racine's

Racine's is one of the places I am prepared to love everything about, and I almost do. The people are knowledgeable and friendly at the bar and the wines are beautiful. Unfortunately, the food was solid, but not stand-out. Maybe we hit them at a bad time. We were among the first to arrive, because we had planned to slide in before the crowds hit at Brushstrokes' Noodle Bar, but had to find a new option when we discovered that our dream ramen place had closed the weekend before. We should stop for a moment of silence to remember the closing of the last of the great David Bouley Tribeca spots (except his special events space, which is also immensely impressive).Let's start with the star of the show. You really can't go wrong with Racine's amazing biodynamic wine list. The Mai & Kenji Hodgson 'Faia' Vin Blanc from the Loire Valley, was bright and minerally, chosen to complement our many small-bite selections from the food menu. Both the sommelier and bartender (we chose seats at the bar) were helpful in curating our choice.

It's taken me a while to write this review, so I apologize for not remembering every dish. Our food journey began with the Chicken Wing Schnitzel with Lemon Aioli, which was a tasty bite of fried, deboned chicken wing - impossible to not enjoy. Next, the Buckwheat Blini with Uni and Smoked Carrot had nice components but didn't come together as cohesively as we would have liked. Because we were set on noodles, we tried the deconstructed Pho - not bad, but not special either.We'll be back for wine, or just bring home from Chambers Street, but there are too many fantastic food moments in NYC to go back for the food.