Last night, we ate dinner at Tom Colicchio’s slightly more casual version of his signature restaurant Craft, called Craftbar. It’s located in the Flatiron District off of Broadway. We arrived a few minutes early and were promptly seated. The space is contemporary with a palette of gray and red — sort of like eating inside of a Rothko painting.
For our starters, Libby opted for the pecorino risotto balls w/ spicy tomato sauce (good), and I had the chorizo sage leaves w/ saffron aioli (little chorizo ‘fingers’ wrapped in sage leaves, breaded and fried — excellent). For her main, Libby had the goat cheese ravioli w/ fresh mission figs and honeyed onion (excellent). I had the sweet corn agnolotti w/ shrimp, summer truffles, and purslane (very good and bursting w/ summer freshness). For dessert, we shared a ricotta cheesecake w/ blueberry compote and lemon sorbet (very good).
We were impressed by the quality of the food. I think the standout dishes were my chorizo sage leaves and Libby’s ravioli. The portion sizes in the case of the main dishes are rather modest for the prices (not too high by NYC standards, but a little spendy for this Tampa boy). Given the opportunity again, I think I’d treat Craftbar more like a tapas bar and share a variety of small plates and appetizers, skipping the second course. This ‘strategy’ would allow for sampling a wider range of dishes and provide a little more culinary bang for the buck.
Sounds like a good recommendation. We will have to add it to our list of restaurants to try on our next visit to NYC. As always, I have enjoyed keeping up with your travels via the blog, always interesting and informative.