Irving Mill

Another great Union Square gem
just bring the cash

I'm so lucky to have foodie friends. New York City truly has the best selection of restaurants in the world. And Jeremy, a pastry chef who also works at the James Beard Foundation, knows everyone who is anyone in the NYC cooking scene and the all the best kitchens in town. Point of note, Anne Burrell came in with an entourage - she was the sous chef for Mario Batali in all the Iron Chef episodes and she's opened a new restaurant in the West Village - and of course, Jeremy recognized her and hellos were exchanged. So I wasn't surprised that he found Irving Place, the newest, hot restaurant dotting the Union Square area. Having the farmer's market at the epicenter of such a culinary plethora makes sense but unfortunately the prices at such fantastic locals like dévi, 11 Madison, Gramercy Tavern, Craft, Tabla, and on and on make it a bit like the Bermuda Triangle for your wallet.

We started with appetizers. I had the chicken liver on crostini, Jeremy has octopus salad and Erica has scallop cervice. Of course mine was the best when pairs with the lovely red Hemera 2002 wine from Domain des Grecaux. I had the pork chop which was rather flavorless except near the bone but the red cabbage with it was fabulous along with the spätzle. I didn't try Erica's bass but she raved about it. I personally liked Jeremy's rabbit the best - wonderful flavors and savory cooking made it not too mushy nor too tough, just perfect. Of course we were really there for desserts given Jeremy's friend is the pastry chef. We tried five desserts including a zucchini bread with orange shavings and a citrus sorbet, a peanut butter and chocolate parfait, cherry and apple crisp with ice cream and my two favorites - a pistachio semifreddo with a citrus sauce and curled crunchy lattice cookie and a fig, mascarpone and rosemary brioche dish. Yum. Now onto the next epicurean treat ...