February 28, 2008
For Ying’s farewell meal, she tasked me with the job of restaurant selection. Her criteria were simple enough. Non-asian food at fair prices and enough vegetarian selections that Jeff our non-meat eating friend wouldn’t feel left out. In the end, we elected to have dinner at The Smith, a somewhat new restaurant smack in the heart of NYU-land on 10th St and 3rd Ave. You really have to give kudos to the proprietors for catering to the needs of its target demography, people still in or recently out of school such as us, looking for dependable, inexpensive food in a restaurant with a fun, hip vibe. The interior, while not totally rid of its chain restaurant past is cool looking at dinner time, with flickering candle light illuminating pictures of Victorian nudes on the walls and a very old-school tiled floor reminiscent of 51 Wilkinson. The large space is catered more for boisterous group gathering than romantic tete-a-tetes, the high ceilings help diffuse some of the loud chattering that in a smaller room would have been cacophonous. Communal bathrooms and a photo-booth in the basement no doubt score more novelty points for the youthful crowd.
Also alluring is the gently priced menu (appetizers under $10, very few entrees over $20) that draws on multiple sources/ geographies for inspiration. A little xenophilic even. In the same menu, you find Korean bibimbap (there goes the no asian food assertion); Alsatian flatbread; grilled chicken sausages straight from the Feast of San Genarro Festival in little Italy and very succulent Belgian mussels served with a mountain of hot, crispy fries. Also, breakfast is served at dinner time with a bacon and egg dish, which while pretty was a little overwhelmed by the overly tart onion relish. Other familiar dishes such as a bubbly skillet of mac and cheese (its tastiness overhyped imo, but the addition of capers does give the dish an added tart zing), tuna tartare and steak salad round out the menu. 
Between the 8 of us present last weekend, we did pretty well, and although I didn’t try most of the entrees, everybody looked reasonably happy with their dishes, especially the girls with their buckets of plump mussels that were fresh tasting and succulent. I didn’t fare badly either, with a spicy pork sandwich stuffed full with juicy sliced pork, peppery watercress and pickled cauliflower that tasted somewhat like kimchi, with a strong spicy kick. And the sandwich was humongous, easily enough for lunch the next day, all for $12.
Dessert offerings were unfortunately somewhat weak, consisting entirely of ice-cream sundaes, and not very interesting combinations to boot. With the wide-ranging menu, I was almost expecting bubble tea and blintzes to show up. Regardless, we shared a hot fudge and a strawberry sundae before calling it a night, and they were comforting in their own right, just like the rest of the restaurant.
The Smith
55 3rd Ave (Bet 10th & 11th Sts)
