I went to Peasant Friday night for dinner, a nice little Italian place down the block from Public in Nolita. It's Christmas, and as soon as you walked in, the place reminded you of the holidays. They have two large brick ovens in the back, open kitchen, and a tasteful Christmas tree in the corner.
Reviewed as having bad service, I want to amend that by saying the service isn't bad, but the front of the house was. While I understand a reservation doesn't guarantee you that you will be seated immediately, it does give way to a little common courtesy when the diners have been waiting for 20 minutes. The front of the house didn't acknowledge us standing near the bar, nor did they come over to say "oh I'm terribly sorry, you're table will be ready in a just a few minutes". This left a bad taste in my mouth, because as most of my friends know, I don't like waiting. I can't get terribly mad at the restaurant, in part it is not their fault. I unfortunately have many friends who are consistently late to dinner, causing our reservation to have upwards of 30 minutes added to the table's allotted time, resulting in the next seating being late. So I understand, but that doesn't absolve you from some pleasantries in the meantime. As for the actual dining service, it was impeccable. Our food came out quickly, our waiter and busboy was attentive in filling our glasses with water and keeping our table neat.
Now onto the food. I have to say the aroma of freshly cooked bread and slight smokiness of the restaurant made me salivate as soon as the bread and fresh ricotta cheese was placed in front of me. Not to dive on one's food but, that's pretty much what we did. The rest of the meal with a nice mix of Northern Italian classics done simply, and the fire hearth certainly added a flavor to the food you can't get with a gas range. I was thrilled to see a white pizza (it bothers me that they call it Pizza Bianca, because that's just bread with olive oil and seasoning on it, despite the literal translation in English) with mortadella on it. Who doesn't love a fatty piece of meal with pine nuts? I was so stuffed with bread and cheese and crackling pig skin that we didn't even try dessert, but I did see more bread puddings shot out of the kitchen than appetizers so, they must be doing something right.
The restaurant itself is dimly lit and the space is rather large so it's nice for a date because you can actually hear the person across from the table. Also, I must say, that the size of the table itself was fantastic. So many times I find myself crammed onto a tiny table that barely fits a dinner plate and a water glass. When I first sat down I though "wow, I'm really far away from my dining companion" but, shortly thereafter I realized how fantastic it would be to have a bread plate, water glass and my entree on the table at the same time. Kudos to you, Peasant.
WHAT TO BITE? Cotechino (fresh pork sausage and warm lentils), $16
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