Recette

I cannot say that I dislike this place, however just felt like Recette was lack of a signature dish. The bigger issue was its slow speed.
My friend and I came in around 7pm, to our surprise, the restaurant was almost entirely empty. We opted for the 5-​course tasting menu, of which we got to choose two dishes each. I enjoyed the langostines with uni and jumbo shrimp (yet my friend said it was too salty…) our highly anticipated pork belly was cooked a bit too dry and very difficult to cut into pieces. The dessert sorbet was delicious and had a slight touch of bitterness, which combined itself well with the sweetness of marshmallow and cake.
Service was definitely the highlight, as our waiter constantly came over checking on us. I normally would not upgrade rating simply based on service, but this time I really got convinced! Recette is ³⁄₅ for food, yet ⁵⁄₅ for service!

Saw a MOUSE skitter across the floor by our table at the end of our meal. Told the wait staff we weren’t going to make a scene or blow it up. They proceed to bring the bill at which point we made the point we should be comped at least something for not blowing up their spot with other guests. They took 20% Off which was nice but hardly compensatory for being discreet about their rodent issue. First time here in years, last visit was 2011– this place has really fallen from grace! Not worth it, will not return.

What a neighborhood gem. It also shouldn’t just be a neighborhood gem — it should be a destination. So many great plates to share, without the pretension of the other tasting menus in town. Quaint, delicious, and great service. Thanks for the great night out.

Came here for Sunday brunch, and not sure if this was normal, but the place got smokier through the meal and by the time we left, there was a thick layer of smoke across the restaurant and even now in the evening, our clothes still smell of it. We’ll start here.
Then on to the food. I got the peekytoe crab eggs, and my beau got the braise of the day. When they first came out, the two dishes looked identical covered in arugula (not much for presentation). Digging deeper, my dish was topped with a very burnt broccoli and two slightly burnt brussel sprouts. The dish itself had no flavor minus being very salty. Sooooooo this was a good time to swap dishes with the one sitting across from me. The braise of the day had more flavor, but a simple, one-​dimentional taste of paprika. But alas, it was more flavor than my egg dish, so we decided to split the braise beef shank across the two dishes so they’d both taste like something.
Our waiter was nice, but we were missing our coffee most of the meal till we caught and reminded him again. Understandable since he was most likely busy, and the bigger issue at the restaurant being that I felt we were smoked out of the place, and the food was fairly tasteless. I was initially pretty excited about this place and thought we’d try brunch then dinner some other time, but don’t think we’ll be making a return visit.
Hungry kat, disappointed.

Had brunch here for the first time, have passed by many times and decided to give it a try. A very nice bright room, big windows on 2 sides. The crowd was very nice, well dressed but casual, all seemed to be having a good time, peaceful, not loud. Our waiter was a bit overwhelmed, I think he was the only waiter working the whole room, but he did a fantastic job. Very pleasant, attentive, made sure we were taken of, the water/​coffee girl was also very nice, big smile, she was at ease, I liked them both. We both ordered the Bratwurst with grits and eggs. Very nice and smooth grits, creamy, which I love. Wish it would have came with toast, but overall very good. I would recommend Recette for a pleasant quiet Sunday afternoon.

I had an incredible experience at Recette.
it was a quiet Tuesday evening. We had a 7pm reservation, and the restaurant was sparsely occupied. They had our table ready (there were 9 of us, so they needed a big table). They also didn’t seem to mind that we were waiting for people, 2 of whom arrived very late. In fact, we ended up only having 7 for dinner and 2 arrived at the end, and the staff was very gracious about rearranging the chairs and serving our latecomers.
Read below for details, but the highlight for me was the Duck Breast and the deconstructed S’mores. The duck skin was crispy and had that rich fattiness you want from duck, while the meat was perfectly cooked, tender, and juicy. The s’mores…well, you just have to try it.
We ordered the tasting menu. I love tasting menus, since you don’t need to think about what to get… they just bring plate after plate of delicious food.
What we had:
Charcuterie Platter — Including Foie Gras, Terrine, meats, cheeses, fresh bread. It was all very good.
Buffalo Sweetbreads — I had never tried sweetbreads before, and still don’t know if I’ve actually had the sweetbread experience… but these were delicious! They were fried and covered in buffalo wing sauce, but the texture was perfect… crispy on the outside and delicate on the inside.
Salted Cod Balls with Lamb Ragu: These were tasty. You could definitely taste the salted cod, and the lamb ragu was delicious.
Arugula Salad — I don’t generally love salads (they are just something my wife makes me eat,) but if you do, you will love this. It was well dressed and the toppings were very nice.
Beef Carpaccio — The burrata cheese overpowered the beef, which probably needed more seasoning, but still nice.
Skate Wing Escabeche — YUM!
DUCK BREAST — Possibly the best duck breast I have ever had.
S’mores — This was fantastic. The Graham cracker Ice cream, chocolate sauce with a touch of cayenne pepper, toasted marshmallow, and a light chocolate crisp on top.
It is not a cheap dinner, but for an occasional night out, it is definitely an experience worth having.
The staff was so attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable, they also added to the experience. Great time!

