Industry

[ajay]

A captain that i've dined with many times in the past has reccomended Industry restaurant on 6th Ave between A and B.  I'm curious to learn about this place and especially any experiences that the egullet community may have had.

I believe the owner is Alex Freis if the name rings a bell.

So, Wilfrid, have you formed an opion on the esablishments you have found in the neighborhood?

[Wilfrid]

Do you mean 6th Street between A and B?  If so, I'm in the area and will look out for it.

[ajay]

Yes, I think sixth st. between A and B is correct now that I look at a map of the area...as you can probably tell, I rarely get into the neighborhood.

[ajay]

The address I have is 509 East 6th st. between A and B.  As I said earlier this part of town might as well be in a foreign country, so I hope this helps clarify the issue.  I'm told the owner is Alex Freij and the phone number is 777 5920.

[tommy]

i was beginning to think that ajay was taking the piss, getting his/her kicks from sending wilfrid on wild goose chases.

well, click here, because the place actually does exist!  unless this website is in on it too.

[Wilfrid]

Okay.  Here are my two excuses.  First, there is no sign on the facade.  There's a huge, heavy wooden door, and a window through which bar-type activity can be seen, but I had assumed it was a bar attached to the Asian restauarnt next door.  Second, in the day-time, the whole facade is covered by metal shutters, so you wouldn't even know there was a bar there.

We made our way into the bar area on Friday night.  It was quite swanky, but people were standing three deep.  It has definitely been discovered.  We elbowed our way to the end of the bar, where stairs led up to a raised dining area.   This too was full of beautiful people.  I enquired about a table, and the ridiculously gorgeous greeter advised me it would be at least an hour's wait.  Telephoned the next day and was offered 6 or 10.30.

We'll try and go back on a quiet night and see what's happening food-wise, but the word of mouth is clearly working for them.

[Wilfrid]

My report from last night.

Word of mouth has certainly got around about this place.  I booked way ahead for a Tuesday night 8.30 table.  It was not as packed as we had found it when we looked in one Saturday (and decided not even to stay for a drink), but it was pretty full.  The raised dining area is behind the bar, and is very compact and tight.  It is decorated in blonde wood - beyond ski chalet, it's like being seated in an Anthony Caro sculpture.  Service was pleasant, but slightly harried.  Busy joint.

Delicious olives served in a bowl of oil to nibble and dip your bread.  Appetizers:  Moroccan squab, very nicely crusted with a range of spices, cumin being the main note.  It was halfway to a b'stilla - just needed to de-bone the meat and put it in pastry.  It was served underdone, not as requested.  You need to make a fuss, I think, if the kitchen is to pay attention to subtle requests which might get lost in the rush.  Lobster PLT (pancetta, not bacon).  An open face sandwich, plenty of slightly chewy lobster.  Not refined but agreeable, and the pancetta, cooked crisp, was a good idea - very punchy.

Short ribs in a red wine sauce were utterly delicious - best version I've had in ages.  But guess what?  they saw me coming and served them ALMOST COLD.  Dammit.  But I'd risk it again, and the pureed potato was excellent too.

Roast duck.  Nothing wrong with it, but lacking in flabour.

We shared a dessert involving pineapple, vanilla icre cream, and some nice alcoholically-marinated raisins.  Beware sharing desserts: they're small.

Outstanding reserve 1995 Rioja (Vina Ardanza - spelling?).  Bursting with fresh fruit.

I've not been to 71 Clinton, so can't compare, but as a general matter I'd say Industry is over-achieveing for Avenue A/B.  Too busy for it's own good, but what can they do about that?  I'll go again.  Fairly priced as well: $147 for two before the tip, which included a $53 wine.  There are plenty of bottles on the list for $25 - $30, so you could get out of here for $60/$70 per head.  In Manhattan, anything under three figures is starting to look cheap.

[Billy D]

Great late night scene.  Food was fair but at 2am it was fantastic.

[donnyc]

When it came to the food our expectations were kept in check. I feared that this was one of those trendy new spaces whose sole focus was on creating a too hip environment at the cost of quality dining. The first sign to dispel our concerns was the smart wine list, offering fine selections from many regions.    

As we began sampling the various dishes we were pleasantly surprised. Appetizer highlights include a Moroccan squab with cous cous, pan seared scallops with mushroom fricasse, and our favorite the  Lobster Bruschetta, Huge plentiful chucks of lobster served with pancetta, lettuce and tomato,  a new twist on the familiar lobster roll.

For entrees the menu is broken down into two sections Fish and Meat, each offering four selections. On the fish side: the seared stripped bass with caramelized onions, eggplant caviar served with pepper coulis is a perfect combination of flavors. Another excellent choice is the pan seared monkfish which is accompanied with lentils in a mushroom sauce.

