You’re sitting at home thinking to yourself “where can I go tonight to be surrounded by models and feel hip as fuck but also eat good food?” I got you. Go to the recently opened, over-the-top beautiful, Café Medi in the Lower East Side.
Café Medi is a departure from the apathetic design of most LES restaurant. The interior looks like a Grecian palace (but think, less gaudy). The skylight lets natural light pour into the room lined with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, hand painted tiles, and opulent chandeliers above. Everyone in the restaurant will be beautiful. You’ll definitely want to sleep with staff. It’s almost too hip to function.
Typically a scene like this leads to sub-par food. However, I found joy and satisfaction in every dish. The Mediterranean fair is all relatively light and there is ample selection great for sharing. The proteins we were served were all cooked perfectly and seasoned generously. Their burrata with peaches and speck is a heavenly mix of salty, sweet, fatty, and crunchy. The oyster mushrooms on velvety polenta were rich and smothered in truffles. Finally, the scallop dish was seared nicely and paired expertly with sweet corn. Whether you go for just cocktails with a group or a full dinner, Café Medi has my stamp of approval (which is all anyone really strives for). Here’s what we had:
Cucumber Tartare - avocado, thai basil
Fluke Ceviche - serrano pepper, calabrian chili
Lamb Tartare - hazelnut, bagna cauda
Peach, Burrata - speck, salted almonds
Sauteed Massachusettes Sea Scallop - sweet corn pancetta, chervil
Jumbo Gulf Shrimp - soffrito, chorizo
Roasted King Oyster Mushroom - polenta, soft egg, summer truffle
Chicken "Under A Brick" - shallot jus, broccolini
Semi Frozen Chocolate Mousse - espresso mascarpone
Mille Feuille - baklava flavors
Address: 107 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002
https://cafemedinyc.com/
