Restaurant August on Bleeker

Being in the city in August is such a different experience. There are less people on the streets. It is wonderful. The restaurants are not so crowded, you can walk in anywhere. Also, there is a different hum happening as u walk around. I forgot how great it is to be here during the summer except for the days when u can fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Last night, we strolled over to August to have dinner. It was highly recommended to me by David, who owns the store next door which is now called Paper Dolls. He is wonderful. I highly recommend going in and checking out what he has. I believe the concept is kids clothes mixed in with adult clothes. He has gone through 3 transistions which is probably the key to his success.

Anyway, the restaurant has more of a winter vibe than a summer vibe. Warm, big fire burning oven and a very rustic feel. The food is of European/Spanish descent. There is a backyard which is always a bonus in NYC but we chose to sit inside last night.

We were not that hungry so split a variety of appetizers which was perfect. We had one of the specials which was a heirloom tomatoes cut into chunks with a pesto over it. The pesto was laden in garlic. Not that interesting of a presentation either. We also had the arugula, fennel salad with ricotta salata. It was good but not great. There was something missing in the dressing which could have given the salad more of a kick. The salad was more like a refreshing inbetween courses to cleanse your palette. The waiter recommended we try the onion, bacon tart which is a big hit there. It was good but a bit too salty. I liked how they presented it on a small wooden cutting board. We also had the grilled octopus which was served with pickled, grilled red onions that had a fantastic kick and chick peas with small tomatoes cut up. This was good and the octopus was cooked perfect. We had the charcuterie plate which was small, well presented. 3 cornichons, some proscuittos, 3 pieces of rolled salami and a 10 small slices of a sopressa sauage with some mustard. It was all ok. I am not sure I’d return but I bet in the winter, the food would be more up my alley in terms of where my food cravings are.

We’ll see how I am feeling about this cute neighborhood restaurant in February.