October 20, 2008
The Cure
Oysters and Ceviche in the East Village
Life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.
Life hands you a tiny nook of a bar in the East Village with no kitchen, no standing room and no tables...you make Desnuda, a low-key, low-lit ceviche and oyster date spot, now open on 7th Street.
You may recognize the ornate marble floor and utter lack of standing room (in a charming way, of course) from previous occupant the Bourgeois Pig. Everything else, however, has changed. The walls are covered in panels of oxidized copper (like small pieces of the Statue of Liberty), the bar is a solid slab of dark wood and marble, and the low hanging lights are old-timey and dim. The grand effect is a welcoming twenty-seat sliver of a bar that you'll want to linger at with a date, eating truffle popcorn while you wait for your acid-tinged seafood.
Since there is no kitchen, all the ceviche is prepared and presented in front of you, sushi-style, by the chef (who also doubles, Momofuku Ko-style, as the bartender). Mackerel is marinated with truffle oil, sea urchin is bathed in a lemon basil cream, and oysters are served straight up, tea-smoked or as shooters.
And when life hands you oyster shooters, you drink them.
