Bobby and I had something like a Minneapolitan evening in New York (minus the traffic on 35W) on Monday, starting with dinner at the New French in the West Village. I was a huge fan of of the New French Cafe in the Warehouse District, which closed in 2001 (right after I moved to New York. Coincidence?).The new New French, open since early 2008, is apparently named after the Minneapolis one, minus the "Cafe," but not run by the same people. The verdict on the wine we chose: one hit, one miss. The 2007 Pumphouse Red (North Fork), $9, was bracingly acidic, sort of like a Goth teenager. But the 2007 Nero D'Avola (Nausica), $10, can best be described as red velvet in a glass. I had the New French salad (romaine, radicchio, pear, gruyere, celery, carrots and beets in red wine/pear vinaigrette), served in a dish approaching mixing bowl-sized -- so huge I couldn't finish it. And the fries were excellent, crispy, grease-free and not overly salty. (FYI: This photo is from the Web site of the defunct New York Sun.)
Our entertainment for the evening was the Minneapolis hip-hop group Atmosphere at Webster Hall -- a sweaty, 16-plus, sold-out show. The music was great, and we were additionally entertained by the dozen or so ejections by a large guard of various teenagers for what I must assume was underage drinking (and one attempted cigarette smoking right in front of us). Come on, kids, if you're going to be bad, it's best to go stealth.
That's funny about the restaurant being named after one in Minneapolis. There's a Mexican restaurant from Phoenix here (Los Dos Molinos), only it actually is the same owners! It's even on my street, albeit on the other side of Fifth Avenue.
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