When I think that Craft, one of the restaurants of celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio, has been opened since 2001 and I only tried it in 2019! I was sad to see Colicchio and Sons and Craftbar closing in fact, two restaurants that showed the difference between hospitality and good service and it is only after talking to one of my friends who loves Craft that we ended up there for dinner on a Friday. For once, we ended up in a place where we could enjoy a nice conversation without screaming to the top of our lungs. The service was good (read again: I said good service that is ...good but not at the level of the other two restaurants I mentioned before) and the food, although quite pricey, was succulent.

I should mention that they offer a delicious potato bread that is light like a brioche and so good that I would eat just that with or without butter.

The bread was followed by a shot of gazpacho, compliment of the Chef:

Serving seasonal dishes with ingredients bought locally, including in the nearby green market, the menu offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes with a special section for mushrooms that jodi could not resist, ordering the chanterelles as an appetizer, a good choice for an earthy start.

On my side, choosing an appetizer was challenging as there were lots of mouth watering choices: oysters, octopus, foie gras or quail. I went for the latter that was grilled and topped with aged balsamic. This was perfectly cooked that is always tricky as a quail can quickly become dry if overcooked.

I continued with another bird for my entree: Crescent Pekin duck served two ways, a roasted breast and a confit leg. Both were sublime, perfectly cooked: the breast was medium-rare, with a fatty skin that was very slightly crispy and the confit was not too salty, literally falling off the bone.

It did not come with any side so we went for the aligot, a potato purée with ten times the amount of cheese and butter you would normally put in a classic French purée.

For her entree, Jodi opted for the fusilli with burrata, Goldbar squash and basil squash blossom. Superb! This is the kind of comforting dish that is perfect with this weather.

With our meal, we got some drinks: The bee sting cocktail, made with Pendleton Whisky, fresh ginger, cardamom-honey and Regan's orange bitters.

Jodi got a non-alcoholic beverage called the Phoenician made with pomegranate juice, lemon, mint and Club soda.

The meal finished with fireworks, enjoying their donuts that were some of the best I had in a restaurant: fluffy and light, we finished all of them despite being full…This is a must have!

Overall, we had a great meal at Craft: although pricey, it was a amazing. I would definitely go back.

Enjoy (I really did)!

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Craft - 43 E 19th Street, New York, NY 10003

Dinner at Craft

I Just Want To Eat!