What happens when a restaurant is backed by a few guys with a Southern Charm, a former Bachelorette contestant, and a New York Ranger? Well, it sounds like mischief in the works, but instead, there’s actually promise in this project. Carriage House NYC is a restaurant in the West Village that may have a few TV names behind it but don’t expect them to helm the kitchen. That job goes to Chef Andino from Flip Sigi and Philip Testa of Tao. This is the review of Carriage House.

Overview

Carriage House NYC is in the former Louro space in the West Village. Dale Moss of the Bachelorette, Austen Kroll and Craig Conover from Southern Charm, and New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba are a few of the names who backed the restaurant. So you may think that this is a club, but actually, it’s quite the opposite. Carriage House NYC is a neighborhood restaurant that serves elevated American food. In fact, it’s the food and whole dining experience, that are the focus of this venture. So how did they do? We break it down into the atmosphere, food, and service.

Atmosphere

Carriage House NYC designed its space to invite the outside in. The large windows in the front give a full view of the sleek and elegant bar area. When I was there waiting for my Uber after dinner, there were quite a few locals from the neighborhood who peeked into the windows. The decor sets quite the mood, that it’s the kind of place you walk by and make a note to come back.

That’s in a nutshell, the atmosphere of Carriage House NYC. It’s a place that invites you to become a regular. The crowd ranges from couples on dates to groups of friends. The common thread is that people are enjoying themselves, in a familiar atmosphere. There’s no pretense, and they have genuine care to ensure that each table is having a good time. No pretense though, doesn’t mean that they lack in ambience. In fact, the decor is a highlight and combines a sleek and modern sensibility with the bones of the original brick of the building. However, the modern design doesn’t veer into cold and stark, but rather a warm cozy feeling to the space.

Food

Carriage House NYC has one of the top buzzed-about chefs in the foodie world. Chef Jordan Andino of Flip Sigi fame ventures into finer dining with this new restaurant. The theme is New American, where it’s food that would be served at a friend’s elegant dinner party if said friend had legitimate skills in the kitchen.  For example, they take fancy-ish canapés like a multi-layered Potato Pave and top it with renditions themed around salmon, scallops, and beef.

Before you even order, they bring out their unique butter candle. This contraption is an herbed butter that’s shaped into a votive-like candle and lit so that the butter melts for their homemade bread. Overall this is the theme of the presentation, and by that I mean how food is actually served to you, is especially thoughtful in your experience at Carriage House NYC.

The Medium Plates

After bites, the menu is further split apart into medium and large dishes. Carriage House NYC is thoughtful about the combinations and presentation. The shaved Brussels sprouts salad, for example, has blood orange, peanuts, and just a touch of feta. It’s elegantly mixed for your table side. The uni butter tagliatelle takes it to the next level, with the option to add on fresh black truffles from Croatia that were just flown in. Actually, they’ll shave those black truffles on anything, if you ask nicely.

The hake is a breadcrumb-crusted light fish, that is served with steamed bok choy that’s been shaved thin to resemble noodles. My suggestion for this dish, which was perfectly nice, would be to add a little more spice to it or herbs to boost the flavor. The portions of all of these dishes are also anything but medium. Three to four people can easily split these dishes as part of a 3 dish share from the medium menu.

The Large Plates

On the mains/large plates, the star of the show is the Peri Peri Chicken, that’s served with steamed rice and vegetables. The dish is huge for lack of a better way to describe it. It’s not standard roast chicken fare either but rather reminded me more of chicken adobo. Once again, as part of a two-dish order off the large plates, the Peri Peri chicken is a good share for 4 people. Overall the food at Carriage House NYC is probably not going to get a Michelin star, but it’s food that you could have any night of the week.

Service

The kitchen is open, so those with tables in the back get a prime view. With this vantage point, you can see that the kitchen staff knows what they’re doing. They are focused, relaxed, and friendly, to anyone who takes a peek. I would even go as far as to say joyful, as they’re clearly happy to be there. The manager runs around checking on food and makes everyone feel that extra special welcome. The servers may not be the most experienced staff, but they are genuinely nice and your meal will run like clockwork.

Overall: 7.5/10

The experience as a whole though, of food, service, and atmosphere, make Carriage House NYC a place you would make your neighborhood restaurant. I would go back again without too much arm twisting. This is a quintessential neighborhood spot where I am personally rooting for them to make it.

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FAQs

Q: Where is Carriage House NYC located?

A: Carriage House NYC is located at 142 W 10th Street, in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.

Q: What kind of food does Carriage House NYC serve?

A:  Carriage House NYC serves Modern American Cuisine.

Q: What are the business hours of Carriage House NYC?

A: The hours of operation of Carriage House NYC are as follows: