Krieger, 3/2/08

Either Elettaria is the best new restaurant to hit the West Village or there's a nasty internet-wide shill campaign in progress (or a little bit of both), because there is hardly any bad news out there about Akhtar Nawab's new New American. An on site Eater inspection uncovered some real spotty service, but it sounds like the people are all-around floored. Let's get to it:

1) Good-ish News: A Yelper gets in on the swooning action, with a quickly overcome caveat at the beginning: "We had late reservations, 9:45. We arrived a few minutes late, nervous that we'd missed our reservation. We didn't have to worry though because they were a 45 (FORTY FIVE) minutes late in seating us. I was a little annoyed but i understand they've only been open for two days and the staff was nice enough about it...We order foie gras and scallops and get the mackerel compliments of the house since they were so late in seating us...The tastes are balanced and the portions are just right. Its the kind of food that makes you want to slow down and close your eyes and really pay attention to whats happening in your mouth...I could have eaten the boar forever...Price-wise-- its not a place to bring a cheap date, however the food is definitely worth the price." [Yelp]

2) Good News: An eGullet reviewer is so enamored with the experience, it's almost suspect...until they lay it down on the Wall St. douches: "Ate at the bar Saturday. I'm really pleased to see how well this restaurant came out. There's a certain completeness and attention to detail which is evident in the food, the service, the bar, and the room which are very rare in a new restaurant, especially one which is owner-operated, but which seems very in line with the way that the chef does things...All that being said, my only negative experience of the night was sitting at the bar with pink necked stockbrokers stacked four deep behind me, hollering for 'Grey Goose and soda!!!!' and 'bartender!! bartender!!!!!!', but that will tone down in time." [eGullet]

3) Good News: This fan doesn't even get to sit down because the place is so packed, but he's is still taken with the look and the drinks: "Russy, J, S and I popped in there on Friday night with the hopes of snagging some grub, but no luck. The place was a mob scene and we had to settle for cocktails at the bar. Truthfully, not eating wasn’t so terrible. The people-watching is fantastic, the drink list is amazing and bartenders, mostly Death & Co. and Freeman alums, definitely know how to make a great cocktail. We ordered an Eastern Sour, a Rita Hayworth and some fancy Italian wine. Delish." [Spread Eagle in NYC]

4) Bad News: Finally, a snippet of something that isn't a complete rave: "A spy gives us the advance line on Elettaria, Akhtar Nawab’s Indian-Philippine fusion restaurant that opened last night: 'Fantastic sommelier—down-to-earth, cool, not pretentious at all and didn’t upsell some ancient Bordeaux. Unfortunately, the food was lame, and they have a ways to go.' At least Nawab’s partner and wine enthusiast Noel Cruz is getting it right early." [Black Book]

Filed under Manhattan: West Village, Elettaria, Good News Bad News

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