Sunday, April 29, 2012

Finding Treasure at Foragers City Table

Menu & Beers
We were exploring Chelsea today after a week away and found that the space next to the Gem Hotel on 22nd St & 9th Ave has finally unveiled as Foragers City Table & Grocer (& Wine!). A modern and light farm to market/table space. We vowed to return for dinner in the evening to check it out.

They have a great local/craft beer selection so we started there and then asked our server for some recommendations. The menu is decidedly asian influenced and is split into Bar Snacks, Cold, Hot, Noodles, Large and Sweets and he guided us towards sharing one item from either the Hot or Cold sections, one noodle dish, and one large plate. 

Based on his recommendation, we chose the lettuce-herb noodles. These were incredibly fresh green, linguine like noodles served with an oyster liquor and coconut sauce topped with crispy shallots, bean sprouts, and cilantro. Light and fresh this was a great start to our meal and to spring.

Lettuce-Herb Noodles
We were very tempted by the spring hearts salad from the Cold section of the menu, but since it was still a bit chilly out we ultimately decided on the crispy whole prawns from the Hot section. These were huge and cooked so that you could eat them whole- shell and all. Something we skimmed right over when we read the menu was the presence of prickly ash, which left our mouths tingling and buzzing- a very odd sensation which caught us off guard, but was kind of fun.

Crispy Whole Prawns
For the large plate, it was a tough choice between the fried black pepper tofu, the black cod and the porterhouse pork, but surprisingly I pushed for the pork served with ramps & red peppers. I didn't steer us wrong. Our server suggested adding a side of rice to go with the sauce and we were very grateful for the recommendation. Perfect! This dish especially knocked it out of the pork...errr park.

Porterhouse Pork
Afterward, we took a quick stroll through the grocer to see what they had available and were equally as excited by their selections. This would be the perfect place to stop to stock up for a picnic on The Highline. I was also extremely tempted to pick-up a doughnut from Dough to have for dessert later on at home, but The Mr. talked me out of it this time...next time we might give in to temptation!

Market
In summary, this is a gem of a place we are happy to welcome to our neighborhood. Unfortunately, though I have a feeling it isn't going to be so easy to get a table as other people quickly discover this great little spot.

Ambiance: 5 Stars
Servie: 5 Stars
Food: 5 Stars

Foragers City Table on Urbanspoon

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