The Cellar at Beecher's Handmade Cheese for happy hour: a STEAL (imperfect, but who cares?)

I love the idea of Beecher's.  Kurt Beecher Dammeier is your good ol' cheese-lovin', family-oriented food entrepreneur who was able to build a business without sacrificing his values of nutritious, clean food.  I love the idea of Beecher's.

The retail shop and bistro located in Flatiron is an interesting place.  Once the heavy door thuds behind you, you find yourself in an expansive, well-lit space with dark wood floor and high ceilings.  The impressive cheese display is almost Trader Joe's-esque, striking a good balance between modernized efficiency and simple American charm.

And then it gets even more interesting, because the hostess will take note of the fact that you're apprehensively checking out the rigid iron staircase to go into the cellar, and immediately ask if you would like to check your coat and - oh - your ID please.

Quick comment.  Obviously, one should always strive to 1) do business legally and 2) avoid having cheese-shoppin' teenagers *cough* puking all over your 21+ patrons but the idea of having to have your ID checked before you enter an establishment just screams SHADY (and you're descending into a dark cellar down a rigid iron staircase, by the way).  Really unnecessary for a place like Beecher's where you've got families shopping for cheeses upstairs and salarymen and -women enjoying an after-work drink downstairs, and IDs can be checked discreetly at the well-spaced tables.  But to each their own.

So you clunk your way down, and "interesting" starts to get a little weird.  Towards the back you've got a sexy lounge with suede couches and impractically small and low tables for couples who want to cuddle and whisper secrets in each others' ears over a cocktail, towards the center you've got a communal long table (think Le Pain Quotidien) that I'm guessing is trying to capture that old-world flair of hearty cheeseboards and tankards of beer, and towards the front you've got your regular dark wood chairs and tables for chowing down with a glass of wine.  What was consistent: medium-loud rock music and dim lighting.

Say what?

But anyway, I snagged a table towards the front and waited for my friend.  And we both loved the happy hour prices.  Wines are $5, cocktails are $6, and food is $7.  Nothing is over half of what you would usually pay for!  Keep that in mind as you taste and sample, and you'll make an enthusiastic mental note to come to Beecher's again especially since service is quite friendly yet perfunctory.

You're looking at the cheese plate with Beecher's own cheeses paired with raisins, hazelnuts, pecans, and crackers.  Let's start with the special cocktail of the day, white sangria, to the right.

This one confused me.  Sangria is premixed and set aside to infuse the flavors of bright, citrusy fruits and acidic alcohol, but why leave the ice in there especially at a temperature where they've mostly melted into the drink?  The finished product is watery, very acidic, with no fruitiness whatsoever other than an unpleasant candy taste towards the beginning.

I'd like to make the concession that sangria probably isn't the best choice at a place like Beecher's, but I was really hankering for it that day.  Don't make the same mistake!

The cheese plate was, eh, okay.  I - blasphemy! - forgot which these two were, but I do remember that they were Beecher's cheeses made in house.  Creamy, somewhere between hard and soft, and delicate in taste.  The white cheese was not very memorable and the pairing was more raisins 'n cheese than cheese 'n raisins, but it was nice.  The darker cheese had more personality, and was basically a creamy parmesan without the bite (maybe it was parmesan...).  I didn't feel that the nuts went particularly well with it, because both lacked assertiveness.

As for the crackers, they were dry and tasteless but supplied crunch.  A hunk of wholesome rye would've done a world of good for this lackluster cheese plate, not to mention add to the style of American heartiness I believe they are shooting for.  I believe.  I mean, they're known for their mac 'n cheese, right? 

The mac 'n cheese ended the meal on a good note.  Before, everything tasted "okay" and "nice" (perhaps bumped up by the cheap price tag), but the mac 'n cheese was what made The Cellar at Beecher's Handmade Cheese's happy hour specials a steal.  For $7, you get a good portion of childhood indulgence.  Springy penne pasta is immersed in a light cheesiness, all baked together to bring out that delectable toasted-cheese taste.  Could you complain that you need macaroni, damn it, for mac 'n cheese, and it could be cheesier, creamier, and baked awhile longer (as you can see, the sauce is a little runny)?

