The Dutch

113 Sullivan Street, SoHo, NY

7.5

map & more

Neighborhood
SoHo

Cuisine
American

Nearby
Canal Room
City Winery
SOB's

212-677-6200

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
May 31, 2011

Celebrity Sighting is a pastime we don’t care for much. However, when Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly were seated at the table next to us at The Dutch last week, I kind of freaked out. The Captain and Lyla Garrity? As a life long Yankees fan and devout Coach Taylor supporter, this was almost too good to be true. Clear eyes, full hearts…let’s eat.

Celebs-a-plenty, The Dutch is Manhattan’s newest downtown hotspot and easily the most anticipated opening of the spring. The team behind Locanda Verde took over the old Cub Room space, one of the most beautiful and storied venues in town. The three rooms (plus downstairs private dining room) all come with their own personality and varying volume levels. The lively main dining room/oyster bar is where the majority of the action is, but the back room is where you want to be. This is where you will find the best seats in the house – comfortable big booths, a direct view of the kitchen and a quieter environment.

But even in the back room, The Dutch isn’t a cozy Date Night spot. It’s the kind of restaurant you visit to celebrate – to splurge and to get drunk with friends. Read all about it in the food rundown, but truth be told, we definitely expected more from the Locanda team. The menu is a little all over the place and there is simply too much to choose from. We had some big hits, but also some bad misses. Maybe things just need to be reeled in a bit. And if they can get each dish up to the level of the pork chop, they’ll be just fine.

For a moment, after an oyster sandwich and a Derek Jeter sighting, The Dutch was on track to potentially be our first ever 10.0 rating. That didn’t happen, which is too bad because it’s “Perfect For” so many useful things. Don’t let the rating deceive you, we definitely recommend checking The Dutch out, especially for Late Night Eats and some Action At The Bar. However, the kitchen has yet to reach its full potential. The Dutch has got the tools, it just needs a little time to put it all together so it can become the go-to restaurant we all want and expect it to be.

Food Rundown:

Oysters
We got a huge spread of Canadian bivalves, sticking mostly with Beau Soleil and Kusshi. Fresh and satisfying, these did not disappoint.

Eggplant Dip
Served with “Savory Chips” aka thin potato chips, this dip was rather unimpressive. It was fine, but tasted like a mediocre baba ghanoush.

Little Oyster Sandwiches
Bite sized oyster sandwich sliders that The Dutch has quickly become famous for. The oysters are battered, fried and placed on soft little buns with a bit of slaw and some special sauce. A must order.

Spring Salad
A delicious salad of mixed greens, veggies, buttermilk dressing and parmesan. This was actually one of our favorite things on the menu. Order it up.

Dressed Crab
Strangely suggested by our waitress, after one bite we came to the conclusion that this dish shouldn’t be on the menu. We weren’t exactly sure what to make of it. The crab was wet and soggy, served in a bloody mary and green goddess dressing almost like it was meant to be a dip, but without anything substantial to dunk into it. Weak.

Smoked Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato & Soft Herbs
The Dutch chef Andrew Carmellini is in his element when cooking pasta, and although it’s underrepresented on this menu, definitely order what’s available. In this case, the ravioli was well cooked with a nice bite to it. The smoked ricotta provided a creamy inside and the portion size was quite generous.

Grilled Escolar with Yellow-Eyed Pea Chili & Scallion
Another suggestion fail on behalf of the server. We asked which cooked fish entree was the one to order and the escolar was the one they strongly suggested. Suspect. We had high expectations for it, and to be honest, even with a clever pea chili, this dish was boring as f*ck. The table next to us had the sea scallops with spring peas, bacon and pickled ramps. That’s what we should have gone with, it looked incredible.

Smoked and Roasted Chicken
Over the last couple of years, restaurant roasted chicken has been taken to a higher level. Competition is steep, so if you’re going offer something that sounds as awesome as “Smoked and Roasted Chicken,” it best be insane. It wasn’t. The chicken was good, but not great. At a good restaurant, if chicken doesn’t wow you it shouldn’t be on the menu. Just saying.

Spice-Glazed Pork Chop, Vidalia & Collards
And speaking of wow, it’s time to visit that section of the menu. The pork chop. Holy good god, the pork chop. Look at this fine specimen. It’s massive and juicy and delicious. She’ll put a hurting on you, but order it regardless. It’s incredible.

18-Oz Bone-In Rib Eye
The most pleasant surprise of the night was the steak. The dry-aged bone-in rib was absolutely phenomenal and worth every penny of the $45 price tag.

Dessert
Pretty sure we sampled the entire dessert menu and the one that was destroyed within a matter of seconds was the Devil’s Food Cake and its black pepper icing, fudge sauce and white russian ice cream.