Craftbar, Gramercy/ Flatiron, NYC

Food: ☆☆☆

Service: ☆☆ ½

Ambiance: ☆☆☆

Cost: $$$

I recommend: Bruschetta White Anchovy, Berkshire Pork Belly, Brown Sugar Cake

Craftbar is Tom Colicchio’s informal eatery where Chef Lauren Hirschberg’s menu offers an array of seasonal dishes. Most of the ingredients are locally sourced from farms in the NY/ NJ area.

This two-tiered space is huge and very industrial looking. It’s a crowded, cacophonous place, which provides an ideal setting to meet up with a group of friends but not the setting for an intimate meal.

The menu offers a huge variety of choices in many different categories such as Raw/Cured/Marinated, Fried, Cheese, Bruschetta, Charcuterie, Panini and so on. It makes it really easy to pick what you are in the mood for.

There are many creative combinations of food (and some are just plain hard to understand!). The food is interesting but it’s really nothing quite that spectacular.

I really enjoyed the following dishes:

Bruschetta with White Anchovy, Soft-Cooked Egg: This was such an interesting idea for a Bruschetta. The egg was perfectly softened and the anchovy added a great little salty hit to this dish.
Little Neck Clam Chowder with Pork Belly: The chowder was very light and flavorful and the hints of pork belly added great depth.
Berkshire Pork Belly with lentils and baby carrots: The pork belly jut melted in my mouth and the lentils and carrots added great earthiness to the dish.
Brown Sugar Cake: This cake is outstanding – it’s a must try.

Two things that struck me during my dining experience:

The waitress did not know what one of the items on the menu was. For a Tom Colicchio restaurant, I would think this is unacceptable. She did however find out very quickly.
Also, I left the table for a few minutes and when I came back the entrees had been served already. I know I’m nit picking but so does Colicchio on TV.

I think I expected much more from Tom Colicchio. It was good but it didn’t make my “Top Chef” cut!

Here is some of what we ate: