The Smith

Last Friday, my husband and I celebrated our ten month anniversary and my last day at Ralph Lauren.  We recently noticed a new restaurant under construction in the neighborhood.  I was elated to see a glimmer of hope for something new among all of the vacancies in the neighborhood.  I've seen way too many restaurant and store closings over the last year or so.  Luckily it opened just in time for our night out.  The Smith is an American brasserie.  They already had a location in the East Village, but I've never tried it.  The Midtown East location was bustling the night we were there.  I, of course, called at the last minute to try to get a reservation and, of course, they were all booked.  But the hostess gave me a wonderful suggestion to call ahead and put our name on the wait list.  So I called at about 6:15 to put our name on the list, we showed up at about 7:00, had a drink at the bar, and were seated by 7:30.  Perfect!  Because my husband HATES waiting for very long at restaurants to be seated.

It has a bistro atmosphere with a lot of white subway tiles, mirrors, glass bottles, and vintage industrial pendant lights.  They bring sparkling and still water to the table, as well as fresh bread with yummy butter.  We started with the Moroccan meatballs.  I should have taken a picture of the little dish they were served in.  I had never seen something like it before.  It was almost like a dish for deviled eggs with curves cut into it, so the meatballs fit perfectly in it.  The meatballs were good and had just a bit of a kick to them.  I liked them but prefer a marinara sauce to gravy with meatballs.  I had the special of the day which was a lobster roll.  I had some reservation in ordering it because I've only ever had a lobster roll in Maine where they are the masters of lobster rolls!  But it didn't disappoint.  The sauce was light - not too creamy.  It even had a little bit of chopped up celery in it, which was a nice, different touch.  It was served with their homemade potato chips.  Which were also good but would have tasted even better with a beer.  My husband had the pork chop - he said he really liked it.  I had an Allagash White beer to start and Moscow Mule with dinner and my husband stuck to their Midtown Manhattans.  All were given the thumbs up.

They claim they are open early till late, so I hope to go back to try brunch and the late night scene.