restaurant open at carlton and saint marks (Sorrel)

Just walked by and it's open. Was in a hurry, so didn't get to look at the menu. Any one know anything about this place?

Subject: Re: restaurant open at carlton and saint marks

rossmelanie wrote: Just walked by and it's open. Was in a hurry, so didn't get to look at the menu. Any one know anything about this place?

My wife and I tried it Friday night. The place is called Sorrel. The menu is all prix fixe- 3 courses for $25. Mostly inexpensive but fresh seasonal ingredients. My wife got the spaetzle with snails appetizer and a chicken with Israeli couscous main dish. I got the cold mussel soup with saffron appetizer and the roast cod with potato entree. We both had the orange-rosemary pannacotta for dessert. Most of the dishes were undersalted, especially the mashed potatoes (obviously not the desserts). The mussel soup needed more saffron. The skin on the cod could have been crisper. But overall, very good for $25. They definitely have potential, and I plan to give them another try when the kitchen has had longer to iron things out. The snails/spaetzle dish was the best thing we tried. The pannacotta was richer than I usually expect from that dish, but that wasn't a bad thing- very tasty actually.

JeffM just e-mailed this to me:

"FYI - had a great meal at the new restaurant that occupies the former Peralta's space. They have a market menu that changes every day and it is $25 for a three course meal. Apparently - the chef used to work at Jean Georges, Vong and Wallse. Very highly recommended."

...and here's a look at the new facade:

haven't been yet but it sounds like interesting fare. but do they turn the lights down a bit for service. i've been by late evening, i guess at the end of the night and it was so bright...

Subject: Sorrel

Had a great meal there the other night! Good start for a promising restaurant.
I would def recommend it.

Subject: Sorrell Very Good Indeed

I stopped by the other evening and had dinner with a few friends. The atmosphere was great and the food was infused with flavor! Its my new favorite spot!

Believe it or not, those two previous posters do have different IP addresses! I guess it is good...

hmm... I don't know. Looks suspicious.

I ate there the other night and had a good experience. I had smoked trout which was, as Carnivore noted, a bit under-salted (and there was no salt or pepper on the table, WTF?). Then I had chicken with a sauce and I don't remember what the sauce was supposed to be about, but the meat was moist and tasty. The Pannacotta was very good. My husband had a tomato and goat cheese appetizer that he really liked and fish that I don't remember and also the pannacotta.

I'll try it again for sure. I'm having trouble objectively reviewing it because the menu reminds me of a place in Red Hook that was fabulous until its chef got deported. So I'm really measuring Sorrell against that, which is not fair.

Granted, I live around the corner, so it's almost the easiest restaurant in the nabe for me to get to

This is Ellis G, the Cobble Hill chalk artist known for copyrighting his sidewalk creations. He told me that his work has been written up recently in the Daily News and Time Out. Here he is taking a break from his waiter job at Sorrel.

Sorrel was also written up in this week's NY Magazine. The one w/Clinton on the cover.....

dailyheights wrote: This is Ellis G, the Cobble Hill chalk artist known for copyrighting his sidewalk creations. He told me that his work has been written up recently in the Daily News and Time Out. Here he is taking a break from his waiter job at Sorrel.

I haven't seen any of his stuff around. Is it all text, or drawings as well?
Sort of Brooklyn's answer to De La Vega, right? 8)

I really like that his work is water soluble.

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/pages/details/11330.htm

Restaurant Sorrel
605 Carlton Ave. (Park Slope/Prospect Hts)
at St. Marks Pl.
718-622-1190

American

Price Range: Moderate

Compared with remote Red Hook, where chef Alexandre Tchistov used to cook, Prospect Heights is the cradle of civilization. It�s also the home of his restaurant, a breezy glass-walled corner spot serving a $20-to-$25 prix fixe �market menu� that changes daily. Tchistov describes his style as American home cooking, a catchall phrase for dishes as diverse (and occasionally winter-hearty) as snails with spaetzle and scallion coulis, chicken with corn and shiitakes in pink-peppercorn sauce, and cantaloupe soup. In the spirit of his former employer, 360, Tchistov tries to buy his meat and produce from small local purveyors and stocks his cellar with affordable French bottles. Another similarity: It�s cash-only.

He seems to be much more prominent along Smith St, although I have seen his drawings along 5th Avenue a few times.

There was also a little blurb about the place in the food section of TimeOut NY this week.

Sorrel got a brief mention in the "Off The Menu" part of the Dining Out section of the Times yesterday.

We're trying Sorrel tonight, will report tommorrow.

I ate at Sorrel last night, but only because Beast was too busy to accommodate us without a reservation. It was pleasant, and the food was decent, but overall I would rate the experience as average. Although I liked the decor, once the place fills up it gets very noisy - I hate when I have to strain to hear someone sitting directly across the dinner table from me. Our appetizers were really fantastic - I recommend the beet and goat cheese salad which is presented and combined prefectly (contrasted with the fennel, beet and goat cheese salad at Amorina which feels "thrown together"). I had spare ribs, but they didnt' have any wet naps, which seems like a big oversight when you're serving spare ribs. Our entrees were average. Good chocolate mousse though and a small but good wine list.

So sje, what did you think?

Got postponed, sorry! Will report when I actually make it there! :roll:

I had dinner there last night. While everything tasted pretty good and was presented well, it was all for the most part unremarkable but not unsatisfying.

However, it's not on the price fixe, but the hangar steak is pretty damn good. It's only thing out of all I ate that would have me coming back.

Yeah, no salt and pepper, WTF is right. They're bread is really cheap stuff too.

I kept on forgetting where I was while there. Sitting in that place with big open windows is really quite nice and I found myself having to remind myself several times, "Wait, I'm in the fucking hood...right." That above all, I liked the best.

Funny note, the restaurant is listed incorrectly in citysearch. Check the map and see where I walked all the way into the serious fucking hood trying to find this place.

link to retarded citysearch map
I'm walking by all these busted out buildings and sketchy ass warzone shit thinking, "Who the hell would put a restaurant here?!?!"

that is busted (citysearch map)
so funny.

Had dinner at Sorrel with the hubby tonight. Thought the food was fresh, perfectly seasoned, tasty, and worth the great price. The lighting and music were low, good service, lovely atmosphere. Hope it continues to do well, because it is such a great addition to this nabe.
The menu changes daily, so a lot of things mentioned on this board weren't on the menu.

I went there last week and loved it. Had the hanger steak (which already got a thumbs up on the board). My only complaint was the cheese plate we had for dessert -- it was right out of cheese 101. Nothing interesting, nothing exotic: an aged cheddar, gruyere, some sort of blue, and st andre.

The "cash only" thing is kind of annoying.