MenuPages

NY Times gave them 3 stars for 2007. It was long overdue. David Pasternak is the man when it comes to Italian Seafood in NYC. Personal best: crudo tasting, macheroni alla chitarra (with crab and sea urchin), sea bass in seasalt crust.

with wine pairings is amazing (make sure to add the extra crudo tasting for an additional $15) the crudo course is paired with a really good proseco and each course is a new gem. They're also extremely friendly and topped off my glass of wine when it was almost done because they said they didn't want my girlfriend "to have to drink alone." It's a ton of food and about 7-8 glasses of wine so come full and prepare to leave drunk! Not as good as Babbo or Lupa but very good and different from the normal Batali fare as well.

This was one of the most disappointing meals I've had. Granted, my expectations were high, given Batali-Bastianich as propriators, and Pasternack at the helm (although he was NOT in the kitchen that night, but at such an establishment, this should not make a difference). The couple to our side were of the identical sentiments. Obviously, an "OFF" night, but regardless, highly disappointing. Our apps were half-and-half: his halibut belly was delicious, although nothing to look at on the plate. The hand-harvested wild mushroom salad inplied to me a variety of selected fungii, but instead three, unassuming baby portabellas arrived on a bed of arugula, doused with olive oil and salt, but otherwise untreated. They were just fine, I suppose, but underwhelming. Entrees held the line of the salad... his mahi mahi was flavorless but for the gassy, burn flavor of the char-marks. Underneath were four woody and tough sprigs of asparagus in a pool of oil. My scallops were good enough, but the favas below lacked the stated arugla , and were just basically scallops and beans. Underseasoned, a little oily. We chose three contorni: overcooked, overgreased adn underseasoned button mushrooms, overboiled pasty flavored collard greens reminiscent of The Cracker Barrel, and then, the most delicious element of the meal, a nicely kicky baby broccoli saute. Everything was completely edible; everything was completely forgettable. The dessert was lovely, however, in stark contrast.. a free-form rhubarb tart in a flaky, buttery pastry crust. I would say "but how can you screw up rhubarb?", but then I might ask the same of all the other components of the meal, which they were able to do, with aplomb.

Swordfish was $34 and mackerel was $31, for a piece of fish with no side dishes. With vegetables or other side dishes the price would have totalled $40 or $50, which brings it into the level of the best restaurants in town. At this level one would expect either ample portions or unusually good food. The dishes were not special in any way except in being astonishingly small portions. When I mentioned this to the server, he went to the chef and returned with the message that we were free to order and pay $31 and $34 for second portions. We finished in ten minutes, paid the bill, tipped properly, and went down the street to eat dinner.

I made a reservation for pre-theater. About a week and a half later, the restaurant received a high rating in the Times, so I was expecting gastronomic bliss. One dish out of the 5 we ordered was wonderful. The rest were either forgettable or just passable. We even had to send back an order of escarole, a side dish, because it was overcooked so much it was practically grey, The staff was warm and wonderful- the food just didn't match the great service and the hype. We won't return.

We went to Esca for my birthday. The food is excellent. The service is excellent. The atmosphere is romantic, yet when you're seated for two, you can hear the other person's conversations. The value, for example their delicious razor clams, those were 8 dollars each clam ... that's pretty expensive. But well worth it, to try once in a while.

Dined at Esca January 29 with my best friend. We were only in NY for two days and wanted to dine some place special. Esca was it. Of course, you have to love seafood! We chose the tasting menu because the choices all sounded so delicious! Our waiter, Tim, was excellent. He made it a truly wonderful dining experience. We started with a bellini (a speciality drink of the house) and progressed with some really great white wines throught out the tasting meal..........we choose the cortina (which is about a glass and 1/2)....we were able to split that and move on to another. They started us off with two pieces of brushetta....delicious w/.white beans, olive oil and garlic!! The tasting menu was $75.00 p/p $125.00 with a wine pairing (which we opted to pass). Well worth every penny. They also had delicious Italian bread and homemade faccaia, along with some salty olives in extra virgin oil......what could be better. We finished our meals w/cappacinos and their wonderful dessert. Mine a pear tart with a biscuit and pecan crust, topped with a delicate vanilla/pear ice cream and the other a flourless chocolate cake with expresso ice cream. They also served us a small dish of assorted Italian cookies.......what a wonderful 2 1/2 hours. You will not be sorry if you try this restaurant.