Braeburn
117 Perry St., West Village, NY
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Braeburn opened about a year ago, and a deluge of glowing write ups quickly followed. Curious and admittedly behind the ball on this one, we recently decided to make our first visit. The menu is all farm-to-market. Or is it farm-to-table? Or is it market-to-table? I’m not sure what the current terminology is, but the food all comes from local farms. Now, let us be clear and state that we love the local food movement. We love farms, we love farmers, we love farmer’s markets, and we love hearing that the chef killed our pork chop with his own bare hands merely hours ago. But we also love it when all that local stuff adds up to a phenomenal meal. Unfortunately in Braeburn’s case, it didn’t. The location is amazing, the room is comfortable and beautiful, and all the aesthetic details have been meticulously tended to. Unfortunately the food just isn’t going to blow your mind. Don’t get us wrong, nothing we ate was bad by any means … but nothing was great either. One of our friends at the table who works in the food industry put it perfectly: the stage is set for an amazing chef to come in and knock this place out of the park. In the meantime, throw on your TOMS and remind yourself when you eat there that you are doing a solid for some local farmers.
Food Rundown:
Hand Rolled Ricotta Pasta
A small serving of nice rustic pasta with rabbit and tomato, the pasta was tasty, but the sauce needed some extra flavor.
Roasted Beet Salad
Probably the best thing on the table, this is finely chopped beets mixed in with walnuts and goat cheese. The small pieces make this a little hard to eat, but it’s good nonetheless.
Pan Roasted Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes
The potatoes were a bit dry, and it was hard to tell what was potato and what was artichoke. Not recommended.
Pennsylvania Chicken
An excellent piece of chicken, this was very juicy, but after a few bites, it‘s just chicken. It would have benefited from a pan sauce or something else to add flavor to the plate.
Pan Roasted Halibut
This is a snooze fest. A nice enough piece of halibut, but the plate is bland and boring. Pass.
Grilled Short Rib
Short ribs are always a winner with us, so we were going here regardless. Finally something with lots of flavor, but it tasted a bit like beef stir fry. Either way, if you happen to eat at Braeburn on a Saturday, this is what you want.
