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| - I'm a longtime fan of Jen Agg, and her restaurants tend to be among my top favorites - with such, I had been looking forward to visiting Grey Gardens since I first caught wind of it opening a couple years ago, and essentially was waiting for the right time and dining companion to go there with. Alas! That night came for me this past Friday. A girlfriend and I decided to treat ourselves and give nod / celebrate it being Women's History Month. To say the least, I was totally satisfied and will be coming back again! I think we picked the perfect venue for ambiance, service, drinks, great food, and of course, supporting a local businesswoman,
Side note: I personally fell in love with the Black Hoof and the WOW factor of each dish (I mean, I actually dream about the bone marrow dish), the only hitch being, it's proven very hard to convince some of my less adventurous / or non-meat eating friends to accompany me. Fortunately, Grey Gardens hits a new mark by offering various dishes to a wider range of dietary restricted diners (aka, apparently all my pals). To put it simply, everything was just done right. The flavors may not have surprised and tantalized my taste buds the way the Hoof does, but that would be comparing apples to oranges, so I encourage diners (and loyalists to the Hoof) to leave expectations of such at the door and enjoy the different and delicious delights of what GG has to offer.
I started off with the Manhattan, which as always, lives up to its reputation of being perfection. For food, we began with the bread and schmaltz - and I must say, I am so happy to live in a world where schmaltz and beautifully fresh baked bread exist - especially at a steal of $5. The bread was toasty and chewy, the schmaltz melted in my mouth. Spectacular. When I started feeling full and realized I needed to pace myself for the rest of the meal - I actually felt sad. I really loved it that much (which I think is a great testament of 'simple dishes' being made really fucking great). We followed with the beef carpaccio, which is something my date orders often, but cited this as her favorite. Because I really did love the bread, I layered the carpaccio on it with schmaltz and found a new happy place for myself.
For our main, we went with the buzzed about truffle ravioli as it was recommended by everyone I know who's been there. Now I was hesitant because I find butternut squash to often be a boring filling, and my date hates truffle... rest assure fellow skeptics, it's a delight! It's a light dish, served with a dollop of sour cream and apple sauce on the side which makes it far more fun, yummy and interesting. Also worth noting - only shaved truffles are being used rather than the popular but pungent taste of truffle oil, which is why it was also a hit with my date. Next was the duck - first impression was that it was simpler than I thought, but bells and whistles aren't needed when it comes to this dish. It's all about highlighting how impeccably cut and seasoned it was. If you love duck, give it a go! We finished with the black truffle dessert and my only regret was not ordering two of them.
All in all, I aspire to have this be a regular spot for myself - it's ambiance and food are just lovely and I can't wait to go back and try other things. Yes, it is more expensive than what you usually see in the market, but this is at heart a fine dining experience just stripped of the pretentiousness that would usually come with such! When you look at it like that, it's amazingly priced. Snooty wait staff and elaborate silverware settings have been swapped out for some truly friendly and charming people and drool worthy, cozy, beautiful, décor. I need to take a moment to shout out the people who greeted and served us - thank you for being just genuinely nice and friendly! It felt like having dinner at a place where I regularly frequented rather than being a newcomer or dealing with the 'hipster prestige' so many 'cool' restaurants lay on thick. I was worried about the 2 hour limit, as we stayed 15 minutes past it, but you wouldn't even know it was in place - we weren't rushed or hustled by any means.
If like myself you're looking to treat yourself, or celebrate, or looking for a new take on fine dining, I would certainly say give Grey Gardens a shot - and order two desserts just to be safe.
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