Dinner Out

While I love to cook, there is so much variety to be found in New York City that to limit myself to what I know and can invent seems absurd, if slightly more frugal. So I've been venturing out into the exciting culinary worlds of the city and come up with some new favorites. Tonight I found another.

I met a friend at a tiny place called Westville just off Christopher street. It was frigid outside, and despite the best efforts of a door and a nifty if unnavigable double curtain system it remained drafty throughout the meal, even at the back where I was sitting, practically beneath the coat rack. But the food made this almost easy to overlook. The specials menu is extensive and very appetising - the regular menu seemed almost unnecessary beside all its offerings. And to go with any dish is a great selection of fresh seasonal vegetables. I was in a fish mood, and there were several scrumptious-sounding dishes to choose from. With help from the perky, helpful waitress, I settled on the pan-fried flounder. As she promised, it made me happy. It was served on a bed of asparagus, which were quite excellent with the charred, rounded flavor of a fire grill. Crispy slivers of fried onions sat atop the fish, and beside it were soft slices of red potato which had been par cooked then sauteed in a tad too much olive oil with some salt and pepper. The fish itself was good, but the balsamic reduction sauce it was dressed with distracted too much from the freshness and delicate flavor I found in plainer bites. This freshness should have been surprising, since I realized after the meal that I had ordered fish on a Tuesday night - usually a big no-no in most restaurants. But Westville, it is clear, is not most restaurants. My friend enjoyed his steak over greens, but through comments on his outings to Les Halles I could tell he had had better quite recently, although certainly not for as reasonable a price as what we were charged. His steak was $16, my flounder $15.

Despite any minor misgivings on the sauce I wolfed my meal down to find for the first time in a while that I really wanted some dessert. Once again, the ample menu came through with homemade Oreo cookies. These were truly good, and halfway through my very large cookie I began to feel a serious sugar high. I could have shared one, but hey, for $3 I'll have my own, guilt-free, thank you. All in all, a very positive experience and one I hope to repeat when it isn't quite so biting outside.

Westville is at 210 West 1oth Street between Bleecker and West 4th St. They also just opened a new branch on the Lower East Side. Tel: 212-741-7971/4780. Walk-ins only, open 11:30am Mon-Fri, 10am Weekends and Holidays.