Pearl & Ash: Luxury & Simplicity

I know the last few posts have been about the wedding(s), pics of the wedding, the NYT wedding announcement, the France nuptials, the Brooklyn nuptials, Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, etc. Well now that the wedding(s) are finally over, we have returned to our pre-engaged ways and have been dining out again...(it’s lovely being a newlywed, sigh) Diving right in…

Pearl& Ash: on the Bowery, is another unassuming downtown restaurant. Although I have to say the Bowery is killing it right now. Still this place feels special and you can tell it's special when you walk by any night of the week. It's always bustling, always dimly lit and always inviting.

Some people who’ve gone to Pearl & Ash seem confused about what kind of restaurant it is. The menu is heavy on small plates, but then the dishes under the meat and fish headings can also be prepared in main-course sizes. You can cover the table with a bunch of little dishes, or start with an appetizer and proceed to an entree.

The small plates are designed for communal consumption, not to mention there’s a house-baked bread served with a substance called “chicken butter". Its really quite delicious. There’s a play on steak tartar, there’s scallops, there’s sweetbreads and an awesome skirt steak - Everything is very well plated and perfect for sharing but can be on the skimpier side so don’t go here with you boys and think you’ll leave full. You won’t. Go here on a date or to grab some apps and split a perfectly aged wine out of your price range. 

Really though, this place is about the wine…its impressive inclusive of older vintages (we are talking from the 70’s), 11 year old Rieslings, Burgandy’s, Pinot Noirs etc. If you know how much these bottles usually cost, you’ll notice that Pearl & Ash has very humane markups. If you don’t, you’ll just notice that you are drinking at a higher level than your budget usually permits.

There was only one thing that I did not like..the Italian digestif Fernet-Branca, which the chefs use to create a boozy ice-cream sandwich. Skip this.

Let’s just call it a very high-functioning wine bar that offers some class to the Bowery.