Pot Roast, Prosciutto, Potatoes, And Pashmina. - restaurant and boutique combinations - Review - restaurant reviews

Interview, Dec, 1999 by Brad Goldfarb

COLINA AT ABC CARPET AND HOME

35 East 18th Street (betw. Park Ave. and Broadway); 212-505-2233

When it was announced last spring that New York's legendary shelter shop, ABC Carpet and Home, was joining forces with celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman, and that the setting would be a "Tuscan" farmhouse brought over piece by piece from its original site in Brazil, there were probably those who wondered about owner Evan Cole's ability to pull off this intricate piece of reconstructive surgery. They needn't have worried. Anyone who has spent even a few minutes gazing into the cluttered, grandma's-attic morass of the store's ground-floor windows has been quick to realize that at ABC simple is never better. But as impressive as Colina's dining room may be, eating a meal inside its wood-beamed confines is never so much like sitting in a taverna on the road to Umbria as it is inexplicably finding yourself in one of those ancient, reconstructed spaces at the Museum of Natural History. True, its glass chandeliers, waxedwood tables and wide sturdy chairs are undeniably handsome, but the restaurant's entry, done up to suggest an outdoor courtyard, and those backlit faux windows are hopelessly hokey--the only thing missing is a slide projection revealing the rolling vistas outside. The food, however, is another story. While early on a meal at Colina could stretch for hours, with diners held hostage by an elaborate prix fixe system that kept platters of pastas and grilled meats coming long after the only thing desired was a brisk walk home, things have improved dramatically since those first ambitious evenings. Guests now have the freedom to order from either a classic a la carte menu or a prix fixe one that changes monthly, which means that instead of resenting what's brought to the table, you actually welcome it--good news, because there's a lot on the menu worth welcoming. A thick vegetable and bean soup, tender grilled calamari, papardelle with rabbit, roasted pork loin, and the much-lauded Florentine steak are just a few of the options keeping diners coming back for more. Though I was less enthusiastic about the polenta prepared with two kinds of cheese, such complaints seemed like mere quibbles after tasting the plum tart--my idea of an immaculate confection. And if your shopping schedule won't allow sufficient time out to enjoy a proper meal in Colina's dining room, the big three of Italian fast food--pizzas, pastas, and panini--are raised to the next highest power in the "outdoor" cantina, along with soups and salads. One bite of their

Pizza Colina and a simple slice may be forever null and void.

BLANCHE'S ORGANIC AT DKNY

855 Madison Avenue (at 60th St.); 212-223-3569

There's something exhilarating about walking into a store that's got the mix of product, merchandising, design, and attitude exactly right. Such is the case with the new DKNY store on Madison Avenue. By filling the shop's three floors not just with her own products, but with an exuberant mix of everything from Ducati bikes to Alessi flatware, and by placing them in a setting that's slick, light-filled, and full of life, Donna Karan has created the ultimate New York experience--a kind of idealized bazaar that feels both exotic and completely New York. Blanche's is the perfect complement to the operation. The creation of organic guru Ron Teitlebaum (of Fressen fame), Blanche's has been in business since 1994 and has three other operations throughout the city. This experience shows in his latest venture. Though the menu has been edited slightly to accommodate the limited service--and preparation--area the DKNY space allows (it's bar seating only, with just fifteen stools), the menu is still long enough, and each option still enticing enough, to make final food and drink decisions difficult ones. So prepare to waffle over fruit and vegetable cocktails with names like Beauty School or Toxic Avenger, sandwiches such as a Thai vegetable wrap or a protein veggie burger, salads featuring such choices as chopped chicken or baby beets and beans, even dressings which range from a ball-buster balsamic to a knockout sesame tamari, and prepare to let go of all your preconceptions about what "healthy" or "organic" tastes like--at Blanche's it's simply another word for delicious. True, there's a limit to how enticing a baked good is going to be when made without the moistureinducing benefits of refined sugar, dairy, or wheat, and a Blanche's muffin or scone, though packed with fresh fruit and good flavor, can indeed be a thirst-inducing experience. But their jumbo chocolatechip cookie still somehow manages to find its way into your stomach just moments out of its wax-paper wrapping--call it Blanche's organic alchemy. Now that's a wonder of the season worth celebrating. Blanche's Organic also has locations at 22 East 44th Street (betw. Madison and 5th Aves.), 972 Lexington Avenue (at 71st St.), and 274 Columbus Avenue (betw. 72nd and 73rd Sts.)