Sure.  But it's a great bowl of mac 'n cheese at $7.  Simple without sacrificing warm savoriness.

Next time, I'm getting me a glass of wine, scallops and tartar.  And I'm choosing my own cheeses.

Experience...3/5
Solid happy hour specials if you go with a good friend who can supply your ambience for you (thank you, NN :D) since they supply a slightly weird one.  Don't pass up the chance to order outside of their happy hour menu!

The Cellar at Beecher's Handmade Cheese
900 Broadway, on the corner of 20th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212)466-3340

Prune for brunch: a few misses, but always cute

Cute place.  There are perhaps 10 tiny tables barely a foot apart from each other if you don't encounter any large parties - haha, impossible - in a homey, antiquated space that isn't afraid to put complementary pastel colors together with rusticated brick wall.  I've always loved the intimacy of dining close to your partner(s) but given that one of my friends knocked over someone's Bloody Mary as we were getting up, I'd have to say that the tables can do with a few more inches in between.  But who can blame them when the wait for a party of four arriving at 11:00am was still an hour and a half?


As an aside, you wanna hit brunch between 11:00-11:30am in NYC.  That's the little window of opportunity before peak brunch hours hit, with obviously quite a wide margin of error.


Cute people.  Waiters and waitresses had on white aprons, and you'll most likely be sitting next to families, all three generations accounted for, or a group of happy girlfriends.


Cute food.

Those plates look much bigger than they actually are, and portions range from just-right to not-enough.  You're looking at the Dutch Style Pancake, a dense, slightly crumbly cake that should perhaps be more aptly named cornbread.  Honestly, it was cornbread, albeit a smoother and more delicate version.  May I note that the pear slices are more garnish than ingredient - again, cornbread - and the dish lacked a moistness or juiciness that is so necessary in a pancake dish, because breadstuffs as an entrée can get choking dry fast if lacking a pillowy moistness or not topped with some juicy berries or syrups (or surprise me!).  The Canadian bacon - very standard - definitely did not do much to ameliorate the situation.


No, I'm not blind.  In this case, the syrup doesn't penetrate the breadth of the cake.


I really don't mean to be negative about this dish, because I like cornbread and once I wrapped my head around the fact that I was eating comparatively smooth and delicate cornbread made interesting by the cute pear slices, syrup, and Canadian bacon, I enjoyed it.  You're paying $15 for cornbread, but forget that and eat your food. 


Let's move onto the steak and eggs in the back.  This was one of the just-right and pleasantly cute dishes at Prune, with the steak tender and quite juicy, showcased by your good ol' Swiss potatoes rösti, moist scrambled eggs, and a hefty toasted English muffin.  Small items in themselves but together they made a good-portioned entrée with a plethora of tastes and textures.  Definitely recommended!


But this one...not so much.

The Sausages and Oysters featured somewhat bland and slightly dry lamb sausage, a strange proportion between bread and stewed tomatoes, and 3 Malpeques.  No focus to be seen or tasted, and all in all the flavors just don't go very well together what with the Malpeque being a creamier and less briny sort of oyster whose subtlety was easily eclipsed by the loud vibrancy of stewed tomatoes and the distinctiveness of lamb.  Cute platter though, right?


In the back, you're looking at the Monte Cristo.  It's essentially a deep-fried turkey and swiss sandwich with fried eggs on the side.  Yes, I know that many have lauded this one, but I feel that its tastiness is mostly due to the fact that it's deep-fried, and deep-frying always yields a crunchy deliciousness.  In my humble opinion, paying $15 for the taste of deep-fry is steep.


On a more positive note, seeing the number of Bloody Marys coming out of the kitchen meant that they must be pretty good, and both the Spaghetti a la Carbonara and Huevos Rancheros looked hearty.  Stick with the classics, and Prune may yet be your favorite hole-in-the-wall brunch place.  The neverending line's there for a reason, right?


Experience...3.5 outta 5
Don't go to Prune for brunch when you're sick of your eggs, toast, and bacon (a common mistake).  Go to Prune for brunch when you want your eggs, toast, and bacon done differently.


Prune
Chef: Gabrielle Hamilton
54 East 1st Street
New York, NY 10003
Between 1st and 2nd Avenues