Downtown at Louro

Before I begin my review of Louro, some food for thought about restaurant and food quality. If you aren't really interested, just skip on to The Food.
It must be noted that eating out, and one's opinion of the food quality is so relative and partial. Quite obviously. There are always going to be some palettes that are more inclined to certain flavors while others are not. After dinning out with another couple last night this very simple notion hit me. While I found certain dishes to be nothing special, others quite enjoyed them. What got me thinking was the following. There is, most certainly, a basic intuition that is able to distinguish the sub par and ok quality of food, to the good, and then the excellent. But, once that threshold is crossed, from the sub par to the quality, it becomes a fine line. There are loads of great restaurants out there. But who doe we trust to recommend the right place?
 Do New Yorkers actually enjoy the atmosphere more than the actual food? If the food is pretty good, and tastes like the other "pretty good" places, than, the notion goes that its worthwhile to recommend and return.

I also find that too often than not many simply concur with the opinions of those in powerful and influential positions like food critics and major bloggers. Why? Because, these powerful individuals have accumulated massive influence with years of experience. On that point I agree, yes they are experienced and have therefore naturally acquired a refined palette. But there are too often times where I wonder if many diners simply agree with the reviewers because they are meant to. Sam Sifton says its good, then it must be good! Meaning, if everyone in revered positions enjoys it than of course I should as well. And yet, I've found that many times Adam Platt, who is quite spot on in my very subjective opinion, is just so off sometimes and I am in complete disagreement with him. Why does he so strongly believe that Il Buco Alimentari's chef should be named one of the top ten new chefs of New York for 2013 when I found the food to be good but totally over rated? 

This is why I've begun to trust less and try more. And this is how I've come to realize how subjective food reviewing and recommending can become. I expose myself to reviews and opinions of others and then can only have myself to judge. Yes, I can be snobby at times about the quality, but it's rightly so. I travel to other cities and am so much more impressed with their basic food establishments than I sometimes am in New York. 

Like with anything, the more one educates himself on the subject, and for the purposes of this article it would be in the food and restaurant industry, the more he is able to seriously determine these fine lines. Anyhow, it is all a matter of opinion and this post is heading on a steeply philisophical path with no concluding points that divert (only a tiny bit ;) from the very purpose of this blog. 

Overall, there was a definite agreement within our intimate party of four that the food at Louro, the atmosphere and the service were, overall, simple, enjoyable and perfect.

But, then again these very opinions are subjective in themselves as well.
Try it and see for yourself!

The Food
I had a read a number of good things about David Santos opening up his new spot called Louro. For a while he was hosting private dinners in a place on Governor's Island and most famously he worked as a chef at Bouley and Per Se before deciding to open up his own spot last month.

Compliments to the chef.
 Every single vegetarian friendly option on the menu was ordered and every option was tasteful, extremely fresh and not too heavy. Please note that although I will mention what we tasted, I believe the menu changes daily as Yelp featured photos of options that were not on our menu and two days ago the Dourade was on the menu while last night it was not.

The best dishes were the Red Snapper which was cooked with a simple broth of mushrooms and leek.

The mini cubes of beets mixed with warmed goat cheese and walnuts was so light and the cheese was so runny and complimentary to the beets. Skip the pickled veggies appetizer, it arrives in a round glass cylinder and isn't anything one hasn't tasted before. The Roasted Pumpkin was a delightful and an unexpected surprise. It arrived as thin roasted slivers with light olive oil, arugula and huckleberries.

This is the perfect example of a dish that is deceiving in its simple look.
It's a must order.

The Arugula salad was a simple salad with a light quality olive oil and very thin shavings of pecorino cheese that complimented the salad so perfectly. I think it was one of my favorite dishes on the table!

Lack of stinginess on the Pecorino shavings allowed for the perfect cheese compliment to a light salad.
The marinated peppers addition to the salad weren't my favorite though.

For the entree's I already mentioned the Red Snapper (I couldn't wait to mention it first, it was too good)! The trout was NOTHING SPECIAL but, to be honest, either I've never tasted trout prepared properly or I actually believe it just isn't the tastiest fish. Either way, I wouldn't bother.

The two pastas both the Gnocchi Romana and house made Cavatelli were fabulous. The gnocchi was pretty good but the cavatelli was cooked in a lovely cream sauce that warmed my insides and had the perfect addition of parmesan cheese.

On the left is the Cavatelli, right is the Gnocchi 

The one thing I'd skip and actually disliked the flavor completely was the Fry Bread which sounded a lot better in theory.

I may have differed from our group in that they enjoyed the Fry Bread as well as the Trout while I enjoyed the cavatelli more. The Red Snapper, the Arugula Salad and the Roasted Pumpkin were the biggest crowd pleasers.

With some reluctance, and some perseverance by our waiter, we tried the Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert which turned out to be the furthest thing from pineapple. Other than the simple pineapple glaze and fruit cubes surrounding the corn cake with caramelized edges, there was no other hint of fruit in this dish and it was my favorite dessert.

The crowd pleaser was the Peanut Butter Pain Perdu with roasted marshmallow ice cream and grape jelly.

The Ambiance

The atmosphere was vibrant and the crowd wasn't too young or too old but perfectly mixed. There is no pumping music but the loud and excited voices of the diners is enough to replace a sound system. The lighting was dimmed with lots of mini votives on the tables and unlike many of the wooden and rustic-turned-modern restaurants overpopulating this city, Louro had a uniquely modern feel that still maintains a touch of class. It's designed with lots of white simplicity, white ribbed hard wood booths and walls with thin white appetizer plates and square cutlery to compliment the decor. 

Wait Time & Resos

Reservations are necessary, especially for a busy night like Thurs, Fri or Sat. We arrived at 9pm with a reso, of course, and when we left at 11:30pm Louro was still quite full with few open tables. Keep in mind, Louro opened on December 4th, only one month ago and is keeping busy!

Good For: It's the perfect place for a social night out with friends, girlfriends or other couples.

Louro

142 West 10th St.

(Between Greenwich & 7th Ave)

http://louronyc.com/