Daphne's

"To say Daphne’s is an Italian restaurant would be selling the place short. Sure, this Bed-Stuy spot from the team behind Decades has a standardly delicious caesar salad and comforting beef cheek ragu. But they also serve food that's not so easily categorized: baked scallops topped with parmesan, pesto, and calabrian chili, a pasta with every type of mushroom under the sun, and beef tartare topped with a shoyu-cured egg yolk and lasagna sheets fried into chips. If these not-so-typical Italian dishes sound exciting, that’s because they are. When Daphne’s is good, it’s great. But our visits have been inconsistent. Sometimes the meal is so salty that we can’t imagine recommending this place, even as a when-you’re-in-the-neighborhood option. Other times we leave daydreaming about the grilled calamari salad with thinly shaved celery and olives we ate 20 minutes prior. photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez The scene itself is incredibly consistent, though. Couples eat by candlelight in green leather booths, and the open kitchen and fun food keep things from feeling too stuffy. Your server will assure you the wine you’re drinking is natural, which is nice but ultimately won't matter once you’re three spritzes deep and doodling on the paper-covered tables with a pen someone dug out of the depths of their bag. Daphne's may be hard to rely on—and therefore not a good choice for anyone on a tight budget or traveling from outside of Bed-Stuy—but we're still semi smitten. If you live in the area and you’re down to find out what green tomato vodka sauce tastes like, then come here with a few friends who are into wine and take your chances. Daphne’s doesn't have to be just an interesting Italian-ish restaurant with a few flaws, it can be your interesting Italian-ish restaurant with a few flaws. Food Rundown Caesar Salad Your most basic caesar salad. We don't mean this in a bad way. Grilled Calamari Salad Reminiscent of an Italian seafood salad, hold all of the other seafood except calamari. (Plus castelvetrano olives, thin slivers of celery, and a tart yuzu kosho dressing.) This, and a Daphne’s spritz, is a great way to start your meal. Baked Scallops Tri-color scallops served on the half shell. Fun to look at, more fun to eat. Beef Tartare Using lasagna chips as a vehicle for steak tartare is frankly innovative, but once you get past that element, this is a pretty standard plate of raw beef. Unless you're here with a group, focus on other starters. Mussel Toast This was the biggest miss for us. Tender mussels get lost in a sea of coarse herbs and an overpowering ‘nduja vinaigrette. Salsify & Fiddleheads Eat this and you'll know what green tomato vodka sauce tastes like. It's pleasantly bitter but just a bit too savory. If the salt level was turned down a touch, and the sauce came over something neutral and absorbent like pasta—instead of root vegetables and ferns—this dish might be more balanced. Alas, writers can dream. The Pastas They change seasonally, but you can usually expect a ragu that provides bubble-bath levels of comfort, and is appropriately seasoned—when Daphne’s gets it right, they get it right. We've also tried a reginetti with razor clams that was too punchy, and a slightly undercooked mushroom pasta. Swordfish Milanese Everybody should stop sawing their way through pork milanese, and head to Daphne’s, where the side of a fork cuts through swordfish like butter. The pea purée under it leans salty, but it's mostly balanced out by the thick and crispy hunk of swordfish. Just don’t eat it plain." - Willa Moore