Cafe Charmant rocks Bleecker Street with a double-dose of scene and cuisine. Catch Hospitality Group’s latest restaurant is the biggest West Village sensation since an unknown Bob Dylan first played the coffeehouses.
After the runaway success of Or’esh, The Eighty Six and Taylor Swift-favorite Corner Store, the Catch team, backed by Houston megabillionaire Tilman Fertitta, seemed due for a dud. Wrong!
The owners call the menu a “sun-kissed interpretation of the classic French brasserie” with a “seaside-driven point of view” by executive chef Jake Tyler Brodsky, who spent seven years in the Cayman Islands after time at Eleven Madison Park. With nods to Italy as well, it’s all over the map. But when dishes — especially starters — taste as good as many do at Cafe Charmant, nobody minds.
The 70-seater on the throbbing corner of West 10th Street — gateway to Bleecker’s boutique-lined fashion district — has neither exotic motifs like Or’esh nor the speakeasy pastiche of The Eighty Six.
Instead, the Rockwell Group design strikes a warm-and-fuzzy chord. Velvet curtains offer refuge from the sidewalk teeming with boozed-up revelers. White linen-covered tables are spaced closely enough for a private club but not uncomfortably on top of each other.
Gleaming beveled mirrors reflect pretty dishes and smiling faces. The owners say they spent a fortune on sound-absorbing materials, and the investment was worth every cent. Charmant is the rare new buzz-fest where you don’t have to shout to be heard.
The mature mood draws the likes of Paul McCartney, who was spotted early on. The crowd last Saturday included Daniel Boulud, taking time off from his giant new Brasserie near Lincoln Center, together with Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Starters and raw dishes best reveal Brodsky’s cuisine-mingling creativity. Nardello peppers, olives and saffron aioli lent multiple flavor complexions to buttery raw bluefin tuna belly “Charmant” ($29.95). A vanilla undertone from acacia honey came through as well.
King crab croque — crab stuffed inside tramezzini bread, baked with Manchego cheese and topped with golden Osetra caviar — is a sensuous if miniscule indulgence worth its $19.95-per-piece price tag.
Despite its name, crispy shrimp Polynesian ($19.95) is not of the Trader Vic’s pu-pu platter school. Instead, luscious baked shrimp are tucked into a fried squash blossom and sprinkled with Japanese spices and fennel pollen. Brodsky calls it “Vietnam meets Capri.”
Curry duck pastel ($12.95 each) drew oohs around the table. Duck braised in Trinidad-style curry is wrapped in triangular, Brazilian-style turnovers and served with sweet-and-tangy tamarind chutney. I devoured two and wanted two more.
Entrees were well-executed if less novel. Steak frites can be ordered with strip or center-cut filet mignon. The latter ($59.95) emerged juicy, perfectly medium-rare-plus, pink inside and gently charred. The fries are no afterthought. They’re wonderfully salty, crunchy and pleasing on the tongue.
The dessert to have is the dreamily silken chocolate mousse. Served out of a giant goblet wheeled table-side, it comes with Chantilly cream, brown sugar and an array of other toppings. It’s the perfect way to finish before braving the rowdy Bleecker Street night.
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