Dominic

[Wilfrid]

Admin: Pico changed names to Dominic.

Pico had been on my to-do list for a while. An article in Time Out a couple of week back (in retrospect, a pretty odd article) said that the place had been found languishing half full on a Friday night, so I thought I'd better check it out.

I went on Saturday and it was absolutely heaving, with people backed up at the bar waiting for tables. Aside from the wine list, I found it to be about as Portuguese as Danube is Austrian. Yes, they had grilled sardines, but salt cod made only a timid appearance among the appetizers in the guise of a fish cake. Otherwise, it was a fairly mainstream selection of dishes, with the odd Mediterranean inflection here and there. You could wear out a lot of shoe leather looking for a menu like this in Lisbon.

Steamed cockles with chorizo first. In my homeland, cockles are about the cheapest shellfish going, and we eat them by the pint. They aren't that expensive here either, so I was disappointed with the scant few floating in broth. Worse was the powerful smell of burning rubber when the waiter lifted the lid to present the dish. I eventually traced it to the chorizo skin. At first, I thought this was one of those rare dishes which was actually going to be too nasty to eat, but once the steam dissipated, the odour problem became tolerable.

The suckling pig - a signature dish I believe - was very good. Skin like brittle toffee, delicate flesh, and served over slightly sweet but pleasant spinach. Good stuff, and needed to be at $29. A few cheeses followed, some Portuguese and some French. The servers were rushed and preoccupied. I was drinking wines by the glass - vino verdhe and a Douro Reserva (they had run out of the Dao) - and they were presenting the bottle, then pouring to the brim. Generous indeed, although it might annoy people who want to swirl and sniff. The food bill alone came to $60 before tax, so you can easily reach three figures here.

For me, Pico fell mysteriously between two stools. If I really wanted a Portuguese meal, I'd go elsewhere (for example the smaller and less expensive Pao a few blocks up Greenwich, which has a distinctly Portuguese menu) - and the chef isn't Portuguese, so...why? Similarly, if I wanted good, mainstream restaurant cooking, Pico would be way down my list. But I am aware this is just a snapshot. Maybe some people have had much better experiences there?

[Charles Smith]

I think you nailed it- it's too expensive for down to earth Portugese food (Pao is absolutely a better choice), and not good enough for an expensive high quality adventure

I live in the neighborhood and it's not somewhere I consider going-  

Cheers,

Charles

[Bux]

One of my reference points on the value scale is Blue Hill. They gt $65 for a tasting menu. As I recall it's three courses plus dessert and usually an amuse bouche. I don't consider that inexpensive, but the food is very good. So when I read $60 for the food, it takes a postive review to draw me in.

[NY News Team]

TriBeCa’s Pico has been transformed into Dominic Restaurant/Social Club, wherein chef John Villa uses a little creative license in building a menu that features your more standard veal Milanese and linguine with white clam sauce along with some of Pico’s specialties like suckling pig and sonhos (Portuguese doughnuts). Bonus: through Labor Day, there’s a 20% discount. – Eden Blum

Dominic Restaurant/Social Club

349 Greenwich Street

212-343-0700

(Source: nymetro.com, week of August 4, 2003)

[Bond Girl]

Although this is hardly news, John Villa's Dominics Restaurant seemed to be one of those secrets that Tribeca dwellers want to keep to themselves. The restaurant, which is housed in the former Pico space, is not exactly the place that comes to mind when one mentions dining in the Tribeca area. However, anyone interested in classic Italians food should at least check it out. The restaurant serves classic Big City Italian food featuring communal dining with hand made pasta, house cured pancetta and artisanal sheep's milk ricotta. Other old world delicacies such as Lardo on toast and Veal T bone Milanese are also recreated. Villa, the pulchritudinous chef responsible for reinventing the midtown Patroon and one time playgirl center fold, named Dominics after his Grandfather. This could be the best excuse to go downtown.

Appetizers: $6-$10, Entrees: $16-$29, Desserts: $5-$7

Dominics

349 Greenwich Street

New York, NY 10013

Phone: (212) 343-0700

Source: press release from Bullfrog and Baum

[oakapple]

I dined at Dominic last night. Chilled spring pea soup with spiced shrimp was a lively start. I hadn't read the menu too carefully, so I would have been happy with just a solid pea soup, which this was. The unexpected spiced shrimp offered a flavor explosion, making me regret there was just one of them in the bowl.

Onto a main course of crispy Atlantic skate with endive marmelada and pink peppercorn vinaigrette, on a bed of stewed cherry tomatoes. Yes, the fish was delightfully crisp on the outside, with just a hint of the marmelade flavor suggested in the description. I couldn't perceive the pink peppercorn vinaigrette, but the palate here seems to lean towards the subtle. The fish came with warmed greens and a three of a large vegetable I couldn't recognize - shaped like sausages, but tasting like onions.

Appetizers are $9-12, pastas $8-12 for starter portions, $16-20 as mains. Other main courses (a mixture of meat and fish) are $19-26. Side dishes are $5. The prix fixe is $38 for any three dishes on the menu, or $52 with wine pairings. My meal of appetizer, main course, and a glass of the house wine was $46 with tax and tip.

Dominic's décor is mostly unchanged from its Pico days. It's comfortable, spacious, and friendly to the eye. Service was smart and attentive. I will definitely be visiting Dominic again.

[Pan]

Great report as usual, oakapple! Sounds like a winner!

[oakapple]

It took me nineteen months to get back to Dominic, which I finally did last night. My enthusiasm is undimmed—some minor glitches aside.

It's not often that the Zagat review tells you precisely what dish to order, but it does for Dominic: "all can agree the roast suckling pig, a holdover from its old Portuguese incarnation, is 'a must.'" So, that's what I had last night.

The menu describes the dish as a 10-Hour Pig Roast ($24). It's slow roasted with Tuscan seasonings, crispy skin, wildflower honey and sautéed greens. The dull sautéed greens added nothing, but the pig was terrific, including the crunchy skin and a brick of tender, flavorful meat.

Coincidentally, I had Cookshop's version of this dish on Monday night, and found it bland. The folks at Cookshop need to high-tail it over to Dominic, to see how it's done.

Dominic's current winter menu lists five pasta dishes, and it was most peculiar to be informed that three of them were unavailable last night. I wasn't looking to order pasta anyway, but it's strange for a purportedly Italian restaurant to be out of so many items.

When I sat down, I was not presented with a wine list. When I asked for red wine by the glass, the server told me that my choices were chianti classico, pinot noir, or merlot, apparently on the view that it is unnecessary for me to be told which chianti, pinot, or merlot it is. I could have insisted, but I just ordered the chianti and ignored the lapse. It was nothing special, but at $7 I didn't feel cheated.

The restaurant seemed to be a little over half full, which isn't bad on a Wednesday night, in a neighborhood where there are so many dining options. It might help if they knew their own web address. It says "www.DominicRestaurant.com" on their business card, but the correct address is "www.dominicnyc.com".