vip in the city

Dinner at Public

M invited me to dinner at Public to share in her monthly Wine Mailbox Program selection — a 2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. I have enjoyed some fine CdP in the past, but this was my first experience in the whites. M at first thought that the wine tasted of chilled water — and it was, in fact, very light — but once it breathed (and warmed up) a bit, the flavors opened up in a lovely way.

The whole evening was lovely. M regaled me with tales of her recent trip to Baja over our four hour dinner.

Public Restaurant inhabits the NoLIta space formerly occupied by a muffin factory. The redesign concept was overseen entirely by hot, interior design and architecture firm AvroKO, earning them an unprecedented sweep of the Outstanding Design and Outstanding Graphic categories at the James Beard Awards in 2004. The restaurant uses salvaged pieces from municipal buildings of the 1930s to the 1950s: bronze post-office boxes, oak and rippled glass restroom doors with mail slots, vintage library-card catalogues, and wooden clipboarded menus made from standard-issue government forms.

Cured wild boar with garrotxa cheese and australian salt — had this appetizer the last two times I was at the restaurant for dinner… and will probably continue to order it as long as head chef/owner Brad Farmerie (and brother of AvroKO architect, Adam Farmerie) keeps offering it. M and I also split a wonderfully fresh and simple watermelon salad: pristine sticks of crisp bright-red fruit, meticulously stacked, accented with cubes of creamy feta and spiked with jalapenos and sprinkles of crunchy pumpkin seeds.

Grilled Kangaroo on a coriander falafel with lemon tahini sauce and green pepper relish — compliments of the chef. Never had kangaroo before — grilled or otherwise. It doesn’t taste like chicken… more like a rare steak. I was expecting a tougher, gamier meat, but it was mild, juicy and very tender.

Grilled tandoori prawns with ginger braised Napa cabbage, Asian pear and Punjabi cashew sauce. (M had the grilled lamb tenderloin and merguez sausage with ancho spiced chickpeas and a radish queso fresco salad.)

And for dessert, we shared the sinfully rich chocolate fudge cake with salted peanut brittle and Guinness ice cream, and new menu item cherry-vanilla creme brulée, and glasses of muscat dessert wine.

With thanks to M for a wonderful meal.