Cactus Wren
Permanently Closed
Shrimp toast, caviar dip, seafood, pizza, creative cocktails
Shrimp toast, caviar dip, seafood, pizza, creative cocktails
"On the Lower East Side, this newer restaurant is closing on Sunday, November 30, after opening in February. Run by Samuel Clonts and Raymond Trinh, alums of tasting menu spot 63 Clinton, it was pegged as a restaurant with “regional Southwestern cuisine and French techniques” in a comparatively casual setting with lots of seafood and wood-fired dishes like pizza." - Nadia Chaudhury
"Opened earlier this year on a prime corner of Rivington and Ludlow (also known as Beastie Boys Square), this more casual offshoot sits in a main dining room with big windows and an unadorned exterior that keeps you connected to the Lower East Side, with oasis-like touches — especially the front tables with high-backed throne-chairs — and a domed-shaped wood-fired oven perpendicular to the back bar; downstairs is a more sedate dining area that filled up by nightfall the evening I visited. The succinct menu intentionally gathers creative takes on dishes that have personal meaning: “A lot of inspiration here comes from things in our past, from memories of things we grew up with, or things we remember eating after service at places we’ve worked,” Clonts said. “So there are different ways to go about the menu. You can come in and create your own experience.” The wine list is multi-page and chosen by director Michael Tran (sommelier Alessandro Milio can also guide you through the “young, sustainable producers and unexplored regions” on the multi-page list), and cocktails include whimsically named drinks like Creme Depeche Mode and Hilarity Ensues. The bar makes for a friendly perch to chat and people-watch over something bubbly while grazing from plates such as the fruit de mer ($38), presented on a platter like a giant oyster shell and built as six separate bites — two hot, four cold — that one night included a pair of oysters, a bay scallop, a razor clam, a Jonah crab claw, and a raw tuna gilda sheathed in shiso. Smoked eel tarts ($14), especially when lavished with caviar (another $14), and a big greenmarket salad ($25) provide bracing acidity, while Clonts’s chicken wings ($20) — juicy, crackly, punched-up with jalapeno, gloppy with green goddess — are described as absolutely delicious and among the best wings in town. The wood-burning oven turns out three pizzas ($24 each); while there’s a morel-and-pesto pie, the signature is a “sticky-ass, aged Comte, honey-drizzled beast.” For shareable, celebratory eats, the seven-layer bean dip ($75) is topped with an enormous blob of caviar and arrives with warm flour tortillas; Trinh explains the dish’s provenance: “Back at Chef’s Table, on Saturday nights at the end of a long week we would make a crazy seven-layer dip and we’d all sit around with chef Cesar (now with his own two-Michelin-starrednamesake restaurant) and celebrate,” said Trinh. “This is kind of a homage to those times.” Two standout preparations in the meat-forward realm are a mortadella tartine starter ($16) featuring funky layers of meat on chewy bread slathered in chimichurri and something called “egg yolk jam,” and Berkshire short ribs ($42) — fatty, bone-in pork, grilled and glazed with a red chile salsa that, thanks to some mustard and vinegar, reads like barbecue sauce — served with pureed white beans and two cactus-shaped cornbreads, what Clonts calls “Southwestern flair.” Other tempting options include a crab omelet ($36) plated like Japanese omurice and enlivened with Thai green curry, plus wood ear mushrooms with chili crisp; finish with a slab of sticky toffee banana cake that’s the sort of dessert you’ll savor to the last bite." - Scott Lynch
"Cactus Wren is playful. A neighborhood restaurant. Somewhere you can eat a few slutty snacks. Those are their words, not ours. Cards on the table, we don’t know what kind of place this is. And there’s something thrilling about that. This Lower East Side restaurant from the Sixty Three Clinton team serves langoustine beignets, a chicory salad with fish sauce dressing, and seven-layer bean dip under a mound of golden osetra caviar. The menu is unclassifiable, and even if some of their wilder gambles don’t pay off, Cactus Wren is a cool place to try something new. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte Pause Unmute If you’re looking for food that isn’t afraid to take risks, stop by and toss a few darts at the menu. That $75 bean dip doesn’t quite escape gimmick territory, but the fried shrimp toast and mortadella tartine under a blizzard of parm are unmistakable hits. Pair them with something from the offbeat wine list, like a pinot blanc or pruney zinfandel. Glasses are a bit pricey for a humble neighborhood spot, but even if we’re still piecing things together, we can tell you that's not what Cactus Wren is. Food Rundown Maryland Shrimp Toast Greasy and golden brown, with a thick layer of shrimp glued to the top, this toast is a fantastic little snack. photo credit: Kate Previte Berkshire Short Ribs Cactus Wren’s larger dishes can go either way, but you'll enjoy these meaty ribs served over a sweet salsa roja. The cornbread is the highlight, and it gets bonus points for being cactus shaped. photo credit: Kate Previte Pizza What do you do when you inherit an enormous pizza oven from a previous tenant? Make a few pies. Cactus Wren's pizza isn't bad, and they offer some interesting toppings like comté and morels, but there are so many better options within walking distance. If you do want one, try the version with romesco and nopales (pictured above). photo credit: Kate Previte Seven Layer Dip We’re glad this dip exists. It makes the world a more frivolous place. But you don’t need to order it. Caviar and buttery housemade tortillas aside, there isn’t much to get excited about. photo credit: Kate Previte" - Bryan Kim
"A restaurant opening that bills itself as marrying 'regional Southwestern cuisine and French techniques' presents a seafood-forward menu that ranges from langoustine beignet to lobster pot pie and shrimp toast; the team brings experience from the Michelin-starred 63 Clinton, suggesting technical chops applied to Southwest–inspired seafood dishes." - Emma Orlow
"Sixty Three Clinton, one of the more affordable tasting menu spots in NYC, is getting a sequel on the Lower East Side. Unlike its sibling, Cactus Wren will be a la carte, although there will be caviar—served with flour tortillas—in addition to dishes like a trout roe tartlet and aged comté and honey pizza. The name is a nod to the state bird of Arizona (small, brownish), where both of the owners are from." - bryan kim
