August

This is another overly late post about August, the New American style restaurant in West Village. I made a reservation just a few days in advance during the Winter 2009 Restaurant Week, which has yet to actually end, and managed to get a table for 2 at 7:45 which was further proof that we were in a recession. The atmosphere is rustic, dim, and simple. In terms of space, the seating is a bit on the tight side. Its not any smaller than your average restaurant in east or west village of Manhattan, but it is on the smaller side of the scale.

For appetizers I started with the seared baby squid and chickpeas salad with arugula, oregano, & breadcrumbs. Everything about this a salad was good except for the actual squid itself. Usually the problem I have with squid is that it overcooked and has the texture of a rubber band. This time it was actually the opposite. It was undercooked and the inside was a bit on the slimy side. The rest of the salad however, was great. It was well seasoned and had a nice balance of flavors and textures. My dining companion ordered the cauliflower soup with anchovies, potatoes, & smoked raisins. I didn’t get to actually try any of it, but she said that it was absolutely delicious so if I went back and they still had it on the menu I would want to try it out.

For entrees I ordered the beef short ribs sauerbraten with sliced celery, apples, and horseradish on top of mashed root vegetables served in a hot cast iron skillet. This was just as meaty and rich as short ribs are supposed to be. The toppings helped to cut the fattiness a bit, but not too much that it distracted you from the main attraction. The fact it was served in a cast iron skillet definitely added presentation points. My dining companion got the grilled brook trout with fennel, potatoes, and dill. It was served with the head and the tail, but it was split down the middle so the fillets would rest flat on the plate. This version of trout was much, much better than what I had tried at Bocca and the presentation was much better.

I feel like the desserts were not well thought out though. I ordered the cardamom creme caramel which came with espresso biscotti because I love cardamom. The espresso biscotti was just laid out like a log on top of the creme caramal though which made it impossible to eat. I think the dish would have made a lot more sense if the biscotti had been crumbled rather than served whole. Also, I was interested in the espresso & cardamom flavor combination, but I think black tea would have worked better. It would have been like a deconstructed chai tea dessert and I think the flavors would have gone better together. The other dessert we got was the chocolate bundt cake with ganache and a salted praline brittle of some sort on the side. No complaints about this one, but not very inventive either. If I come back I’d probably hedge on the safe side when ordering desserts because they seem to those better than the inventive ones.

Overall, it was pretty good. I am not sure if it is entirely worth it given that 2 out of the 5 dishes I tried were misses, but during restaurant week it was a pretty good meal for what I paid. I wouldn’t mind making a return trip at some point in the future, but I am not going to rush back anytime soon.

August
359 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 929-4774