WestView

South of the Border and From East to West!

December 2009

By David A. Porat

Yerba Buena, a stylish and sexy restaurant with imaginative Pan-Latin fare that I have fond memories of from deep in the East Village has now traveled west to One Perry Street. It is more than a nice addition to the neighborhood, it is a destination restaurant hidden somewhat behind a quiet low profile corner at Greenwich Avenue with not many signs of life nor signage outside. Once inside, the restaurant embraces you with warm service and a clubby space that has you somewhere between Havana and Buenos Aires. 
Food that has traveled from Peru, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, with a bit of Mexico and Spain thrown in, is well crafted with a contemporary edge. The menu, partly original to the West Village location is the work of Julian Medina, chef/partner, and is well composed with smaller and larger plates, and many tempting options. I enjoy going to a restaurant and being excited by foods that are new and challenge my taste buds, Yerba Buena succeeds well at this. Yerba Buena is very much of a bar as well with one of the more extensive and exciting cocktail menus around. More of a food person than a drinker, I did enjoy their take on a Mojito which was made with macchu pisco, a South American spirit distilled from grape must, along with bitters, lime and yerba buena (a variation on mint), and presented with a single large ice cube, allowing your drink to preserve both its temperature and potency. I want to mention that service throughout was gracious, and our server took pride and had passion in carefully reciting the menu, based on a bit of a reading-light challenge.

Arepa, or small sandwiches filled with coffee roasted pork belly with a bit cabbage slaw, won us over easily and compete well against the “slider” trend in restaurants. Watermelon “French Fries” were daring and did work better than could be imagined. Served with a spicy house-made ketchup, they were well-breaded fried sticks of melon that had good play on texture and sweet and spicy flavors. Somewhat less successful were the fish tacos filled with hamachi ceviche and pineapple salsa, the flavors did not harmonize as well as I had hoped from the description on the menu.

I am a sucker for Lechon or suckling pig, and Julian Medina’s rendition measured well against many others in town. Roasted and pulled, very tender and deep flavored meat sat on a bed of yucca puree, flavored with habanero mogo de ajo along with some chicharron or pork crackling. The portion was artfully presented and does not overwhelm. Black cod on a base of chocolo corn was a bit pale against the pork but also well composed and enjoyed. We were accommodated nicely with a side order of Chorizo (not on the menu) and enjoyed the Peruvian corn.

Dessert was a dulce de leche crepe with spiced pumpkin seeds, pistachio ice cream, with a side garnish of raspberry sauce. All the elements were very good; I might say that any one component could have been left off to make the dessert more eloquent - yet theLatin flair of Yerba Buena is not about understatement!

Yerba Buena 1 Perry St. (Greenwich Ave.)
212 620-0808

David A. Porat is the owner of Chelsea Market Baskets, importer and purveyor of Specialty Foods and Gifts. 212 727-1111 www.ChelseaMarketBaskets.com/blog/

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