Glenn C.
Yelp
Major side notes: The prices online are a whole lot less than what's listed on the menu there so I have added a photo from outside. For instance, the pistachio crusted salmon is $28 online which is a good deal for the area and $38 there which is a bit much among other dishes. There are also missing things from the online menu such as the grilled octopus.
Anyway, I was here recently at this pretty new restaurant with a small group of 5 others. The menu online is listed as Mediterranean and Italian but I found more stuff on here to be Italian and in general, there's a lot of seafood on the menu. I am quite aware how new this spot is because I was (rather unfortunately) at a prior cafe at the same exact location called Atelier which was Middle Eastern and French influenced which was absolutely terrible but luckily this place is much better. There is ample rooms between the different tables and the lighting is nice. The music, or rather muzak, are covers of songs which don't really fit here such as Despacito (I can't believe I heard this at a Yorkville place) but at least the volume was low. The service was a tad slow and didn't pay attention well enough but I presume some of this will improve as the place has been here longer and I'm not surprised how long the meal lasted because it's Yorkville/the UES. They gave us several types of bread to munch on with a couple pieces on each side not matching and there are bottles of olive oil. The best of the breads were the grissini/breadsticks and there was a piece of olive bread which was pretty tasty also but all of them were good.
I went with a special of the day as my appetizer which was the Soft Polenta with mixed vegetables and tomato sauce for $24. This was pretty pricey but the portion size was probably big enough for two to share. The polenta texture was fine and warm while the vegetables (zucchini, carrot, eggplant, tomatoes, some other stuff) was much hotter on top which was a bit odd. I wish that there was more of said vegetables because this was the best part of it with the tomato sauce being quite nice. Another person had two appetizers as their meal and enjoyed the Fritto Misto as well as the Eggplant Napoleon.
My main dish was the Pistachio Crusted Salmon which is listed online as $28 with citric fennel and butter. However, as said, the actual menu version is an extra $10 more and has a lemon-capers vin blanc sauce instead along with sweet potato puree and asparagus. I have no complaints about the protein as the salmon was good quality, they gave a pretty decent portion, and it was cooked very nicely with me personally having ordered it as rare and it coming out as such being fork tender and quite buttery. My issue instead of the fish was the pistachios as while the dish was listed as crusted, the pistachio flavor was almost muted being more of a topping than a crust which was unfortunate. The asparagus below were fine and the puree which took up the majority of the plate had a good texture and the flavor was fine. Overall, the dish was good but not almost $40 good.
Another person had the Spaghetti Special with cherry tomatoes, calamari, and fra diavlo sauce for $42 (also available with shrimp instead for $36 on the main menu) which they enjoyed, one person had the Fettuccine Bolognese, and another person split the same salmon dish with someone else along with I believe the whole Mediterranean Branzino which they enjoyed.
For dessert, another person ordered the chocolate cake at the end for us to share which which was a good portion but unfortunately was a bit dry with another person at the table saying that was probably a bit old. I was happy that it wasn't too sweet though I did find it dry with the crust at the end being the best part as it had a good texture.
From the completely different price points and menu to the service woes to the minor issues with dishes, it's hard for me to give this spot a higher rating. The chef clearly knows how to cook everything perfectly but the little faults add up. Mid 3 lowered.
