Prohibition-era glamorization has everyone dubbing their establishment a speakeasy, whether it's simply through a discreet door or perched on a rooftop. Speakeasy is really just catch-all term that roughly translates to "pricy drinks" at this point. We haven't heard the term associated with restaurants as often, but dinnertable, a new East Village eatery opening on Wednesday, has declared itself a "reverse speakeasy," whereby a street-level bar conceals the entrance to a 20-seat restaurant hidden in the back.
The new restaurant will be accessible through Garret East on Avenue A, an extension of a sister bar in the West Village that opened above a Five Guys about two years ago. The menu's rife with gourmet comfort food, like the Smoked Shortrib Tartare ($12) with horseradish and marble rye, "The Dumplings" ($15), a riff on pierogi made with potato and pecorino cheese, and a nod to their fast food space sharers across town with The Sixth Guy's Burger ($16) made Italian with capocollo, straccino cheese and deli peppers. And that incredible-looking baked pasta? That's the Lasagna Bolo, a two-person dish for $38.
Drinks skew Italian in the back (Peronis, bottled negronis and Italian wines, apparently) while it's more about modern cocktail culture up front. The restaurant only operates Tuesday through Sunday from 5:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. and they won't accept either reservations or parties exceeding four people.
206 Avenue A; website
