How fickle is the restaurant business?
In May I wrote a review for GO Brooklyn about a bistro called
Copper on Degraw Street in Cobble Hill; five months later I’m
reviewing Whim, a restaurant that opened in early October at
the same address.
The new owner is Cobble Hill resident Marc Elliot, who, after
stints at the Star Room in the Hamptons, and time behind the
stove in Manhattan’s Independent, Noho Star and Cafeteria, opened
Whim (named for the ease in which Elliot can change his menu),
his first restaurant serving mostly seafood. For those craving
lunch on the half shell, Whim’s raw bar opens at noon.
Elliot credits Rebecca Charles, chef-owner of the Pearl Oyster
Bar in Manhattan, as his inspiration for the food and the setting
of this new place. Charles’ tiny space in the West Village is
little more than a large, well-lit counter with comfortable stools.
She serves the kind of unpretentious food New Englanders take
for granted – lobster rolls, chowders and cleanly fried seafood.
On any given evening, loyal New Yorkers who rarely find Charles’
brand of seaside comfort food on their own turf can be seen downing
big bowls of chowder perched along her counter.
In keeping with Charles’ model of the honest, pull-up-a-stool,
roadside place, Elliot has painted the once tangerine walls of
this tiny space an electric blue and hung a mascot of sorts over
the dining room door – an enormous shark with a benevolent smile
that’s more campy than killer.
The "raw bar" is an oversized keg filled with ice.
On top of that impromptu setup sit Belon, Blue Point and Malpeque
oysters so fresh with that steely, saltwater tang that I shuddered
for a second after I swallowed one. A metal "oyster caddy"
– a basket filled with Gold’s white horseradish, a house-made
Bloody Mary cocktail sauce (Elliot eschews ketchup on seafood),
a blue ginger Mignonette (fresh ginger and its juice replace
the usual shallots, and blue curacao liqueur is the colorful
alternative to white wine) and wedges of lemon, limes and juicing
oranges – is offered if you prefer your oysters adulterated.
What Whim has that you won’t find in a shack or lobster pound,
and often misses the mark in upscale New England restaurants,
are more polished seafood preparations that retain all the lustiness
of anything you’d eat with pliers and a side of melted butter.
For sea-phobic eaters there’s a hanger steak, a lamb dish and
a vegetarian potpie on the menu.
The dinner menu is divided into "small plates" and
"large plates." Listed under small plates is the corn-and-lobster
chowder, a bargain at $9. This sophisticated soup – not as rustic
as chowder and too opulent for bisque – fills a bowl large enough
to feed two as a first course or as a light dinner for one.
And, it’s a beauty.
Circling a mound of fresh lobster meat and shrimp are perfectly
cooked mussels still in the shell. Crisp yellow corn kernels
float in a stock that is brawny with the taste of shellfish and
mellowed with a touch of cream.
Of the larger plates, the capocollo-wrapped monkfish was the
most successful. At its best, monkfish can mimic the taste and
texture of lobster; at its worst it can taste like dirt and possess
the density of a sea sponge. Elliot wraps his fish in a slice
of capocollo (an Italian cured ham) then roasts the filet in
the oven. What emerges is a pleasantly salted filet, moist from
the fat of the ham and still faintly sweet. He serves the filet
over a rich fish and veal stock. Slow roasting asparagus, served
on the side, brings out their nutty flavor and a few sweet oven-roasted
tomatoes make a delicious trio with the fish.
Slight overcooking marred an otherwise delicious striped bass
filet. A note on the menu states that the fish is cooked medium-rare
to medium. I prefer fish rare and should have asked for it that
way. Roasted to medium, the striped bass was somewhat dry. But
sides are the real thing here. Wasabi (a root similar to horseradish)
mashed potatoes were chunky, creamy with a lingering heat from
the wasabi, and plenty of sauteed garlic mellowed a tangle of
fresh spinach.
The restaurant was only three days old when I visited, so a few
things were still in flux. A basket of rolls or good, chewy bread
and butter should be placed on the tables. A dessert menu hadn’t
been finalized, but the one dessert offered – sliced strawberries
served in a martini glass with a dollop of whipped cream – was
the perfect, uncomplicated dessert to follow our meal. Bread
pudding, a molten chocolate cake (yawn, this dessert has been
a has-been for some time now) and fresh fruit are being added
shortly. Wines will change on the whim of Elliot and his wine
purveyor.
If Elliot continues to do what he’s started – give the neighborhood
a comfortable place in which to kick back and serve the kind
of straightforward seafood people crave at prices they can afford
– it’s going to take more than a whim to get a seat there.
Whim (243 Degraw St. at Clinton Street
in Cobble Hill) accepts cash only. Entrees: $7-$16. For information,
call (718) 797-2017.
