Immaculate Infatuation

Immaculate Infatuation’s tour of Brooklyn restaurants keeps on rolling. After successful stops at Vinegar Hill House and Marlow & Sons, Dressler was next on our list. Truth be told, our first trip here happened on the same night as our initial visit to Marlow & Sons. That’s right, double dinners! That’s what happens when hungry friends from the West Coast are in town. Bruno Ybarra and Kelley Brogan of iTunes are as serious about their consumption of music as they are about their food, so we needed to maximize every free moment with high quality eats and drinks.

Serving a straight forward menu of New American classics like short ribs, pork chops, striped bass, and Chatham cod, Dressler puts a nice spin on wholesome simplicity. Dressler’s secret lies in their presentation, and the fact that entrees come garnished with things like caramelized endive, confit of summer squash, chorizo, spring onion, and black mission figs. Want to get our attention? Serve something swimming in sweet corn chowder and the chances of us ordering it will triple. My mild complaints are that the portions are a bit skimpy, and that they tend to cook with a tad too much salt.

Dressler’s interior is sweet. Sculptors from the Brooklyn Navy Yard helped create an industrial-chic vibe which is spacious, decked with comfy booths and an inviting bar. For Brooklyn, the prices are a bit steep, with most entrees falling within the $26-32 price range. The $45 tasting menu is tempting, but the a la carte options appear more desirable. Dressler offers Williamsburg locals a legitimate downtown Manhattan-esque dining option without having to travel over the bridge. Plus, it’s the perfect restaurant to keep in mind when you can’t get into Peter Luger across the street. Added bonus, Dressler offers no corkage fees on Monday & Tuesday nights.

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Jimmy’s No. 43 was an unknown to us until a few weeks ago, even though we watch sports at the bar directly above it now and again. One of our informants recently tipped us off to it, and it turns out that just below the street on 7th you will find a dark and cozy joint that feels like it’s straight out of Eastern Europe. Welcome to Jimmy’s.

Jimmy’s is all about craft beers, both domestic and imported, and it’s apparently a well kept secret that they also serve amazing food. The interesting part is that there is much more to Jimmy’s than just that. A visit to their website sufficiently demonstrates their passion for not only beer and eating, but also for their community. You’ll see that they frequently host awesome things like tap dancing classes (“tappy hour”), beer tastings, home brewing demos, and a local oyster night every Thursday. This isn’t a bar, this is a community college for hedonists.

We’ve since stopped in for a few sessions of beer drinking and face stuffing, and the verdict is in, the food is indeed excellent. It’s the perfect cold weather night out – a handful of beers, a hearty meal, and an early bedtime. We’re glad we stumbled in … it’s going to be a long winter. Looking at the schedule of events at Jimmy’s, we should be tapping our way to a master brewer certification by spring.

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Before we get into this, let me preface this review by saying that we liked Rye quite a bit. It’s a solid restaurant with good food and nice people. But answer us this one question: how far will this old timey New York restaurant thing go? Rye is a Williamsburg clone of Prime Meats, another restaurant meant to evoke a time when they put bitters and witch hazel in cocktails to fight off the polio. You know when we’re really going to be impressed? When someone opens a joint in Fort Greene with no running water or electricity. I want to have dinner in a restaurant with no bathroom, just a chamber pot next to each table. That’s fucking old school.

Cranky observations aside, Rye is pretty great. The concept is definitely getting played out, but they did a good job with the place, and almost everything we ate was tasty and satisfying – particularly the sandwiches on the menu. The meatloaf sandwich is quickly becoming what the restaurant is known for, and the pork belly on a soft roll is like a big Americanized pork bun – fatter and cockier than it’s little Japanese cousin, and it loves freedom. Our only complaint is that the entrees can seem anti-climactic after the excellent starters and salads. Then again we probably shouldn’t have been eating sandwiches as starters in the first place.

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Little Owl, I want to love you. I really do. We’ve had a few nice evenings together and honestly, I think if things were different, it could work out between us. The problem is that none of my friends like you. Every time I bring my friends around, you make them mad. You sometimes serve a sub par piece of fish or kill your tuna lettuce wrap appetizer with salad dressing. Every once in a while you run out of an entree. You are always so friendly and they expect things to be great, but then something goes awry and I have to defend you. They tell me I should be spending my time somewhere else. They say there are better places in the West Village to spend my money. They say I am too good for you. I know I should just take their advice and walk away, but you have such a sweet, sweet pork chop. If you only served pork chops and meatball sliders, I would give you a 9.0 rating and we would move in together and have game night every Thursday. Think about it. We would be so happy. I made you a mix tape.

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Local produce is hot right now, Padma hot. Last week’s Top Chef revolved around the local produce of Napa Valley (and Padma of course) and I feel like every restaurant I go to now is making a big fuss about it. Bandwagon initiated. Hop on board, drink some Blue Point and eat some pigs that grew up in Dix Hills.

This brings us to East Village newcomer Northern Spy Food Co. which recently popped up around the corner from Infatuation HQ and prides itself on serving – yes you guessed it – local produce. Interest was piqued when Eater posted Chef Nate Appleman’s tweet saying he had his “best meal of 2009″ here. It’s a chill spot, and they succeed in establishing the country vibe. It’s set up as both a sit-down restaurant and a take-out market. Think of it as Westville light with a smaller menu (that changes every week) and hotter waitresses. Northern Spy is a solid local hang with a very reasonable price point. It’s not necessarily a destination restaurant, but if you live in the hood, it needs to get into the rotation, if only to grab a beer poured from the taps protruding out of the wood paneled wall. We feel that.

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