Bivalves & Bourbon: The Dutch in SoHo

Bivalves & Bourbon: The Dutch in SoHo
by AnneLise Sorensen

“Don’t forget to eat your bivalves” is the cheeky reminder on the menu at The Dutch in SoHo, which opened in May. Oysters highlight the menu, along with bold, made-in-the-USA dishes, at this wood-paneled, bourbon-soaked tavern. Chef and co-owner Andrew Carmellini knows a thing or three about making it New York City – he cooked at a trio of phenomenally successful restaurants, Café Boulud, A Voce and Locanda Verde.

At The Dutch, Carmellini has gone American, which today, of course, means multi-cultural – as much seafood ceviche and lamb neck as New York strip steak and apple pie. What Caremellini does especially well is to recreate familiar tastes with unfamiliar ingredients. There’s pot pie on the menu, but it’s rabbit pot pie. And, here the “sloppy joe” is “sloppy duck.” (And let me tell you, it’s sloppy delicious.)

Caremellini called it The Dutch because he thought that sounded like a good, honest name for a corner joint. Well, yes, it is on a corner, but a coveted one, in the middle of SoHo, at Prince and Sullivan, with picture windows offering a voyeuristic view of the you-can-never-be-too-rich-or-too-thin downtown parade.

But the real draw? In a city surprisingly devoid of quality late-night restaurants, The Dutch has an after-hours menu, so you can saunter in at midnight and order an American bourbon, straight up – and a plate of those bivalves.

My review originally featured on MSN (Microsoft Network).