Craftbar

Before I get into detail with my meal at Craftbar, I want to say that I LOVE the original Craft located in Gramercy.  Craft is by far one of my favorite restaurants in NYC.  I never had a bad meal there.  The large portions and family style set-up, beautiful decor, great service, top-notch fresh and local ingredients picked up straight from the Union Square greenmarket, make it the perfect first-date and every date after that type of destination.  I assure you, guys, if you bring your girlfriend (or boyfriend or however you roll) to Craft, they will fall head over heels for you.

However, I wish I could say the same for Craftbar.  Tom Colicchio, I'm sorry, this place puts a huge dent in your Craft empire. 

Having so much love for Craft I've been wanting to try the smaller and cheaper restaurants in the Craft family for a long time.  I went in this past Saturday for lunch, and expecting a packed house for their brunch hours, walked into a fairly empty restaurant.  Craftbar is located in Union Square.  The foot traffic is incredible, even on a Saturday afternoon.  Why was this place empty?

I sat at the bar, and scanned the room to find a very dismal decor.  There was no life to this place.  The entire FOH team is dressed in gray shirts and black pants, which honestly, is a very uninviting color combination.  The rest of dining room is set in red and white, but placed next to the bar with dark wood and chairs, doesn't exactly make the room pop too much. They were also playing bluegrass music in the background.  How depressing is this lunch going to be?

I'll let the food speak for itself here. What drew me to try out Craftbar was the menu.  Potted chicken liver pate, potted pork rillette, beef tongue, pork torchons, and all served with local greenmarket ingredients.  You're speaking my language here. 



I started with the potted chicken liver pate.  At first glance I was slightly disappointed that the portion was a little on the small side, but after finishing it I actually quite appreciated it.  The liver was very strong flavored, a little mineraly, with a layer of chicken fat and fresh herbs coating the top of the shot glass. It was served with "bread & butter pickles" (think sliced, canned pickles), and four pieces of toast (two soft grilled and two hard crispy).

Craftbar Chicken Liver Pate

I was happy at first when this dish hit the bar in front of me, but that very quickly turned into disappointment.  And for me to be upet with chicken liver, you know there's something wrong.  The liver didn't spread well, even when it came up to room temperature, and the pickles added no acidic element whatsoever.  In fact, to restauranteurs, please do not ever use bread & butter pickles, the pickle flavor is lost the second you open the can.  The layer of chicken fat was also way too thick.  ::sigh::

I want to add, though, that during this course I was enjoying a crisp strawberry lager, which was incredible.  It is worth a visit to the bar alone. 

My next course (off their brunch menu) was the Crispy Pig's Head Torchon served with creamy grits.  It sounded incredible.  There was no way they could eff this one up. 

...but they did. 

Pork, Shrimp, Eggs, Grits, and Toast?

What came out was a crispy (or at least described on the menu as supposed to be crispy) pork terrine, served over grits, with rock shrimp, toast, roasted chile, and a poached egg.  Pork, grits, shrimp, and eggs?  What the hell kind of combination is that?



Everything was so muddled.  The flavors of each individual item couldn't stand up to the next.  The crispy terrine was a soggy mess.  The pork flavor was lost in the grits.  The rock shrimp had no reason to be there.  The sauce added nothing to the dish.  So disappointing.  Please let this be a lesson to you that more is not always better.  Keep your dishes simple, please. 

Overall, I can see why they were empty.  Usually, I would try to help out a restaurant and direct business to them if I feel they deserve it.  But not here, not Craftbar.  Unless they make some drastic changes to the menu soon, I can see this place closing in the near future.  I learned a friend of mine ate here a day after I did and completely agreed with me.  I didn't influence her decision, we found out a few days later.  I am sure there are many that will agree with us as well.  Spend your money elsewhere.

Craftbar

900 Broadway

New York, NY 10003