Great food! Great service. Awesome ambiance. Would be a great place to take someone you’d like to make a good impression on. Reminds me of the quaint byos in Philly, except it’s not a byo. Definitely eat here.

Tasting menu out of this world. The atmosphere is romantic and intimate. The service is attentive and warm. And the food!!! One of my favourite restaurants in the city!

Cute, charming, and a little cramped, just like you’d expect for a place in the West Village. We made a day-​of reservation last night for 9:30, party of 4. There was a problem with our table– I think one of the servers gave it to his friend, so they didn’t get us seated until 10. The hostess immediately acknowledged that it was late and told us she would take care of us. I appreciated her addressing the situation immediately.
Once seated we ordered the sweetbreads with an original spin, served buffalo style. If you have a picky eater you’re trying to convert, I’d recommend this as a «gateway organ meat», as buffalo sauce mostly drowns out every other flavor. For this same reason, I probably wouldn’t order it a second time but I enjoyed it as a one-​off. My boyfriend got the foie gras with fig which was wonderful. The other couple had the pasta with shrimp that they also liked. The hostess kept her promise and also brought out bone marrow toasts which were little circular butter-​bombs of deliciousness, as well as the salt-​cod fritters with lamb sausage ragu. Not one bite was left of either.
At this point I was already stuffed but the main courses came out. The guys had the steak. The chef’s temperature gauge is tres-​French– medium rare is very red, which for me is perfect but just fyi for your own tastes. The ladies had the branzino which was cooked perfectly. The hen of the woods mushroom sauce it was served over was a bit heavy-​handed with the salt.
For dessert we had the s’mores and the other chocolate one-​both good. The wine list is on the pricey side– not much in reds under $ 70. Our server was very friendly and came back just often enough. Because of the late start, we were the last ones in there and they didn’t rush us out.

3.5 stars. Food is tasty, but overpriced.
The interior of Recette is intimate, and on a Tuesday night the dining room was all but empty, making it a near private affair for me and my three dining companions. We were here for charcuterie, but supplemented with a few sides to round out our meal. Service was very welcoming and warm throughout, like the toasty dinner rolls that came out shortly after ordering.
We started with the bone marrow toast, salt cod fritters on lamb sausage ragù, and arugula salad. Bone marrow toasts were decadent little bites, but they were painfully little. Also, and this is totally nitpicking, there were three bites and four of us — while I understand it’s not the restaurant’s obligation to add an extra bite to accommodate our numbers, it would’ve been a nice gesture that, to me, can separate a good restaurant from a great one. Alas, we judiciously divided the three marrow toasts, even though it turned out not to be worth the trouble.
I especially liked the lamb sausage ragù, and while I’m not sure it was best suited to be paired with salt cod fritters, it was delicious on aforementioned toasty rolls. I had read good things about the arugula salad, and they held true. I liked that they used hazelnuts and a sharply acidic dressing.
When the charcuterie and cheese plates arrived, I was greeted with a paltry spread of a handful of meats and cheeses. Again — for the price, it was paltry. Barely enough for each of us to have two bites of each cured meat, and the cranberry bread that came alongside didn’t jive with most of the cheeses; definitely not with the foie mousse that we wiped up with more dinner rolls. What saved the lackluster charcuterie were the sides of duck fat fingerlings (crispy potatoes are always a good idea) and roasted vegetables.
Overall Recette is a lovely spot for a romantic dinner, and had there been snow outside, it would’ve been a scene out of a winter wonderland storybook. Inside, however, the small portion sizes and lackluster charcuterie were found wanting… easily remedied with a more generous hand in the kitchen to match the generosity of the service in the front of the house.

If I could give Recette a 4.5 stars I would and I am not giving 5 stars because the portions were tiny and the resturant was not decorated for the holidays (OK, OK I know that’s my issue but we are in NY with less than a week before Christmas!)
The food was amazing: the bone marrow toast was incredible but so small, I think I needed a microscope to find them.
The tortilla soup – a unique twist on one of my favorite dishes. The portion was good and the hominy added a nice texture.
The arugula salad was perfect. Crispy, light dressing and excellent.
The shrimp paella and sirloin were out-​of-​this world amazing. So good. I wish I had more.
The S’more ice cream dessert — one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.

