Craft

A while back, Chris and I tried out Craft, Tom Colicchio’s restaurant. I really like him on Top Chef because he seems very calm, cool, and collected. I was even lucky enough to meet up at the James Beard awards show last year. My picture with Tom:

We were both excited for dinner and started off our meal with a small shooter of creamy mushroom soup:

Smooth and creamy. A good way to start our meal.

The kitchen also sent over some cold cuts:

Chris and I weren’t huge fans of the dish, but appreciated the generosity.

We ordered the crispy bacon based on a lot of recommendations and positive reviews:

The bacon comes with a creamy buttermilk dressing and is absolutely amazing. Huge chunks of bacon with a little extra salt:

Our next dish was dayboat monkfish:

The fish tasted very meaty due to the fact that it was wrapped in pancetta. I probably would pass on this dish if I ever came back because the flavors of the fish were masked by the pancetta.

For our main course, we ordered the braised short rib:

The meat was supposed to “melt in our mouths” but instead, got stuck to our teeth. The exterior of the meat was very sticky; the glaze must’ve either been glue or sugar. Either way, I was picking my teeth trying to get out all of the gunk from the short ribs.

We also ordered a side of brussel sprouts and gnocchi:

The brussel sprouts were delicious, but the gnocchi was overcooked and not flavorful enough. I don’t think we had a great dinner at Craft, but the couple next to us definitely enjoyed themselves. In fact, they enjoyed themselves so much that they started making out in the middle of the restaurant while everyone else watched in horror. The waiters didn’t know what to do, so they just let the couple be. Awkward.

Our dinner was good, but definitely not anything great, especially from a Top Chef! I haven’t given up on Tom Colicchio – I love his sandwich creations at Wichcraft, especially the tuna sandwich that I just had last night! Also, I’m not sure this is still going on, but there is a “halfsteak” deal that I’m interested in trying some time. So many meals…so little time!