The Tides
Photo: Cititour.com
Contact Info:
Address: 102 Norfolk Street
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10002
map: View the Map
Phone: 212-254-8855
Food Info:
Cuisine:
Seafood
Cititour Review:
Last week, for my first Saturday night in the city since what seems like May (because it was May), I had a reunion of sorts with my girlfriends. We wanted a casual place, since Saturday night is Zoo night at restaurants, and so we gathered at the Tides, a modern lobster roll joint from chef Judy Seto, formerly of Mary’s Fish Camp. The Tides does not take reservations, and since it has been getting a fair amount of good press and word of mouth, we showed up on the early side, and found it buzzing and bright, a modern wedge of a restaurant tucked into on a desolate construction zoned stretch of Norfolk Street. One of the owners, Steven Yee, a charming guy with a very warm smile, greeted us outside on the street and told us he would have a table in about half an hour and recommended we have a drink next door at Sunita, a cozy exposed brick bar that is clearly benefiting from its new neighbor. Perfectly timed after we had almost completed our first round of cocktails, Steven called my cell and told us our booth was ready. We were welcomed inside, and seated in one of the three pod-like booths constructed of blond wood that line the length of the far wall of the restaurant—a tiny place that is maybe the width of the wingspan of a professional basketball player, with a small exposed kitchen, and a wavy ceiling constructed from of thousands of bamboo sticks. Seto’s menu will be a familiar affair to those who have dined at Mary’s—a modest and reasonably priced document listing creatures of the sea: oysters, lobster rolls, grilled whole fish, fried calamari and clams, and the like. All of us seemed to have some boy stories to tell, and as we caught up on the latest affairs of the heart or simply of the bedroom, we dug into our appetizers. We started with a mixed green salad with goat cheese topped crostini ($6) that should not have been difficult to deliver, but the kitchen dressed the nice greens in a vinaigrette that was overly acidic—it actually hurt to eat it. Fried calamari ($8), however, were tender on the inside and crunchy and greaseless on the outside—served with an addictive spicy aioli. But that greaseless perfection was absent in the bowl of fried clams and oysters ($9) that were too wet, leaving the batter soggy rather than crunchy. The octopus skewers ($9), set on a fresh corn and radish salad, were absolutely inedible—the octopus were so small and so charred that they were transformed from flesh to throat-choking rubber. Debbie was chewing on hers for several minutes and not making any progress before she gave up and quietly removed the offending creature from her mouth and into a napkin. But she was all over the Steamers, which were flawless ($10)—fat, briny, and sweet. As you can see, for the most part, the apps had not wowed us, but we were having quite a great night nonetheless. Steven and his business partner Allen do a great job of making you feel at home, the service was good, and the place has a chill, easy vibe to it—hip, but not tragically so. And our entrees went a long way to redeeming our appetizers. The grilled whole fish of the night was a big and gorgeous Tilapia ($23), grilled with stalks of rosemary and thin lemon wedges slipped under the skin and into the gills, cooked perfectly so that the meat was flaky, sweet and moist and infused with the smoke of the grill and the aroma of the herbs. We turned into alley cats with respect to that fish—picking it clean with our fingers, leaving behind only a skeleton and a tail. (And I considered eating the tail the fish was that good.) The softshell crabs ($21) with black bean salsa were great—lightly battered and crispy, with a good amount of heat coming in from the salsa. Seto’s lobster rolls (M/P) arrived overflowing with sweet juicy hunks of meat tossed with dill (LOVE THAT) and celery, with a hill of sweet potato fries. Now, the ingredients in the lobster roll were terrific—the lobster meat was plentiful and divine, and the dill added a great herbaceous sweetness to the mix—but the problem was that the aioli was very runny, almost like a sauce rather than a mayonnaise. Rather than bind the lobster together like a salad, it turned the dish into a lobster roll as pond, with the sauce soaking the brioche hot dog bun, turning it into a sponge for the liquidy mayo. Look, we still licked our plates clean, but I think a little attention to the aioli might work wonders. And while the sweet potato fries were cold and limp, they were still quite tasty. Seto’s sides (all $4) were fun and inventive, and were quickly devoured. Her sweet corn pudding, also served room temperature, was rich and fluffy, like a fallen soufflé, and grilled haricot verts were perfectly done, and the carrot jicama slaw tasted just like summer—like it belonged on a gingham tablecloth covered picnic table next to a platter of grilled corn on the cob. As our plates were cleared, we were still deep into discussion about one blind date and three recent breakups, and so we ordered dessert and a bit more wine to keep things going a little longer. There are only two desserts ($6) on the menu—a chocolate espresso brownie and a key lime bar—and both are worth ordering. I am not the biggest chocolate fan (odd, I know), but the girls seemed to love it, and while they were paying attention to the chocolate, I made an impressive dent in the key lime bar, which was a brilliant cross between a lemon bar and a slice of key lime pie. Splitting the last bite with Susie, I looked around the room, which was emptying out. We had been talking non-stop, gabbing a mile a minute, and apparently, it was time to go home. You know what, I had a great time at The Tides. Yes, I think the kitchen needs to work out a their kinks, but the place has a genuine warmth to it and gives good vibe. What’s more, I believe its kitchen flaws are easily fixable—work on that aioli, get larger pieces of octopus for the skewers so that they don’t get so tough, and really dry out the clams before you bread them so they stay crispy. Hey, we are all flawed in some way. The question is what we do with our flaws once we become aware of them.
Review By: Andrea Strong
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