First Look: Dinner at The Smile

March 23, 2010

Roasted Balsamic Chicken, one of the new dinner dishes at The Smile.

When The Smile opened, it was unclear exactly what it was: coffeeshop, retail store, tattoo parlor. After close to a year in business, the tattoo parlor has been dismantled, the retail has been toned down, and it has become clear what it really is: a restaurant. There’s no fryer, no grill, no flat-top, or burners in the small kitchen at The Smile, but there are convection ovens, and Chef Melia Marden has been making good use of them. This postmodern hipster time warp always felt pleasantly worn— that favorite sweatshirt you climb into on Saturday morning to go out in for bringing back bagels, the smooth feel of a wave-washed stone— but in what is now almost a year since they first opened for lunch, it’s somehow more lived in. Even more comfortable, especially because they are now serving three meals a day. Most notably, a newly introduced dinner service, which puts this hipster heaven on the map as a true neighborhood dining destination. It’s a brief menu, mind you, but there is something soild and flavorful for everyone. We recently had a meal.

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First Look: Lunch at The Smile

Jeff Zalaznick — April 13, 2009

Stepping down from the cobblestones of Bond Street into the warm, worn, wood and stone confines of The Smile initially transports you to an older New York. Then, you notice rabbit ear light bulbs on the ceiling, knitting kits, and the affectionately culled and kept décor and you feel fortunate to have stumbled into a postmodern hipster time warp. Once you see the tattoo parlor downstairs and hear the Beach Boys playing in the dining room you know that whoever the next Bob Dylan is, he’ll be comfortable here.

From pussywillow-filled fireplaces to unfinished wood ceilings, there are fun things and fantastic textures to look at in this mixed-use concept, new age café. Co-owners Matt Kliegman and Carlos Quirarte filled their space with things that make you nostalgic for a time you’ve never known. A screen door separates the kitchen and coffee bar and a bank-teller window stenciled with “Information” acts as the kitchen pass. There’s an old soap box in the bathroom, elegant lists of pomades and balms from Officina Profumo on high quality card stock and a depiction of the “Great Conemaugh Valley Disaster of 1889” on the wall.

Smoked Salmon with Lemon Caper Cream Cheese
Russ & Daughters Gaspé Nova on Toasted Multigrain

The Smile is a great place to stop in for a cup of strong coffee made using the antique Faema coffee machine, and for salads and sandwiches constructed with locally-sourced, well-chosen ingredients. Sandwiches are at a low price point ($8-$13), but everything has been given the proper amount of care: meats are from Schaller and Webber, Nova is from Russ & Daughters, cheese is from Murray’s, milk is from Ronnybrook and the bread is from Sullivan St. Bakery. Chef Melia Marden makes good use of her small kitchen and regularly scours the farmer’s market for great side dishes (she treated us to minted sugar snap peas with sea salt on one visit).

You can’t go wrong with any of the sandwiches (each is accompanied by a generous pile of excellent North Fork potato chips and neatly thin-shaved house-cured pickles), but the Harissa Honey Roasted Chicken Breast with Manchego and Lemon Mayonnaise and the open-faced Smoked Salmon with Lemon Caper Cream Cheese on toasted multi-grain (pictured above) starred. Manouri Cheese with Fig on Toasted Sourdough and the warm Chocolate and Brie Baguette sandwiches doubled as delicious desserts and the tart basil-infused lemonade had the perfect not-too-sweet pitch.

Though at first glance there seems to be a lot of moving parts, it all functions together, as a relaxed, cool atmosphere where neither model nor lumberjack would seem out of place. Right now, they serve lunch all day from 11a.m.-5p.m., and they plan to launch a dinner menu in June.

Now, without further adieu, AHNY is pleased to bring you the first look at The Smile’s high quality café fare.

Roast Beef
with Horseradish Cream, Arugula & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on Toasted Sourdough

Ham & Gryuere
with Cornichons & Grainy Mustard on Baguette

Chocolate & Brie Baguette
served warm

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