Gather round, Morningside denizens, and hear the tale of the 47th Upper West Side food revolution! If you’ve ever opened New York Magazine, you’ll know that, yeah, 20 years ago there was nowhere good to eat around here, and now, yeah, there are some good places to eat. We’re at Columbia; we know we don’t live in Tribeca and that the 3 train doesn’t even go there on weekends anymore.
Bwog recommends, then, that on the Sunday night your parents are in town, you make the trek down to 77th and Columbus (right next to Shake Shack, you have nothing to lose) and take advantage of what Bwog believes to be the only 3-star restaurant above 72nd Street, Dovetail. The restaurant, barely a year old, offers a “Sunday Suppa” dinner special each week, pricing an appetizer, entree and dessert at a reasonable (for your parents) $38 per person. Plus, this is the kind of place that brings you free stuff in between your courses. Bwog was there last night to investigate what the foodies are so excited about.
Bwog dined with a large party of fanatically picky eaters old and young, and was shocked to find everyone wholly satisfied by the end of our nearly three-hour meal. Our group had three servings each of the white cheddar corn bread and slurped up our salmon and horseradish amuse bouches before even consulting our menus. For our starter, Bwog had the chilled shrimp with oranges and tzatziki and sampled the mushroom risotto and lamb’s tongue, all of which were delicious. In between the appetizer and main course, we surveyed our surroundings. 77th and Columbus is not a corner known for its charm, much of the block is taken up by a white brick charter school, but the interior of the small restaurant is warm and comfortable, though unspectacular. Even our noise-obsessed dining cohorts were impressed by the ability of the partly carpeted wood plank and exposed brick walls to absorb the chatter of our fellow guests, a well-dressed set who all looked distinctly Upper West Side (crocs! cords! children!) or Upper East Side (pearls! cardigans! this place must be good if they crossed the park!)
The entrees were similarily wonderful; the lamb meatloaf with couscous and duck goulash with hen egg were everyones’ favorites. It must be said that Dovetail truly embodies the slow food movement as we waited a good 20 minutes between our entrees and desserts. All was forgiven when they arrived however, our baked chocolate souffles, blood orange sorbet scoops and brioche french toasts were gone in mere moments. We left happy, bellies full and with a restored sense of foodie pride in our neighborhood. Viva la revolution!
9 Comments
@go to the burger joint for a good burger. it is in le parker meridien. so good! shake shack only has good custards and concretes…
@luis When we went there Steve Martin and Paul Simon were at the next table. Solid meal. Still, though, my SO and I thought Telepan and Compass were better meals and experiences (albeit at 69th and 72nd.)
@not a fan I recently went to dovetail with my family and called ahead to inform them that we had a vegetarian with us, whom they said they’d be more than happy to accommodate. Well, pretty much everything they served her was wrong (a baby cabbage salad came out with slices of serrano ham hidden underneath a few leaves which she almost bit into before noticing), a risotto was made with chicken stock, etc. The service was also not quite up to par, considering the prices and the praise. I wouldn’t go back.
@Dovetail Is amazing. Glad someone recognizes it.
Only go to Shake Shack for the custard. Everything else is crap and outdone by your local McDonalds, but their flavor of the day is normally interesting at least.
@are you smoking crack? shake shack is amazing!
@dovetail is fabulous! I’ve eaten there 3 times (with parents, of course). They change the menu every month or so, so it’s definitely worth it to go back.
@food poisoning don’t go to dovetail
i got food poisoning last saturday from the lamb’s tongue
@that's what you get for eating lamb tongue
@you pretty much... jacked an article from thewanderingeater.com… which is conveniently down right now