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I recently dined at the 92nd Street Y café in Tribeca and it turned out to be a great night of food with bonus live music. I first learned of this place when I came with a friend to see a movie (they have a great little movie theater). Anyway, we grabbed a quick bite and I thought it was yummy so I returned last week for the full experience. It was me, my boyfriend and a mutual friend that made the trip down from the upper west side. The restaurant is at street level with huge windows. We commented about the space itself and how it lacked warmth. The floor is concrete, the walls are mostly white and boring, formica tables, and it was cold so I kept my coat on for most of the dinner. But enough about the décor, we were there to eat, and eat we did! We split a bunch of items and the food was fantastic. Grilled pizza, as cliché as it sounds, came with fontina cheese, rosemary, and roasted onions (no red sauce), and it was perfectly yummy. Wasabi deviled eggs had the wasabi in the yolk, but it wasn’t overpowering, and on top of the yolk was candied tuna, and tobiko caviar and they were fun to eat. We had perfect hummus with warm toasted baguette slices and a goat cheese salad with thinly sliced raw rutabaga and wonderful dressing. Next we shared the roasted perch that came with the best potato cake that I’ve ever had and stewed collard greens. We also shared a sandwich of which there were many, perhaps too many for a dinner menu. Anyway, it was called the Big Katuna and it was braised tuna with Middle Eastern flavors and sautéed onions. It came with potato salad and tasty pickled green beans. We loved it. They have a great beer selection and a small but quality wine menu. We didn’t have dessert, but we’ll be back. Service was fine, but our waiter seemed to be on edge. I think he was the only one working, so maybe someone called out sick at the last minute. I'll let it slide this time. The food made up for everything so kudos to the chef.

after a terrible week i petitioned a friend for a night spent in great company. he drove to the city from NJ and we parked on vesey. that night we knew we couldn't make it through the bitter cold to john's on bleecker. instead, the wind buffetted us into a brightly-lit restaurant. normally we split our meals 50/50 and he isn't a vegetarian but j's bowl was empty well before mine. he ordered the mac&cheese, which was scrumptious (i managed a forkful). my order was for pierogi, polish comfort food, and the dish was impressive. the butter added a divine touch. i'm still talking about the trip! our appetizer (hummus) wasn't my favorite there are several types of hummus out there and this was the type i call eggy. j loved it, though, and it was plentiful. our drinks were delicious, though you could (barely) tell they were made with cocoa powder, not solid chocolate. the service was lousy. we didn't get our water for maybe half an hour, the waiter was hanging out at the bar, and the couple near us didn't fare much better. it's a new place so i'll excuse the service, but they better kick that up thirty notches. the prices are fantastic. don't miss out.