Where Colin Ate: Lori Jayne, Gem Wine, Rosella, Le B.
Our columnist digs into some unexpectedly delightful bar food, plus remembers that Delmonico's still hits
Colin Camac (aka @resyguynyc) is officially Blackbird’s “Strategic Sales Lead,” and unofficially is our resident insider’s insider. He is out, on the town seven nights a week, sniffing out the city’s best joints, skateboard in one hand, martini in the other.
Here’s one of the many amazing things about restaurants: even if you dine out seven nights a week, as I often do, they still have the capacity to surprise you. From deftly executed service, to the juxtaposition of an unexpected spot (or a spot within a spot, as you’ll see below) with even more unexpected food, to the nuanced rendering of a dish you didn’t ever think could be done a different way, restaurants from old to new have plenty of tricks left up their sleeves, especially here in New York, and we, as diners, are all the better for it.
Below, some recent surprises.
Colin
Delmonico’s
📍Fidi
🍽️ Steakhouse
For our monthly meeting of the Steak Club (all restaurants are rigorously vetted), my friends and I chose one of the most storied restaurants in the city as well as the country: Delmonico’s, widely considered the first fine dining restaurant in America. Delmonico’s opened in 1837 and is credited with creating several classic American dishes, such as The Delmonico Steak, Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, Lobster Newburg, and Chicken a la Keene. Many of these dishes are still on the menu today. It has been really fun trying all of these steakhouses with Steak Club as you see which of these restaurants excel in which areas. We do our best to order the same things at each restaurant so that we can make the best comparisons possible. One thing I can say definitively is that Delmonico’s has fantastic steak. We ordered Porterhouse for two, Bone-in Ribeye, and Strip, all of which were cooked to mid rare with an incredible outside crust (iykyk). The other real plus here? The desserts, which I am learning is few and far between at steakhouses. That concludes this month’s steakhouse report, see you in February with another!
Rosella
📍East Village
🍽️ Sushi
Fresh off of their first Michelin star for their sister restaurant Bar Miller, it felt like the right time to check back in on Rosella. Rosella is hard to put a label on in the sushi world. It is very much not the traditional sort of place that I normally lean towards, but they do hit a certain type of sushi itch that needs to be scratched. Rosella blurs the lines between the corner temaki spot using spicy mayo and serving dynamite rolls (which are delicious btw) and a more traditional sushi experience. This ends up being a best of both worlds situation where you know that the things you are eating have been handled with care, while the chef also gets to play on nostalgia a bit without having it all be so serious. The first thing to know is that Rosella serves sustainable sushi with an emphasis on local fish that you don’t normally see in your everyday sushi restaurant. I really dig this aspect of it as you rarely see things like mussels and local bluefish show up on a Japanese-style menu. The wine list is all domestic and somewhat natural leaning and they offer a really solid selection of sake as well, which they are happy to pair for you ad hoc throughout your meal. Some of my favorite things on this visit were the Spanish mackerel, mussel and shrimp nigiri, the dragonfly salad (endive, pear, avocado – all nostalgia with this one), and the tuna with white kimchi temaki. Rosella is always a great time.
Gem Wine
📍LES
🍽️ American
Gem as a concept has gone through many phases, from a young chef-driven tasting menu to wine bar and back. It feels like this current version is the most comfortable and assured as it has ever been. The menu is confident, fun, and always very vegetable-forward. Roaming around the LES/Chinatown with a few friends the other night we struck out trying to get into a few places in the neighborhood as walk-ins and were lucky enough to squeeze into Gem Wine right before the rush. This is the second version of Gem Wine, which is actually in the original Gem space. Ha’s Snack Bar is now occupying the original Gem Wine and making it very much their own. There may not be a better lit room in the city than this one. The crowd is always good looking and always feels to be very on trend. The service is casual and the food is overall great. Some of the highlights of this meal was a really tasty Époisses tart with apples and shallots, whole artichoke with Romesco, and a beautiful braised cabbage with gruyere and dill rice. Gem has become a go-to staple restaurant for the neighborhood, and I totally get why.
Lori Jayne
📍Bushwick
🍽️ Bar Food
Lori Jayne is a food concept living inside a dive bar in Bushwick. These guys are old school, they just love to cook and they want to surprise you. They put out elevated bar food and cook their asses off to make something that you wouldn’t expect to see in that setting or served on a paper plate. The cheeseburger was really delicious, but I will dream about the chili cheeseburger and that will be a staple of my orders here going forward (their chili is fantastic). The nuggets were great, especially with the five different homemade sauces that could be ordered on the side for dipping. Wings were awesome both in the Buffalo (comes with blue cheese crumbled in the sauce) and the new French style in an au poivre with capers. It’s not all just meaty, they also have things for our veggie friends as well, like the vegan and gluten-free fried oyster mushrooms finished in a sichuan spice blend. The showstopper though is the absolutely perfectly cooked steak frites covered in au poivre sauce and laid over fresh cut fries for $20. It is the perfect bar snack and so much better than it has any business being. I love this place and even more so the passion that these guys have in what they are doing. They also sometimes have karaoke in the back!
