Monday, August 01, 2005

Antique Garage



Chandeliers are rendered their original meaning in this hip, Turkish restaurant off the beaten track in SoHo/Nolita. I'd almost forgotten that they are not only my favourite style of earrings but also long, ornate lighting fixtures that can magically transform a space, especially at night.

My sister-in-law, who is totally in-the-know of the coolest of the cool places in her neighbourhood, picked Antique Garage for dinner on Saturday night. Our husbands' cousin, D, was leaving town now that his summer internship is over. M and I are so jealous that D is heading to Dubrovnik before he goes back to finish up business school. We want to go to Croatia too! Dubrovnik has become THE place to vacation - it's amazing how many people we know are heading there this year.

Besides the chandelier, Antique Garage is filled with - you guessed it - antiques from all over the city that you can actually purchase. The plush, maroon velvety decor lends a charming elegance to the place and the early 19th century plates on which the food is served adds a vintage touch.The drinks are tres noveau though - we were sipping on raspberry mojitos and kiwi caipirinhas all night long.

The food was excellent - might I add - better than what I ate in Istanbul. The eggplant meze was outstanding - it was char grilled pureed baby eggplant marinated in olive oil and lemon juice. Tzatziki (yogurt spread with fresh dill and garlic) is always a pleaser for me and the one that Antique Garage served up did not disappoint. But the real surprise was the Mediterranean Pasta. I usually don't order pasta at restaurants but since they weren't any other veg entrees on the meny, I had no choice. The penne, which was tossed with tomatoes, green peppers, olives and feta cheese was super fresh and flavourful. It was a nice, light meal on a hot summer evening. The big bonus was listening to live music while we chatted away and warned D about not getting into too much trouble with the Eastern European women!

41 Mercer St
(SoHo/NoHo/Little Italy)
between Grand and Broome Sts.
212-219-1019

3 Comments:

Blogger gs said...

i thought the strong turkish smell on you might have faded off.apparently,it hasn't!

10:41 PM  
Blogger lulu said...

i'm getting over it now slowly...

8:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I ate there long time ago and I loved the food than I went back again with friends few months ago – the food was still good but the staff – annoying!!!
I guess because the place was quite empty they had nothing to do but fuss around us which was really interfering with our conversation. The host was an ass! Watching him treat the staff like shit but than coming over with his false smiles and ass licking – well, we just wanted out, didn’t even get dessert just wanted away from the annoying host!
Too bad – they had a nice thing going there I wish it was still warm atmosphere like it use to be…
Anyway we are now regulars at Tribeca’s Turks & Frogs – you must go if you like Turkish food!

2:10 PM  

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