Chez Sardine Gets Ichi Star

[courtesy chezsardine.com]Gabe Stulman opened Perla at the beginning of 2012. Former Babbo chef Michael Toscano commands the kitchen there, and in May last year, Pete Wells filed a two-star review on the restaurant. Chez Sardine, Stulman's fifth, opened in November, and today Wells gives the restaurant one star.

Chez Sardine is the restaurant group's first Asian restaurant, loosely inspired by Japanese izakayas (restaurants we love to eat in). Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly is the chef, and he's got four years at Au Pied De Cochon on his resume. Between there and Sardine, he created a menu with American and bistro leans at Fedora, another restaurant under Stulman's umbrella.

Pete Wells' review has more than one reference to "Asian Stoner Food," but the menu is not without well-executed food. "Hamachi with chicharrones reads like a declaration of war," Wells begins, "but no. The pork skins add crunch and a savoriness that deepens as you chew and that is kept in check by pickled ginger. And Arctic char, cured with sugar and lime zest and smoked, makes for sushi you could happily eat for breakfast." "And there are lovely little grace notes," he continues, "like the brussels sprouts in brown butter with apple purée, good enough to make you wish Mr. Brunet-Benkritly would take an interest in vegetables more often."

Despite snack, sushi bar, small and large plate options on the menu, "There are, in fact," Wells writes, "very few ways to put together a balanced meal at Chez Sardine." But Stulman's Little Wisco empire has grown even since Chez Sardine. Montmartre opened in Chelsea just three months later; proving, if there were any doubts before, Stulman's got his formula down to a science. Maybe Wells will check in on Montmartre and find more to like on Tien Ho's menu. [NYTimes]