Aquavit (Bistro), Midtown - She says...

Aquavit has been on my list of restaurants to try for several years now. It's bumped down with each new restaurant opening, but thankfully former executive chef Marcus Samuelsson's appearance on the second season of Top Chef Masters kept it on our radar. We finally decided to go late one weeknight. The Bistro is the first dining area, while the Main Dining Room is in the back. We ate in the Bistro, which is simply styled in light browns and orange accents.

We started with Aquavit cocktails. I ordered the white cosmopolitan while he had the spicy mango martini, very typical drinks for us. Aquavit tastings were also available in a variety of flavors, including coriander & dill and fig & cardamom.

The house bread was served with a delicious salmon mousse spread in addition to the conventional butter. It was creamy, flavorful, and a nice way to begin the meal. I started with the herring sampler and he had the venison tartare. The herring plate came with three tastings: pickled, lemon, and honey mustard cured herring, served with a few slices of Swedish cheese and a fingerling potato. The pickled herring was my favorite of the three - very clean and the acidity balanced the saltiness of the fish perfectly. The lemon and honey mustard were a bit overwhelming, but still very tasty. The cheese, which tasted a bit like white cheddar, was a surprisingly effective palate cleanser and calmed down the sour tartness of each bite.

For my entree, I had the seared cod with potato and leek stomp and grilled asparagus. The stomp, which is akin to a mash, was delicious, creamy, and coated the cod nicely. The asparagus added a needed crispness to the plate. Overall, it was a very tasty dish, although the flavors were not particularly new. His schnitzel entree was also quite good, but not anything exciting.

Our desserts were a very nice surprise. It's been awhile since we've had desserts worth mentioning. I had the Arctic Circle, a goat cheese parfait that was nearly frozen but still creamy. It was served with a lingonberry sorbet and salted pistachios. The entire bite was refreshing and just sweet enough. The pistachios added a fun textural contrast, and the salt really brought out the sweetness of the lingonberries.

I'd like to try the more extravagant dishes of the main dining room, but I appreciated the simple presentations of this meal. The space was cozy yet elegant, and the tasty, clean flavors of each dish made this a great bistro-style dinner.

Aquavit (Bistro) Midtown - He says...

It was about 9:30 PM when we decided to go to the Aquavit bistro one late Saturday night.  I had just finished some work and wanted to unwind with a pampered dinner.  But to be honest, Aquavit was never that high on my list of places to eat.  It didn't seem that appealing to me.  I had seen pictures on its site of dishes with un-integrated components on a plate.  It didn't seem like there was any soul in the preparation.

Our appetizers seemingly fit this bill at first.  I ordered the venison tartare to start.  The meat sat plainly on the plate, surrounded by capers, beets, honey mustard, red onions, and horseradish.  To me, it just looked like scoops of ingredients lumped on a plate.  It was so simply presented that it almost seemed lazy.  She ordered the herring sampler, which came with 3 different preparations.  Despite the variation, it also looked very ordinary.  You typically want to dig in when dishes are served; the presentation didn’t create that appetizing sensation.

But as I ate the food, my tone changed.  The venison had such a clean taste with a mild gaminess.  Each component provided its own unique taste and texture that stood up to each other when I combined them.  I mixed certain ingredients, playing with different flavor profiles.  I personally liked a good amount of onions for texture with a touch of spice from horseradish and brine from the capers.  The dish wasn't just tasty but surprisingly fun!  Her meal was just as playful.  Each herring had such a different flavor, but each delicious on its own.  It was fun being able to go back and forth between our dishes.

For my entrée, I decided to go simple and ordered the schnitzel.  It seems like such an ordinary choice for me, but I sometimes like to review a restaurant based on the most classic dish on a menu.  The schnitzel was a meaty portion.  It was perfectly crisp on the outside and incredibly tender on the inside.  What really distinguished it from other breaded cutlets was its clean taste.  I’m used to having cutlets doused in some sort of sauce, whether it’s gravy from chicken fried steak, curry on katsu, or tomato sauce in a parmesan.  It was refreshing to just eat a cutlet and have it be flavorful on its own.  Looking back, it was probably the best pork cutlet I’ve ever had.

For dessert, I ordered the ‘smalansk ostkaka’, a Swedish cheesecake topped with berries and whipped cream.  The taste was mild, probably made with a more ricotta-like cheese.  The texture was just a bit weird to me.  There seemed to be nuts inside the cheesecake, which was kind of jarring.  I like my cheesecakes to have a smooth consistency, so I personally didn’t really like it.

Despite the dessert, I really enjoyed Aquavit.  Our dinner was a slap in the face for me.  She and I have become so accustomed to big flavors, dramatic presentations, and expensive ingredients.  Aquavit reminded me that good food just needed simple ingredients and clean flavors.  I’m looking forward to coming back to try the food in the main dining room.