Crevette

"We love fancy fish-and-chips shop Dame, with its sexy little plates of seafood. We also love Lord’s, for its meaty pies, puddings, and spot-on impersonation of a posh London pub. Our feelings towards Crevette—the largest, least English, and most ambitious restaurant from the same team—are a little more complicated. In a sprawling West Village space, Crevette inherits the clubby energy and off-white banquettes of former tenant Holiday Bar, but it cranks up the French Riviera atmosphere. It could be an afterparty location in Cannes, where critics discuss who should win the Palme d'Or. The whole place screams summer—from a large pastel painting of a seafood feast to the bright pink "Sicilian" sashimi that pops against your white tablecloth. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Evan Sung photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte As soon as the temperature hits 65, Crevette is bound to be the spot: a corner grandstand with open windows that extend out to sidewalk seating—and the perfect place to sip a pastis gimlet packed with crushed ice. The food is excellent already, but until warmer weather kicks in to bring it all together, Crevette shines brightest when you break it down into different experiences. Our favorite area is the elevated bar for walk-ins. It’s the best spot for people-watching, among folks drinking martinis and eating oysters dribbled with punchy cilantro mignonette. Join the oyster slurpers, or make a whole meal of Crevette’s most craveable dish: a grilled half-chicken drowning in persillade, with exceptional garlicky frites. There's plenty of space. At that bar, the large scale works for the restaurant rather than against it. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte The booths and tables are a little isolated by comparison. They're spread out like islands, each with a flickering taper candle. Still, a two-top is a great for a romantic date, and a bigger table works well for cocktails and a grazing dinner with family or friends. Don’t skip the seafood plateau—everything from the raw bar is fantastic and priced by the piece. Spend some time with the meatier skewers too. If you’re hungrier, share the chicken or dover sole, but make sure to leave room for dessert. Unlike its instant-hit siblings, Crevette is more of a slow burn. But it also has more potential, with a long, interesting menu that rewards repeat visits over big, one-off meals. See you on that 6th Ave. sidewalk. Food Rundown photo credit: Kate Previte Raw Bar All the iced-down shellfish here is great, and pricing by the piece makes it a fun, interactive experience to build your own plateau. A spicy Calabrian chile condiment kicks the shrimp cocktail up several notches, and that cilantro mignonette plusses up the oysters. But the mollusks to prioritize are the mussels, which come in a smoky, rust-orange brava sauce. photo credit: Kate Previte Bluefin Tuna Potatoes are the one thing we always get at any of this chef’s restaurants. At Dame and Lord’s, they come in the form of proper English chips. Here, the first potato of the night here should be a rosti, which holds pickled guindilla peppers and a luxuriant slab of bluefin tuna belly. Think of the classiest wedding hors d’ouevres you've ever eaten and multiply by 10. photo credit: Kate Previte Merguez and Morcilla Skewer Get these for a little taste of meat early in the meal. Leaning into pintxos inspiration, these Spanish sausages are a perfect counterpoint to all the seafood. photo credit: Will Hartman Rock Shrimp With Basil Fritters Served with the greenest of aiolis, this dish reminds us why we love Dame’s fish and chips so much. The fry on these patties of rock shrimp is light and airy, and the basil gives them that pop of freshness. photo credit: Kate Previte Florence Fennel, Mint, and Pecorino Salad With all the richness on this menu, this salad is an absolute must. Light, fresh, and balanced with just a bit of salty pecorino, you’ll be looking for it after almost every bite. photo credit: Kate Previte Butter Beans, Pistou, and Grilled Squid There’s a beans-related arms race going on at New York’s top restaurants, and Crevette’s throws a haymaker. Creamy, perfectly cooked butter beans topped with lightly charred squid rings are drenched in once-crispy breadcrumbs, soaked with a lemony, buttery substance. It’s the closest we’ve felt to a sunny afternoon on the Mediterranean in what feels like years. Grilled Wild Mushrooms, Egg Yolk, and Foie Gras This dish is richer than Mansa Musa, Jeff Bezos, the sovereign fund of Norway, and just about every other billionaire combined. It’s a flex from the kitchen—grilled wild mushrooms, lobes of seared foie gras, and an egg yolk. Three bites of this are too many bites, but two bites are wonderful, so split the dish with a couple of people, and order some bread to clean up all that savory juice. photo credit: Evan Sung Seafood Rice It’s not quite paella, but it does scratch a similar itch. The rice is savory, stained with saffron, and worth adding on if you need to pad out your order. photo credit: Kate Previte Grilled Golden Chicken A perfectly cooked, juicy chicken is a standout. Sop up the persillade sauce with a big mess of shoestring fries—perfect, as is expected from this chef’s spuds. photo credit: Kate Previte Dover Sole For $86, we’d appreciate it if the servers fileted it for us, tableside or otherwise, but that doesn't really matter because this centerpiece dish is a showstopper. The dover sole is lusciously buttery, with béarnaise and capers. photo credit: Kate Previte Dessert Sweets are a true must at Crevette, especially the rhum cake with pineapple. This is arguably our favorite thing on the menu, but all the desserts are really excellent." - Will Hartman

"Restaurant looking to the South of France and beyond, featuring skewers with octopus and bouillabaisse." - Emma Orlow

"The third restaurant from Dame and Lord’s duo, Patricia Howard and chef Ed Szymanski are opening Crevette in the former Holiday Bar space. It’ll be 'mostly seafood,' and 'not entirely British,' with a modern European seafood bar theme, featuring a lighter style of cuisine, more raw bar focused and less overtly English." - Nadia Chaudhury