Restaurant Review - PRUNE 54 East 1st Street NYC

Dear All,
Thank you again for following my blog and posting your comments. Last night's food writing class at NYU with Corinne Trang www.corinnetrang.com was stimulating as always and at the conclusion of class our writing assignment was to write anything 50 - 100 words and to post it. Our previous class was on restaurant reviewing and as I already had plans to meet Catrine Oscarson, the pastry chef at Mas Farmhouse www.masfarmhouse.com, for dinner after class I decided to write a review of PRUNE, the restaurant we were meeting at and post it on my blog. Although the focus of my blog will be pastry history, I think it will be more interesting to write about different aspects of food as well to keep the non pastry geeks entertained.


Catrine had recommended Prune www.prunerestaurant.com and as I had never heard of it, earlier in the day I had tried to check out their website before going. For some reason, as I am technologically challenged, I could not open their website so I was in the dark completely about what to expect. Catrine texted me the location 54 East 1st Street between Second and First Avenues.

I am always happy to to go back to the east village as my first apartment in NYC was on 7th between Second and First Avenues, but back in those days, the mid 90s, I never went east of First avenue or south of 5th street. Now a days the area is booming with construction and modern buildings. I passed a film crew on Second avenue and 3rd street so the area was bustling with activity. As I approached 1st though the east village that I remember was coming back. There is a gas station on the corner and as you turn east down 1st, the gritty and grimmy factor goes back to the 90s, but as you approach 54 you can see there is an oasis of charm on this block. The warm light of the glass fronted restaurant spilled out onto the street beckoning you in and right inside the door I saw Catrine sitting at a table under a large antique mirror tucked into a small recess in the wall just big enough for the two of us.



The black and white tiled floor echoed the sounds of the lively atmosphere; open kitchen, packed tables, Duran Duran and Kyle Minogue playing loudly, but not too loud as to drown out our conversation. We were greeted by a friendly waitress in a salmon pink t-shirt, black pants and white apron which was the only splash of color in the monochromatic scheme of the white walls, white painted pressed tin ceiling, white overhead ceiling fans and wall of distressed wood framed mirrors that ran the length of the opposite side. She informed us of the two specials for the evening, Grilled Malpeque Oysters and Monkfish Liver. WOW I had never heard of monkfish liver. We orderd drinks. I had wanted a proseco by the glass which unfortunately they only have by the bottle so instead I had a cava by the glass which was a delightful new discovery.



We had papadams in a small tin pail on our table to munch on which were light and crunchy. Catrine and I were talking so much our patient waitress had to come back twice before we placed our orders. We had decided on the specials, Mussels in Lobster Broth and since I surprisingly enough had never had Roasted Bone Marrow I ordered that. The grilled oysters arrived on a bed of salt with both shells enclosing the succulent gems with a small dish of clarified butter. It was fun to pry open the oysters.



The monkfish liver was pan seared and served with buttered and toasted thin slices of a hearty bread. I never knew monkfish had such large livers and it had the texture closer to chicken's liver than the smooth texture of frois gras (my favorite). It was surprising to taste the liver, which I always feel is a very dense earthy taste, and then to get an after taste of the sea. I am so happy to have found something new which I love. Our entrees came and Catrine's mussels were the largest plumpest mussels I have ever seen. The generous portion was hinted with lobster in a thin broth sprinkled with slivers of scallions and a slice of grilled bread slathered with rouille.






My three large bones arrived on an oval plate accompanied by bread wedges, sea salt and a parsley salad. There was a small fork and spoon sticking out of the bones. The fork was extremely hot so be warned not to burn your fingers. I scooped out the marrow and spread it on my bread sprinkled with salt and parsley and enjoyed. As a virgin bone marrow eater I was not sure what to expect, but it basically reminded me of the uncrisp fat on the edge of a prime rib roast. I am glad that I tried it but I don't think I would order it again.



Throughout our whole meal which was over two hours, simply because we were talking so much, I never once felt hurried out and I think the staff would have been welcoming for even longer. The tables were full and any new customers just grabbed stools at the bar. One thing I really loved at the bar was the collection of mason jars filled with lime wedges, lemon peel, onions and giant caper berries. I could have eaten the whole jar as I am fond of caper berries. We were too stuffed to have dessert, but as I always think something to save for another time, not to metion maybe next time I will try the sweetbreads, my father would have loved that. Catrine and I had a wonderful meal and a wonderful time. I highly recommend Prune if you are in the neighborhood.