IN SHORT: Exceptional New American dining is found on a particularly peaceful stretch of Greenwich Street. With adventurous and novel flavor combinations, Recette feels like a very lucky discovery to share furtively between friends.
THE STORY: I subscribe to a piece of wisdom passed down to me from my mother that one’s life changes measurably every five years. In our earliest years the change is of course the most dramatic, but when we truly introspect, we remember how radically different 20 and 25 were, and, I’m told, even how separate we feel from 50 at 55.
While certain themes may be consistent throughout the many years of our lives, this dynamic passage of time is also reflected in our many cultures and institutions. If we focus on one place, one restaurant, we can see that like a life well lived, this change is always for the better.
Indeed, Recette in 2015 is much different than Recette in 2010, when the restaurant first opened on a sleepy corner in the West Village. In 2010, Recette soared to the trendiest heights after the little-​known restaurant was given a 2-​star review in The New York Times, and despite the often revelatory dishes coming out of the kitchen led by chef Jesse Schenker, people began to complain that tables in the tiny, unpretentious space were too difficult to reserve, servers were too distracted, the room was too cramped and too noisy.
If only these naysayers had had a little faith in the power of time, for 5 years later, Recette has become a quiet, even romantic gem serving some of the best food in the neighborhood. Though the restaurant is still always full, same day reservations can be made for a weekend night, and its patrons are less concerned with the latest culinary hotspot than they are with the exceptional, French-​influenced cuisine being served.
Snacks like the Bone Marrow Toast with onion marmalade and trout roe are so perfectly complete in their flavors and so flawless in their execution that it’s easy to imagine these buttery bites as the best ever made. Chef Schenker’s «Buffalo» Sweetbreads with pickled celery and blu di bufala dip will also turn anyone into an offal fanatic, with little morsels of sweetbread poached and then dusted in seasoning and coated in a Sriracha-​based sauce.
Though the restaurant’s menu appears to only list several small plates for sharing, the plates are actually significant enough to compose a traditional meal if preferred. Appetizer-​sized dishes like the Beef Carpaccio, which elegantly wraps itself around creamy burrata, tomato jam, porcini purée, and is topped with basil seeds and watercress, are an imaginative and wholly satisfying beginning to the meal.
This refined, creative style culminates in several of the larger dishes toward the bottom of the menu, particularly the Duck Breast with artichoke fondue, black currant, and swiss chard, a fully composed dish with notes of sweetness, salt, bitterness, and rich savoriness all operating in harmony. The Rabbit «Pot Pie» with mushroom paste, puff pastry, kohlrabi cabbages, and radishes is another inspired success whose stylishly informal treatment of the protein has resulted in new creamy, earthy flavors.
While it’s easy to spend a pretty penny at Recette, the staff today is nothing but relaxed and genuine to all of their guests, and regulars are easily drawn back to the high-​level concept and graceful casualness of the place.
Indeed, dining at Recette in 2015 is like going to a neighborhood karaōke bar and discovering someone who can sing like Adele. The restaurant has become personal, a sophisticated yet intimate space with a pervading sense of new discovery. So when talking about Recette to friends at a later date, it’s okay to announce that you’ve just discovered a new restaurant in the West Village that everyone should try. It’s been 5 years, and Recette has just entered a new phase in its life.

I liked this place, but I wanted to love it.
Tiny portions and too many ordinary dishes. This is a small plate restaurant and they want you to order 3 plates each. You need them they are tiny. I had tortilla soup, the best of my three. The shrimp with sweet potato ravioli was so so with over cooked shrimp. My wife had an «out of this world» arugula salad and poor cut spaghetti also with over done shrimp. We skipped desert and coffee.
The bill was $ 145.00 with two glasses of wine. Just not that great, I won’t go back.

Great little restaurant. Great cocktails and service and a very interesting menu. So many dishes jumped at me. Decided to try the cod fritters, seared foie gras, pork belly, uni hamachi, spaghetti with uni and sweet shrimp, the duck, the rabbit pot pie and the s’mores and pumpkin flan for, dessert. Everything was so tasty. Loved the seared foie gras! Really enjoyed the variety of options. Definitely plan to return to this nice little spot and look forward to trying to dishes I missed.

I am sad to have to two-​star this homey location, but when the restaurants runs out of a number of menu items — my duty to my fellow Unilocalers, is to tell the truth.
I was brought here for my birthday dinner, and although the atmosphere is cozy — I think the lack of energy may come from the absence of guests who have likely experienced the same service.
1. Our server was ignorant on menu items — he had to go to the kitchen a number of times to ask for more information. When you offer a tasting menu, the service should be well-​educated on the composed meal.
2. The restaurant had run out of two wines we selected & menu items we chose. We needed to ask the server his recommendation, and his recommendations were way off.
The food we did indulge in was delicious, but honestly, I would not risk coming back.

