You can say that they’re moving on up. The team from Contra and Wildair are back with another venture, but this one is further Uptown. Tusk Bar and the adjacent Brass restaurant are located in The Evelyn Hotel in the Flatiron area. This is a first look review on whether to put Brass on your restaurant rotation.

Atmosphere

Location, location, location. Brass restaurant and its sister bar, Tusk Bar, took over the space that was formerly the Jonathan Benno restaurant in The Evelyn Hotel. The hotel itself has that dark, gothic-like feel that in a location and price point like The Bowery Hotel, draws a cool clientele and crowd. However, at The Evelyn, my vibe was dampened right away as I walk through the lobby past the not-so-chic hotel guests. Not the nicest remark, but the fact is that Tusk Bar and Brass would have been better served if they had their own entrance.

First Impressions

The setup is railroad-style; after the lobby you walk through Tusk to get to the Brass restaurant area, which are two totally separate spaces. Once you get to Tusk Bar, the setting itself is nicer.  The after-work crowd though, surprisingly, wasn’t interesting or attractive people-watching. The following that Wildair and Contra have downtown didn’t seem to migrate to the Flatiron for the new venture.

From there, you are guided to Brass by walking through an unfinished awkward dark concrete area. Sometimes that means you’re entering a cool spot, like walking through the kitchen of a spot like La Esquina, circa early aughts. In this case, it didn’t feel like an intentional design, but rather something overlooked, or a fire code limitation. Coupled with walking through the lobby of The Evelyn, it didn’t set me up with a good first impression. If they can, my suggestion is that they carpet, put up rich, heavy drapes to match the rest of the decor and properly transition the vibe from Tusk to Brass. First impressions are everything, and I wondered what I was getting my friends into as I met them at our table.

A Golden Age Supper Club

Upon arriving at Brass, there’s no question that the space is beautifully done. The atmosphere speaks supper club vibes fluently, with an elegant dining room, white tableclothed settings and a grand piano. I liked the color palette of how they made rich red booths work with a light green, which are brought together by Miro-inspired paintings on the walls. The space is nicely lit by the large skylight, and it’s the kind of place you go to enjoy your dinner companions.

The other component of atmosphere to highlight is that Brass is still trying to find its crowd identity. While the people-watching was much better than the Evelyn guests, it’s not yet a chic crowd. But that wouldn’t stop me from returning if I was in the area, or if I needed a last-minute reservation for a larger group. I think it’s worth it to try out the scene one more time before I write it off.

Food + Beverage

We did a review of Wildair, which is a restaurant I really wanted to love. The nutshell is that I found it disappointing for all the hype. Some of the dishes, in my opinion, weren’t edible. In the case of Brass, I’m more neutral, as I think the jury is still out. I love the concept of their French menu — it’s nice when a restaurant brings back the art of the canapé. The hors d’oeuvres menu is my kind of finger food, in concept. The girlfriends and I ordered the crab tartlets, and moules frites, which is actually a few mindfully dressed mussels on a chickpea panisse. They were darn pretty, but I wasn’t wowed by either canapé.

We weren’t sure how hungry we were, which means we wanted to see if the next course would engage us enough to continue on. We started with the scallop gremolata, green leaf salad with apple, and three orders of the truffle gnocchi. All of it was lovely, but nothing at that point kept my attention. Maybe there were gems on the entrées, but we decided to call it a night from there. I wouldn’t be opposed to giving the food another try at Brass, but the food didn’t engage me the first time around. As a typical New Yorker, it’s hard to give a restaurant a second chance without more of a glimmer of hope. With that said, I do love the concept of the menu, so maybe I’ll return.

Service

The service at Brass was one of the most compelling of all its virtues. Unlike the casual T-shirt servers at their Lower East Side venues, they’ve stepped up the polish of the team at Brass. We were a particularly frustrating table of girls, the evening we dropped in. We were more interested in catching up than in the food, and the servers could not have been more patient and accommodating. I also like that they could describe all the dishes with fluency. They clearly believe in what they’re creating in the kitchen.

Overall: 7.3/10

Other Reviews You’ll Like

Clemente Bar 
The Otter NYC 
Sendo NYC 

FAQs

Q: Where are Tusk Bar and its sister Brass restaurant located?

A: Tusk Bar and its sister Brass restaurant are located at 7 E 27th St, New York, NY 10016 in The Evelyn Hotel. 

Q: What are the hours of operation at Tusk Bar and is sister Brass restaurant?

A: The hours of operation Tusk Bar and is sister Brass restaurant are as follows:

Q: What kind of food does Brass restaurant serve?

A: Brass restaurant in NYC serves French-inspired cuisine.