"The HiHi Room, a promisingly off-kilter new restaurant from Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, ... Inside, both food and décor are strung together by a loose motif—call it Southeastern American. ... The menu was developed with Walker Stern ... Carolina shrimp are poached for cocktail and seared to top grits from Geechie Boy, a renowned mill in South Carolina; those grits are also used to make hush puppies, served with honey butter. ... A prep-station butcher’s block ... is fitted with a gingham skirt, and a succession of Johnny Cash and June Carter duets streamed out of the stereo one recent afternoon. ... The “Vegetable Curry!!!” is surprisingly worthy of the punctuation: a brightly colored bowl of steamed but still crisp vegetables—bok-choy shoots, romanesco, Tokyo turnip, delicata squash—awash in a creamy coconut-based curry and topped with fistfuls of bean sprouts and herbs. ... The curry comes with buttery Carolina Gold rice and an array of exciting condiments, including crushed peanuts, crumbled banana chips, and makrut lime. ... The Root of All Beers, please, which mixes a licorice-and-sarsaparilla witch’s brew with rye, vermouth, and honey. ... The patty’s heavily salted, griddled surface gets incredibly crunchy even as the meat, from the nearby butcher Dellapietras, stays juicy and loose. New York didn’t need another burger, but Cobble Hill did." - Hannah Goldfield