The meat selections are all wonderful. In particular, the seared duck breast was our favorite. The duck, rich in flavor is served with sautéed baby bok choy, radicchio, and blood orange jus.

The kitchen is willing to take some creative chances and overall the combination of flavors pays a hefty dividend and it works magnificently. However the boldness does not work its magic when it comes to desserts. In particular, the cookies and cream crème brulee. This interpretation of the classic is a disaster.

[Matt Zito]

Industry (Food)

Dining at Industry this past Wednesday was actually my second attempt at eating there. On Memorial Day, myself and another eGulleter found ourselves hungry and in the area and spent a rather fruitless time searching for it. As it turns out, there's a very good reason for that, as it's unlabeled.

Having a reservation and an address, though, was a very useful thing to have the second time around and my dinner companion and I were right on time. At 9pm on a Wednesday, the large bar by the entrance was noisy and standing room only, spilling back far enough to get in the way of the maitre d'. Though I had made the reservation that morning, they had no record of it, and asked us to wait at the bar until a table opened. I had a scotch and my date had a mango martini, which was excellent - not entirely juice, and had a big chunk of mango hanging off the side. After a short wait, they took us downstairs and sat us at a two-top next to the restrooms and kitchen.

The restaurant as a whole is of that class of New York establishment that teeters between being a bar/club/lounge and a proper restaurant (other examples being B. Bar, Park Avenue Country Club, etc.). With two levels, there's one good-sized bar on each floor, both packed, and many of the trappings of New York clubs. These include having no towels in the restroom, instead pushing you to tip a gentleman to hand you a towel, loud, thumping music, and the small clusters of obviously drugged individuals amusing themselves in the corners. The one real departure from this is the staff, who are universally extremely friendly and helpful.

Once being seated, we enquired about a wine list and vegetarian options. The chef was more than happy to make us a vegetable plate, per usual for New York, but the wine list took a couple of requests before it appeared. The wine list at Industry is a little interesting in that they don't have any half-bottles and don't list any wines by the glass. I took this to mean that they only offered a bar-style set of by-the-glass wines, and was surprised when our server rattled off a list of around 8 different wines by the glass.

The first course was a mixed greens salad for my companion and the asparagus, goat cheese, and walnuts for myself. The mixed greens was unremarkable, while the asparagus was excellent. It was cold, spiced asparagus served with goat cheese, walnuts, and what I believe was ramps. The asparagus was well prepared, crunchy with a hint of garlic or ginger , and the goat cheese tangy without being chalky. The glass of Spanish Chardonnay I had with the asparagus was rather acidic and dry, but matched the food well.

For an entree, I had the chef's vegetable plate. I'd hoped my sometime-vegetarian friend would order something off the menu so I'd have more variety to report back about, but she opted for the vegetable plate as well. The plate consisted of broccoli rabe, mashed potatoes, mushrooms and garlic chopped and sauteed, and grilled cherry tomatoes. The mushroom & garlic sautee was the best single piece of the plate - the mushrooms were still firm, while the garlic didn't overwhelm. All of the other parts were competent, but a little one-dimensional. Adding the potatoes to the other vegetables helped this significantly, as it provided a heartier base to the rather insubstantial veggies (probably the chef's original intention). This, incidentally, just goes to substantiate my long-held theory that everything is better with mashed potatoes. I had a glass of Riesling with the plate that was nice, but didn't pair nearly as well with the dish as the Chardonnay had with the asparagus.

For dessert, we split a bowl of chilled strawberry-rhubarb soup with coconut tapioca. This dish serves better as a palate-cleanser than as a real dessert, but was extremely tasty. The thick soup was white wine temperature, with chunks of very fresh strawberry floating in it. In the center was the mound coconut tapioca, which was an almost mousse-like consistency, interspersed with the tapioca pearls, and very light.

Overall, the food was good, though nothing to write home about. The restaurant was so loud I often had a difficult time maintaining a conversation with my companion and the covers are located extremely close to each other. However, as I said earlier, the staff was friendly and accomodating, which eased the sting a bit. I'd go back, but more likely for drinks than dinner, and not when it was as crowded as that night.

Matt

[JesseNYC]

Just curious what the thoughts are about Industry (food).

Edited October 10, 2003 by JesseNYC (log)

[Bond Girl]

The food is okay, a little rough around the edges. The scene is really trendy and price is average (high for the area, but not higher than average scene restaurants.) Don't go if you have extreme dislikes for loud music, dark lighting, and overly styled people crowding the bar area.