Last year at some phttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifoint, I had an especially bad meal at a Moroccan restaurant overlooking the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. So when I saw that Petite Crevette, the restaurant Katherine suggested meeting at for dinner, was in that very same location, the same tiny space, the same highly visible kitchen, the same exposed-brick walls, not to mention the same view of the highway, I was skeptical, to say the least. But when we entered and saw a display of all sorts of fresh fish behind glass, where the Moroccan food had been, I figured why not?
We started with the mozzarella, string bean, and greens salad. Actually, we started with my trip to a nearby wine shop, as Petite Crevette is BYOB. The salad was most excellent. Lots of herbs and vinegar. I guess that's what made it good. I'm not a food writer for a reason.
The whole red snapper, which we also split (NYC's expensive, even Brooklyn joints overlooking the BQE), was infinitely better than its equivalent at Brooklyn Fish Camp. It came with garlicky tomatoes and green beans, of which there were presumably an abundance in the kitchen this evening. As Mrs. Hall says, on "Fawlty Towers," when she learns that the only thing on the menu on Gourmet Night is duck, "fortunately I love it." Well, them. Green beans are more of a them than an it. As I was saying...
The only drawback, and I'm guessing this has more to do with me rarely B'ing my own B to restaurants than anything else, is that there was a $5 uncorking fee. Is this usual? What if you bring your own corkscrew? What if you stay in and make pasta? I do tend to do that, but Petite Crevette made for a fabulous, if low-starch, change of pace.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Restaurant Hagiography: Petite Crevette
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4 comments:
BYOB.
Oooh...that's awesome. Montreal had lots of those--I didn't know it existed in NYC! I don't see how it works out for the restaurant, but for the customer it's great (especially for the grad student customer.)
it's pretty common to have an uncorking fee. it depends on where you go. some places its like 15-20 bucks
I live in the neighborhood and had heard good things about the place. I passed by it all the time & really wanted to like the place. I guess that's why I was willing to be patient and didn't give the staff a hard time even though it took us more than an hour to get our one appetizer (just 2 of us on a Wednesday evening). However, when we finished our wine before we got our mains & noticed 3 tables who'd arrived before us getting their food, I gave up & left. All I wanted was a nice meal at the end of a hard day, but I wasted almost 2 hours & left hungry. Two waiters for that small place should be plenty, but we got no updates on when we could expect our food, & not much more than a half-hearted "sorry" as we left. Needless to say, we're not going back.
I meant "who arrived *after* us"...
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