Le B.
📍West Village
🍽️ European
As longtime West Village resident, I spent a ton of time at The Beatrice Inn. Not necessarily eating there all the time, but it became my “local” go-to, either before or after a night out for either the first or last drink. It was a spot you’d always see someone you knew, and the bar team always took care of the neighborhood guests. It was really sad to see it close, but, fortunately, Beatrice chef/owner Angie Mar opened up Le B. right next store. Le B. is a much more grown up and sophisticated spot. Where Beatrice was more of a tavern, Le B. is glamorous and that extends to the food as well. One of the only (if not the only) holdovers from the old Beatrice menu are the ten burgers served every night at the bar only. The burger has been much hyped over the years and quite honestly it deserves it. This, truly, is a great burger, and it feels fun to be eating burgers in such a sophisticated environment (low lighting, plenty of velvet, the staff all in crisp uniforms). Le B. is pricey, but the good news is the food is great. I came in expecting a small bite but left incredibly happy and impressed with the level of finesse the kitchen exuded on every dish. I ordered the rabbit pasta to start, but before that was brought out I was first sent out an incredible lobster blanquette that had scallops and beurre-soy … just fantastic. It was a really bright dish with hints of citrus and full of umami. Just before the burger, Chef Angie came out and brought over an incredibly delicate off menu dish of perfectly cooked foie in a mushroom broth that I am still thinking about. It looked so simple, but it all worked incredibly well. Finally, the “Le Burger.” I hadn’t had the burger in the years since the change to Le B., so I was really excited to revisit it. The first thing you get is the flavor of the dry aged beef quickly followed by the salty funk of the cheese, balanced out by the slow cooked onions for a really fantastic bite. This isn’t an everyday place and this wasn’t an everyday meal, but it was a really great time and the decadence felt right on brand in the room.
Old Favorites …
Blanca
📍Bushwick
🍽️ American
How good can a tasting menu in the backyard of a famous pizza place be? For me it’s the most exciting menu in NYC! I’ve known/followed Chef Victoria Blamey for years now. First at Chumley’s, where she debuted a standout burger and a lobster eclair, then shortly later at Gotham, which was the first major NYC restaurant to close as the pandemic was about to take hold. I don’t think I really truly tasted her food though until I had a meal at Blue Hill Stone Barns while she was the Chef in Residence a few years back. It was only then that I felt like I fully understood her talent and vision and realized how incredible her food was. Now she finds herself taking over the tasting menu at the highly regarded Blanca in Bushwick and taking the menu to places it never would have gone before. I was able to snag a res for a deal/promo they are running for “Dry January” where they reduced the price of their tasting by $100 (to $195) and included the wine pairing! Yeah, I had to re-read that part as well several times to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me. Reservations quickly booked out, and I was stoked to come back for my third visit since she took over. Happy to say, the food is only getting better, and this may have been my favorite visit so far. The food here is truly unlike anything else going on in NYC right now and it’s a breath of fresh air to the stale tasting menu format. The sourcing and prep of every ingredient is really top notch and you can absolutely, well, taste it. My highlights for this meal were, in no particular order: the incredible bread course, a dense loaf with lardons baked in that is served with butter; the Bonito; the Ankimo (monkfish liver); and the Japanese sweet potato. Word on the street is there may be a similar deal coming for February. I may have to book again …
Cosme
📍Flatiron
🍽️ Mexican
I found myself at a Dry January (not my thing, but if you abide, hey, good for you!) event in Midtown on what had to be one of the coldest days of the year so far. After helping myself to a few decidedly not Dry January Martinis (gin 50/50 for me), I needed a place to go for a quick bite. Being in a kind of no man's land for great options, a friend and I decided to try our luck about 15 blocks south at the bar at Cosme. First off, Cosme has one of my favorite bar programs around. I absolutely love mezcal, so to go to a place with delicious food and a unique mezcal selection is a treat. It’s amazing to think that Cosme has already been open for 10 years! If any of you were around in the early days of this place you may remember the bar being a somewhat treacherous adventure. Back when they opened, you used to need to practically parkour your way into the bar stools of the tallest bar I’d ever seen. After a little facelift a few years back it feels as comfortable as ever and is one of the best places to try limited edition spirits that you can’t find anywhere else. For food we hit a few menu staples: cobia al pastor, octopus, and the mole. All great with a side of fresh tortillas. If you have never been, you absolutely need to try the corn husk meringue dessert. It is still one of the best dishes in the city. Also love that they keep the pay phones downstairs as an homage to the former strip club that previously occupied the space. Spicy.
Gem has my heart forever 🤍
Keep these coming Colin 🥳