Restaurant review: Applewood

On Saturday night, Judd and I borrowed my mom's car and drove out to Park Slope to meet our friend Ann for dinner at Applewood, which serves seasonal, local food supplied by local farms and producers, even if it sounds like a barbeque restaurant (it did to me, anyway). They use only sustainably fished seafood, hormone and antibiotic-free meats and poultry, and all of their beef comes from grass-finished, humanely treated animals.

We started our evening at the bar where we shared Applewood's house-made charcuterie with garlic crostini and stone ground mustard. One was a pork testa (that's the nice way to say head cheese, which is neither head nor cheese, but pieces of meat suspended in flavorful aspic), the other was a slice of something pate-like and made with goat meat - possibly a rillette. Both were tasty enough, but the goat was wrapped in a very thick ring of fat and I did not enjoy the texture of the pork testa.

When we sat down, each with a large glass of champagne (thanks again, Geoff!), we were served freshly baked bread with a selection of tempting toppings: a roasted beet spread, whipped french butter, and a root vegetable puree. I always enjoy a variety and all three of these were nice compliments to the warm bread.

Next, I ordered the roasted red beet salad with toasted pistachios, red leaf lettuce, and roasted black pepper aioli. It was fantastic. Beets and pistachios are an excellent pairing. Judd ordered the New York venison bolognese with mascarpone polenta and parmesan cheese. I thought the venison was a little too lean to make the bolognese as rich as it normally is, but you really can't go wrong with a meat ragu and polenta. Ann ordered a special rabbit ravioli with came with tiny little rabbit chops. I tried to photograph it, but this picture doesn't capture just how small this rabbit rack was.

For my main course, I ordered red wine braised beef shortribs with braised carola potatoes, dandelion greens and red wine jus. I love shortribs and these were wonderful, although, like the venison, not quite as fatty as I'm used to. But I guess grass-finished beef is leaner than corn fed beef. Judd had sauteed North Carolina wreckfish (a mild and un-oily white fish) with winter greens, roasted onion puree, and smoked wreckfish salad. He really enjoyed it as did I when I tried it. The fish had been well cooked and had a nice crust. Ann ordered pan-roasted Chatham haddock (also an un-oily white fish) with roasted new potatoes, celery root puree, and herb oil. Yum.

For dessert, we shared a delightful bread pudding with some kind of booze-spiked sauce. I generally don't like alcohol in desserts, but this was a nice exception.

Applewood is quite a cozy little place. There's a fireplace, small herb bouquets on the tables, and I particularly loved the bathroom with its beadboard paneling and Mrs. Meyer's hand soap. And it doesn't hurt that my friend Geoff, fellow-Tufts grad and former bartender at my favorite bar of all time (rest in peace, Etats-Unis), works there. He made us feel particularly welcome. Despite the shlep from the Upper West Side to Park Slope, I will certainly return.

**

Details:

501 11th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)

Brooklyn, New York

(718) 788-1810