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Crevette

Christine Drinan, Founder

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2 days ago

Is the third time a charm? Dame, a restaurant with the best fish and chips and still a hard-to-get resy, and its sister restaurant, Lord’s, have a new sibling. Crevette NYC has opened in the West Village; this is a first look review.

Atmosphere

Finally, Dame and Lord’s have a restaurant and location that reflect their success and station in life. Crevette NYC is at 10 Downing, a location that has had many a scene-y restaurant, including the most recent Holiday Bar. The one torch that Crevette is carrying from the previous tenant is the vibe. The space is beautifully decorated with cheerful art and a warm hue to the lighting. There’s an elevated feel to the room, with white tablecloths and candlelit tables.

The previous crowd of Holiday Bar trended a tad younger and was more focused on the pick-up scene. In its place, is now a more foodie crowd and fans of Dame, ready to eat and catch up with friends. However you describe it, Crevette has their scene down. This is where you want to be on a weekend or for a nice dinner during the week.

Food + Beverage

I wanted to love Crevette NYC the moment I saw Dame was opening a sister restaurant. There are few dishes that I crave, and Dame’s fish and chips always hits the spot. I was also 99% certain that I would love Crevette the moment that I perused the menu. Crevette serves my kind of food, which is international seafood cuisine that takes inspiration from all around the world. Their menu has more than double the selections at Dame, including a dedicated raw bar and crudo area. As far as I was concerned, it was game on to order as many dishes as I could possibly try.

I only set this up to establish that I was cheering for Crevette to be my favorite new restaurant. It isn’t; mediocre dish after dish came out. The fish either didn’t taste fresh in the case of the sashimi, or the sauce didn’t work. (Sorry, mussels in Salsa Brava). I read that the shrimp fritters were a reincarnation of the famed Dame fish and chips. Instead, what I found was a greasy, indecipherable mess. I love tortilla Espagnol and peekytoe crab, but the Crevette version was sadly bland.

For our main, we went with the paella-inspired seafood rice with razor clams and lobster. It looked beautiful — each piece of clam and lobster seemed to be intentionally placed. However, there was not only flavor missing, but also the soul of food you expect from Spain and France. I hope that this was just new restaurant jitters (Dame, after all, is a personal favorite). I just don’t know, though, if I would give Crevette another chance on the food.

Service

The servers were all nice, but there was a slight lack of polish and dotting the i’s on my visit. The food came out well-timed, but no one ever checked to see if we liked our meal. It happened over several courses, so wasn’t just a one-off. But like I said, everyone was pleasant enough.