Came here on a Tuesday night and was pretty quiet. Staff was a bit on the slow side on taking our orders. Good location in the west village and also good for a date. Also on the pricey side.
To start my gf and I ordered a few small snacks. Marinated olives, bone marrow and the uni hamachi. All was okay, the hamachi was fresh and not enough uni. We did order the special of the night which was seared foie gras with jam and that foie gras was very rich but delicious.
Entrée we ordered the uni spaghetti which had no flavor of uni but good sauce. The branzino was light and tasty.
For dessert we shared the chocolate banana gateaux. not bad.

NOTE: This was back in Summer 2013 (Sorry I didn’t update sooner)
The interior is beautifully elegant, yet cozy and comfortable at the same time. This summer, Recette is serving special Summer Supper which consists of 1 snack (appetizer), 2 plates and 1 dessert for the great price of $ 40.
I chose salt cod fritters for my snack, which came came with lamb sausage ragu at the bottom and curry aioli. The cod fritters were balls of deliciousness– Crispy, flavorful, with the wonderful taste of cod. The accompanying lamb ragu was also extremely tasty and had perfectly seasoned.
My next dish was crispy calamari in a salad of snap pea, radish, grape, cashew, and ranch. The calamari was decent, a little salty but I enjoyed the crunchiness and would’ve liked more on my plate. The bed of salad underneath was just okay. There was too much ranch dressing and I couldn’t taste the snap peas or cashews.
After that came duck breast, which included confit leg, beluga lentils and maitakes (a type of mushroom). I was unimpressed. The duck breast itself didn’t taste much like duck; it was quite meaty and was reminiscent of a lean beef. I wasn’t able to discern the taste of confit leg and I wasn’t a huge fan of the black lentils. The maitakes were good though– Juicy and fresh. I was able to try the Berkshire Pork Belly, which was mouthwatering delicious and what I should’ve gotten.
Last course was dessert and I was trying to choose between S’Mores and Chocolate Custard. The S’Mores dessert won, and consisted of graham cracker ice cream, toasted marshmallow, and ‘hot’ chocolate ganache. It was a truly delectable delight, bringing into memory the campfire treat. The ice cream melded and complemented the chocolate (with a hint of chili spice) and marshmallow perfectly, to combine sweetness, heat, roasted smoothness…
The service was spot on and the waiter knew the menu well and answered any questions with expertise, as well as explained the dishes beautifully.

I like the concept of what they are doing here and the location is quaint and intimate as others are saying but our biggest issue was on the service. We were getting pushed to order more food than what we really wanted to order and left the restaurant full not taking the server’s consistent push for additional dishes. It felt like we were always being sold which ruined the experience a bit for us but the food was solid.
I had the Roasted Scallops which were incredible and the Marinated Hamachi was a very light dish. The uni was so sweet and tasty. Can be tough to find good uni and these guys killed it.
My friend had the Wild Arugula salad and another plate that escaping. She was happy but also was unimpressed with this service. I think the food is good but just need to coach their services to provide recommendations but do not come off as pushy.

Ambience: ⁵⁄₅
The atmosphere is cozy and intimate without feeling tight. Great place for a few friends or a date night. Even the bathroom is pleasant.
Food: ⁵⁄₅
Let me start by saying all of the food was amazing so all comparisons are with a very high bar.
Bone marrow toast — The flavors didn’t seem to mix well on this dish and the serving size was quite small even for a high end restaurant.
Salt Cod Fritters — Some of the best fish fritters I’ve ever had and the lamb ragu they sit on is not to be missed either. They make a quite a pair. Recommend.
Beef Carpaccio — simple dish executed excellently. Recommend.
Berkshire Pork Belly — Supple, sweet and savory. Recommend
Rabbit — good though hard to eat. Not on the same level as the other dishes.
Ginnea Hen Fowl — Perfectly cooked and with a side salad which complements the flavor of the meat well. Recommend.
Service: ⁵⁄₅
They run a simple operation with only hostess and one waitress. They were very knowledgeable of the menu and accommodating to my allergies which I appreciated immensely.
Value: ⁴⁄₅
This place is fantastic on every metric except price. They seem to have decreased the plate size over the last year so I ended up going to get some second dinner after this one. But the food & atmosphere are so good it’s worth it for a fancy night out.

What a great menu and nice night out. The chef and owner Jesse Schanker uses such a play on words to make the menu more unique and interesting. The server recommended trying the 5 course tasting for $ 78, but we opted to order our way through. With a little added assistance from the server we were able to try a few dishes we didn’t even order.
The small plates were all good. I think the least two favorites were the shrimp in spaghetti sauce and the raw snapper with oyster. They were both still delicious. Just ranked the lowest in my mind.
Be sure to ask about items you don’t understand. The servers love to explain item descriptions. And be cautious of items in quotations. They’re not what they seem… In a good way.