Last week Randall Lane of Time Out New York declared his meal at Apiary “one of the most wildly inconsistent meals” he’d ever had. Our recent meal at the French restaurant Allegretti had the same problem of unpredictability, with dishes being served up that were excellent to inedible. Allegretti opened in August on 22nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.The area is mainly retail; it’s the closest Manhattan gets to the suburban strip mall. Big box stores like Old Navy, Bed Bath & Beyond and The Container Store drive traffic to the area – not very appetizing.
Perhaps the proprietors believed the only way to get people to travel there was to make it a fine-dining destination restaurant. They went for the grand slam and in doing so cut the legs out from under a restaurant that has the potential to be a winner. They put so much effort into unnecessary offerings like three choices of bread, amuse bouche and petit four that they neglected the basics, serving three consistent, solid courses.
We invited our dear friends, a French couple, to join us for dinner. We met a little early to have a cocktail at the bar. After Dijon Sidecars, Allegretti Summer Teas and addictive blanched almonds with sea salt, we were hyped up to love this meal.
But the game got off to a rough start with the aforementioned choice of three breads – plain, olive or pesto – and an amuse bouche that was so under whelming we don’t even remember what it was. And that wasn’t because of the alcohol (for once). Our deflated spirits discussed moving back to the bar for more almonds.
Then the first courses arrived. We had a soup that warmed our spirits right back up; it was stocked full of brightly colored tiny cubes of vegetables, layered with an aromatic basil pistou, and topped with a soft poached egg. The Frenchies had a salad of heirloom tomatoes and burrata and the vegetable farcis, which Madame Frenchie said tasted exactly like Provence, where she’s from.
Then came the second half, and bad caught up with good. Our heads were spinning. And again, it wasn’t because of the alcohol. (Though we were drinking a very nice 2003 Chateau Lagrezette Malbec.) All of the dishes were presented beautifully. However, the “chef’s specialty,” halibut, with a risotto paella cake and pancetta, was bland, the cake overcooked, and the pancetta burned. The veal rumstek, served with gorgonzola and rosemary veal jus, was better; the veal jus amplified the gamey taste of the meat. But the tower of eggplant and tomato served alongside it was a salt lick. My dinner dates being French, we discussed the serious philosophical and political topics of our time – Carla Bruni’s singing career. We all agreed that the halibut and veal were like Bruni’s performances: attractive but unpalatable.
Madame Frenchie ordered best. Her lamb was tender and juicy, and the anise flavor of the fennel grantiné and the tomato coulis were harmonious companions for the lamb.
Dessert was a split.The lavender and honey crème brulée, more pudding than custard, was extraordinary. The semifredo was innocuous by itself and tasted like a mint leaf when eaten with the side dusting of overwhelming mint powder. As a final unnecessary flourish the restaurant gave us petit four of mini biscuits and meringues with our coffee.
If you order well at Allegretti (soup, lamb, crème brulée), you will have an amazing meal. Order incorrectly, and you’ve just paid a lot of money for bad seats.
Review – Allegretti –
-$300 we spent at Bed Bath & Beyond after dinner – 1 olive – We don’t even remember why we walked into this store. Yes – this time it was the alcohol.
-Inconsistency on the menu – 2 olives – At least it makes dinner a bit more interesting. It’s like the restaurant version of musical chairs. When the music stops - who will get a seat and a pass to the next round and who will have to pretend to like the risotto paella cake?
-Dinner with the Frenchies – 4 olives – We think they had a good time – we just hope we didn’t over do it with the jokes about frog’s legs. We suspect we went a bit too far – after all the waiter did come up to us and say “ahem, please stop making such disgusting jokes about frog legs, you’re offending these French people that are sitting with you”.
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