Simply DELICIOUS
Skill and quality instead of trendy tricks
When you’ve lived in New York long enough, simplicity makes you suspicious: Where’s the gimmick? What’s the angle? At Virginia’s, my radar went off. The room’s uncluttered. The music isn’t too loud. The welcome’s warm. The crowd seems happy. Was I missing some ironic statement? Turns out what you see is what you get. And what you get is powerhouse food that’s smart, skillful and completely lacking in pretense.
An all-star team started this place, with cooks from temples like Charlie Trotter’s and Per Se. You can see that pedigree in plates like seared cuttlefish ($14), a seemingly slapdash mess with serious thought behind it. Subtle smokiness infuses firm, fleshy fish strips. The Japanese spice togarashi punches up peppery mayonnaise under the fish. Complex, contrasting flavors come from asparagus and green garlic. It looks like a line-drive single, but it’s a home run.
You have to know your way around a stove to make rainbow-hued Romanesco ($12) taste as interesting as it looks. It’s slightly caramelized, with a supporting cast of sweetish smoked pine nuts and kicky cheddar. The subtle hum of speck vinaigrette throbs underneath.
Christian Ramos’ kitchen really struts its stuff with large plates. Fat, pink slices of juicy roasted duck breast ($24) banish every memory of stringy jerky or overly fat flesh. Sides of breakfast radishes and fermented soy beans seem cockeyed, but — of course — they bring brilliant crunch and tang.
The ultimate dish might be supremely simple hanger steak ($26). Ramos coaxes maximum flavor from the beef, which he drops on earthy bok choy and tangy chorizo discs. It takes confidence to make unfussiness feel so deluxe.
We wanted to love Virginia’s chocolate beet cake ($9), but it’s no dessert. Choose the raw honey panna cotta ($9) with tart rhubarb compote.
If you’d told me 20 years ago that a fabulous restaurant would be packing them in on 11th St. near Ave. C, I would have told you to repair the time machine. But this once-grimy corner is a dining frontier. And if it means more places like Virginia’s — no gimmicks, great food, smart service — bring it on. Panna cotta, r.; Romenesco, below — all winners.