Review: Grilled Cheese Night at Smith's

It's finally gotten chilly enough for me to look through pictures of summer meals with legitimate nostalgia. Here's to wistful sobbing for a meal I had at Smith's about a month ago.

Smith's (not to be confused with The Smith) is the first restaurant from Danny Abrams post-divorce from his Beanstalk group partner Jimmy Bradley. Anyone who's been to the Mermaid Inn, Red Cat, or my personal favorite of the three -- the Harrison -- will immediately recognize the vibe and sensibility. Apparently Smith's is supposed to look like a saloon car, but since I was born in the age of the aeroplane, I'm unable to confirm this for you. In any case, the space is certainly small, narrow, and glossily attractive without being slick (Nobu 57, anyone?).

Sunday Grilled Cheese Night is the Smith's riff on homey Sunday night meals being offered at a handful of newer restaurants around the city. Some clever local restauranteurs realized that deep in our jaded, smoggy hearts, most city dwellers nurture a craving for simple meals that bring comfort food to the table without making a big Chelsea scene about it (ahem, Cookshop).

Now, it's fair to say that a huge grilled cheese hog may not be in a position to offer a well-considered opinion on how delicious a grilled cheese sandwich is. But I defy anyone to look at that stunning specimen of edibleness above and tell me I should reconsider. Stuffed with soppresata, grilled red onion, summer tomatoes, and ossau iraty, on thinly-sliced, perfectly grilled sourdough bread, sprinkled with grated parmesan, and accompanied by a pailful of crunchy shoestring fries, this thing was GOOD.

Ossau-iraty is a firm sheep's milk cheese from the Pays Basque, a region in southwestern France. It's nutty, intense without being sharp, tastes distinctly of rind in the best way possible, and gifts you with a very lip-smacking, satisfying, creamy aftertaste. This was the first time I'd ever had it "cooked", and it was fantastic - an expensive upgrade from Cheddar, and more novel than Manchego.

There are a number of reasons why this meal is a taste of summer I'll have to wait another year for. Fresh summer corn, grilled and mixed generously with heaps of tender little chanterelle mushrooms, chives (erroneously called "green onion" on the menu) and bits of red onion made for a salad I'll be waiting for. It smelled strongly of butter and onions, which has always been a wordy way of saying "ravishingly delicious" (go ahead and OED it... I dare you). The other reason is this little buddy to our left, a bourbon-based 'lemonade' the very color of sunshine itself, not to mention the enchanting glee of the devil. Muddled mint, good bourbon, and freshly squeezed lemon juice with a bit of simple syrup made for a pleasing drink or four.


Smith's
79 Macdougal Street (near Bleecker)
New York, NY
212.260.0100