Convivium Osteria

[SobaAddict70]

Tender slices of pork loin are accompanied by small coins of chorizo, which are meant to join the loin in each forkful, bringing a crispiness and a saltiness to the fleshy fun.

The most satisfying, in addition to the steak and chicken, was a dish of half-moon pockets of pasta that had been filled with duck, topped with shredded radicchio and speck and placed on a tawny, shallow pond of porcini cream sauce.

Tell a server you need 10 more seconds to make up your mind, and he may disappear for the next 10 minutes. Do not go to Convivium if you are in a hurry, but know that even forced lingering feels good here.

Convivium Osteria (Frank Bruni)

Soba

[Jinmyo]

One star. What's the point?

[oakapple]

One star. What's the point?

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I've responded in the "Bruni and Beyond" thread, as I interpret this to be a meta-reviewing question.

[bpearis]

I've responded in the "Bruni and Beyond" thread, as I interpret this to be a meta-reviewing question.

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I've been to this place a couple times. It's good but not worthy of a main review and not worthy of a special trip to 5th Ave just to eat there. Seems more 25 and Under to me.

[SethG]

I think Bruni was charmed by the restaurant and delivered an affectionate but not overly gushing review-- I've been there many times and I think he pretty much nailed it.

My wife and I lived around the corner when Convivium first opened and the place became a favorite of ours, both because we enjoyed the food and also because we found Carlo and Michelle to be such warm, welcoming people.

I often wonder whether anyone who makes the trip from Manhattan to check out the Brooklyn scene comes away truly impressed-- I'm not sure any of the Fifth Avenue/Smith Street restaurants are really worth the trip if you have lower Manhattan close at hand. But I'd put Convivium up there with any of the Brooklyn worthies. It's a very nice place with some very good food, and I hope the review brings the owners continued success. It couldn't happen to nicer people.

[bpearis]

I often wonder whether anyone who makes the trip from Manhattan to check out the Brooklyn scene comes away truly impressed-- I'm not sure any of the Fifth Avenue/Smith Street restaurants are really worth the trip if you have lower Manhattan close at hand. 

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I haven't been in a while, but I always thought the trek to Locanda Vini & Olii in Clinton Hill was worth it.

[SethG]

I haven't been in a while, but I always thought the trek to Locanda Vini & Olii in Clinton Hill was worth it.

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I don't know that one-- and I didn't mean to wander off topic. I was really referring to the Smith/5th "scene"-- there are many great food reasons to visit Brooklyn. By the way, I agree with you about the review reading more like what maybe should have been a "$25 and Under" review.

[oakapple]

By the way, I agree with you about the review reading more like what maybe should have been a "$25 and Under" review.

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The trouble is, appetizers at Convivium top out at $17, and entrées at $31. The "$25-and-under" category would completely lose its integrity if it included restaurants at Convivium's price level.

[Pan]

As someone who hasn't been there, the prices you mention leave me wondering whether it's a good value, especially for someone who doesn't live or work very close to that neighborhood.

[SethG]

Those prices are the most expensive on the menu, and aren't really representative. As Bruni reports, the appetizers start at $8, and the entrees at $17-- literally $25, with no drink or dessert! The prices are about the equivalent of a Manhhattan restaurant of its caliber, I reckon. For Brooklyn, it's not a cheap eat. Still, I bet you'd find other restos that were reviewed in $25 and under in the same price range-- a topic that I think we've talked to death elsewhere.

Their menu wasn't originally conceived as containing appetizers and entrees, but instead moved gradually down the page from small to large. They encouraged people to treat the menu as a tapas mix-and-match exercise, and tried to point out dishes that were good to share. I think this arrangement confused people, and they eventually felt forced to present the menu more conventionally.

[mjr_inthegardens]

it sometimes seems to me that the NY forum might need a $25 and under subforum to keep the cheaper chow finds from getting crowded out by the ADNY / Per Se / Fancy Dinner threads.

[SobaAddict70]

The problem is that usually the $25 and under places aren't really $25 and under. However, that's a topic for another thread.

Soba

[Bux]

One star. What's the point?

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"A neighborhood restaurant, of the kind and level that every neighborhood wants," might be point enough if you're near by. To top it off, Bruni gives you the information you may use to stay ahead of the learning curve, to avoid the lack luster dishes and go for the " few things [it does] well enough to argue for attention from food lovers from more than a few blocks away."

[Stone]

"A neighborhood restaurant, of the kind and level that every neighborhood wants," might be point enough if you're near by. To top it off, Bruni gives you the information you may use to stay ahead of the learning curve, to avoid the lack luster dishes and go for the " few things [it does] well enough to argue for attention from food lovers from more than a few blocks away."

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Shouldn't the New York Times review do more than tell people living in a few block area where to go to grab a quick, good meal? It's the bloody New York Times for chrissakes. I could see a review explaining why people from all over the city should head out to the outer boroughs. But I've got enough good Italian places within a four block radius of my apartment. Tell me something special, or I'll just pick up the Village Voice. They do the same thing, in a paragraph, for dozens of areas.

[oakapple]

Shouldn't the New York Times review do more than tell people living in a few block area where to go to grab a quick, good meal?  It's the bloody New York Times for chrissakes.  I could see a review explaining why people from all over the city should head out to the outer boroughs.  But I've got enough good Italian places within a four block radius of my apartment.  Tell me something special, or I'll just pick up the Village Voice.  They do the same thing, in a paragraph, for dozens of areas.

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In my view, any restaurant the Times reviews needs to be of interest to more than the residents & workers in its immediate neighborhood. This does not necessarily require universal interest (a test probably no restaurant could pass), but a few blocks' radius isn't enough. Whether this restaurant has passed that test is an open question.

[Bux]

In another thread, I wondered about how reasonable it was for the Times to review a few neighborhood restaurants if it coudn't cover the field. My comment here was that it was reasonable to review a one star restaurant in the abstract. Actually great restaurants are always news and minor ones rarely are, and a good case could be made that the more newsworthy restaurants should be covered first. Still, there's usefulness in a one star review. At least I thought that one might be useful. The problem I have is not that it was reviewed, but that so many others in its class are not. The effect of this review would not be to get people from Manhattan to jump in a cab to Brooklyn, it would possibly help those planning on eating there, make the most of the opportunity.

What I'd really like to see is more reviews. The Times reviews more than three movies every week. I guess it's cheaper to send a reviewer to the movies one night than to send him to a restaurant five or six times. Come to think of it, reviewers often see films for free anyway.