Photo: Urban Daddy
All of my favorite bars are on Avenue C. I could spend the rest of my life drinking at only Pouring Ribbons, The Summit Bar, & The Wayland. The area is jam packed with the best watering holes on planet earth. I don’t think of the area as a place that houses fine(r) dinging restaurants. Virginia's moved in and changed that. The place is unexpectedly upscale for the area, but a welcome departure from the other options in alphabet city.
Virginia's was opened by restaurant vets with solid NYC experience. The owners are Reed Adelson from Locandra Verde and former Per Se sous-chef Christian Ramos. Ramos follows in the footsteps of many other Per Se vets opening up hip restaurants with phenomena food downtown. His former kitchen alum have opened Nooreteuh, Fung Tu, and Uncle Boons. The space itself is clean and modern. The bar is marble, walls are white with minimal decoration, and the banquets are tan leather. The space has two dining rooms separated by a semi-wall, and you can look straight into the kitchen action from the bar.
The menu is modern and eclectic with beautiful plating style. The food is amazingly consistent. This is my 3rd time dining there and I have never had one dish that felt uninspired or lacking of anything. The menu changes frequently to evolve with the seasons and keep diners engaged. You won’t find a bad review of this place- trust me, I looked. Critics loved the same thing that I love about this place. Food is seasoned well, extremely imaginative, and the portions are larger than expected. They also have a great wine list and attentive service. Oh, and you can sit at the bar and have a fucking fabulous heart-stopping burger. Here’s what we had:
Garbanzo bean toast with sheep's milk ricotta
Seared cuttlefish, capers, ends meat cured lonza
Grilled blue cobia, sauteed pea shoots, rainbow beets
Stuffed leg of lamb, grilled asparagus, charred eggplant, saffron pickled garlic
Whole roasted pork shoulder, meyer lemon, spring onion
Cheeseburger with clothbound cheddar, caramelized onions, bone marrow mayonnaise
