one glance at the meatballs and I was sold.

Since it was a late brunch, Aarti and I got the grilled bread and ricotta with fresh snap peas ($7) to start as well as the fresh fruit plate ($7) since it was boiling hot outside.  As I mentioned, I got the meatballs ($19) which wasn't easy for me to decide on because I usually have to have eggs in the morning but it just looked too good to pass up.  Aarti got the braised market greens (which was rapini that day) with 2 poached eggs ($12).  The grilled bread with ricotta was pure heaven.  It was similar to a bruchetta with the outside of the bread being nice and toasty and the inside of the bread nice and soft.  But the best part was the sweet whipped ricotta on top. It was like eating fluffy whip cream.  The snap peas were also sensational as they had a perfect bite to it.  They tasted like they literally came straight from the farm to the table.  This ricotta dish rivals the fantastic version at Locanda Verde. The fruit plate was nice palate cleanser with fresh slices of pineapple, watermelon, cherries, and blueberries.  When my meatball dish came out, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to finish it since each of the 3 meatballs were the size of my fist, but of course I have a problem where I can't say no to good food.  The meatballs were covered in a delicious marinara sauce on top of a bed of cacio e peppe polenta.  The polenta was nice and creamy but the meatballs were the real winner here.  Since they were made with veal and ricotta they were incredibly moist and flavorful and quite meaty at the same time.  To make it a bit more brunch-y I probably would have preferred it with one less meatball and maybe a poached egg with the polenta.  I couldn't finish the polenta but it was smooth and not overly grained although I probably could have done with a bit less sauce on top of everything.  I didn't try Aarti's dish but it looked great and the eggs looked perfectly poached with nice runny yolks.

All in all, Hearth was a super cute place.  While it's located in the East Village, it really had much more of a West Village feel to it. It's not yuppie-esque but it doesn't have that gritty edge that I would expect from a place on 1st Ave.  The quality of the food was all very fresh and tasted like they came straight from the local farmer's market.  The price of the meatball dish is a tad expensive for brunch but I guess it is New York afterall and I've just resigned to the fact that I am constantly spending all my money on eating out.  Total bill:  $38/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp