Degustation: Boris: NYC

Boris ventures to the newest outpost of the Jewel Bako family where the food is good, the liquor is scare, and the crowd is dispensable:

"On a recent evening, I ventured out with my beautiful Natasha to dine at the latest outpost of the Jewel Bako family: Degustation. I'd been off of Jack's group of restaurants recently as I don't care for the schlep to 5th Street & Nowheresville, the very very mediocre sushi at Jewel Bako, and the fact that my French amigo Denis from Bruno's is no longer maitre'd at Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar (although I still enjoy the food there). Nevertheless, I wanted to give their new restaurant a shot and I had a pleasant experience for the most part. Degustation is tiny as are its siblings. The only seating is around the bar/kitchen which is a fun concept if you enjoy roughing it--I don't, but it was nice to be able to see the chefs preparing our food and see that they weren't spitting in it. There is no hard alcohol served here, not that this is different from the other two neighboring restaurants but still I hate not having my 2 pre-dinner scotches. On a happier note, the food was quite good. Natasha and I had the 5-course tasting menu which was interesting and fairly tasty. The dishes I most enjoyed were the grilled squid stuffed with short ribs which came with chorizo-seasoned lentils, an egg dish with prosciutto and a crusted asparagus, and spiced strawberries which I consumed for dessert. Things I did not like so much were the scallops: tasty but should have been served hot, and the lamb which was okay but I wasn't fond of the chlorophyll sauce it was accompanied by. As for ambience, Degustation is definitely lacking. There were two couples of foodies at the far end of the bar who were completely annoying and unattractive. Toward the end of their meal they were practically quacking. I really dislike the concept of the foodie character. At the other end of the bar we're two random Asian girls who were fairly boring-looking. Right next to us was a Bob Sagat look-alike with a semi-attractive light-skinned black girl.

Did I drink enough? No
Did I have a good meal? Yes
Was the crowd fun? No

And I may be a degenerate, an alcoholic, and a lunatic, but don't ever call me a goddamn foodie!


Besos y Abrazos,
Boris"

+Degustation, 239 East Fifth Street, New York, +1 212 979-1012.
+Previous W4: Boris Articles.