So I know it's been a while since I have updated this blog and apologies in advance if this review ends up being a bit lackluster because it's been about 3 weeks since I had eaten here. Little Park is the latest venture from Andrew Carmellini - chef of The Dutch and Locanda Verde. It's located inside the Smyth Hotel in Tribeca, so it's a convenient location for any of you looking for a place near the Tower. It was fairly empty when we got there at 6pm but it was definitely completely packed as time went by.
The waitstaff was very nice and walked us through the menu which was broken up into raw and cured, vegetables, pasta and whole grains, fish and seafood and fire roasted meats. She told us that most of the plates were small plates to be shared with the table and that she recommended 5 plates. I have general annoyance for places, with the exception for Spanish Tapas places, that create small plate dishes for sharing when the dishes are more complex and sound like they should be bigger dishes (i.e. the lobster in the shell on the menu - how the heck do you split that among the table?!). Regardless, Cicily and I opted to try a variety of dishes and got the fluke ($14), butternut squash ($17), charred broccoli ($14), steamed black bass ($24) and the hanger steak ($20). The fluke was really for me since Cicily wasn't into it but it was beautifully presented with crunchy relish and sea salt on it. It was a tad on the fishy side but overall it was nice citrus-y fish carpaccio dish. Next came the butternut squash dish. So unfortunately Cicily doesn't like butternut squash but the dish came with burrata cheese and who doesn't love burrata?? So she ate around the squash but as someone who does like butternut squash, I thought it was a great autumnal dish that was very cozy and comforting. Nothing screams fall like warm butternut squash and a hunk of creamy burrata. Next they served us the sea bass, hanger steak and charred broccoli at the same time. I was extremely impressed with the sea bass - it was perfectly cooked with a gorgeous seared skin on the outside. It was firm in texture but melted in your mouth. It was an excellent fish dish and I honestly think it could be an entree for someone who isn't totally starving. The hanger steak was also a solid dish meat dish that came with its own side of charred broccoli. It was tender on the inside and was also a pretty filling dish on its own.
Since it was close to the holidays, we decided to indulge ourselves with some dessert and we got the frozen lemon fluff honey with lemon sorbet ($12) . This dish tasted EXACTLY how it's described. It's a frozen "fluff" that was dripping with honey flavoring and served with a refreshing lemon sorbet that was very heavy on the lemon flavor. It seemed like a much more summer time dessert than something I would have in the middle of winter, but none the less, it was a nice welcome light dessert that contrasted the very fall heavy meal we had.
I definitely enjoyed the food I had Little Park but I will caveat that it's not a cheap meal, nor do I think it's particularly a good value but this is New York and Tribeca to boot. Most of Andrew Carmellini's places are good bets and solid choices, including Little Park, but Locanda Verde still ranks at the top for me. Total bill: $110/pp with tax, tip and drinks.
Photo Credit: Yelp
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