Doubt and Bistro du Vent
Went to see Doubt last night at the MTC. My favorite type of play. One and a half hours and no intermission.
The play is set in the Bronx, 1964 at a Catholic School. The content is certainly of the times. The head nun, who runs the school, suspects the Priest of taking liberties with one of the boys at the school. She doesn’t know for sure but she suspects, and the story unfolds.
Cherry Jones as the head nun is absolutely incredible. She stole the show. The have actually extended the run of this show due to the success. If you get a chance to see it, go. It is worth seeing her fine performance.
Afterwards we jumped into a cab and went over to the new restaurant on 42nd street called Bistro du Vent. It is co-owned with David Pasternack (Esca), Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali.
The decor is in line with the Theater District. Very rich, woody and red. I liked it. We weren’t starving so we split a few things. We started with 2 appetizers. One was 3 large grilled shrimp with a chickpea vinaigrette which was very good. It was served with a small round chick pea concoction which I could have done without and just taken another shrimp. We also split the pork sausages which were 3 sliced pieces served over a bed of lentils with pistachios. Along side was served mustards and pickled veggies. I really liked this dish. I could have had 3 big pieces of pork sausage over this with the additions for dinner.
Main course, we split the classic steak frites. The steak was cooked right and a rosemary anchovy oil was spread on top. I didn’t really care for that or the way it looked. It would have been better spread over the bottom of the plate or in a small dish for dipping on the side. The frites were good, nice and crispy. We also ordered for the side a fennel gratin which I liked. There are a variety of sides that you can order.
We had a really good red wine too. All and all, I’d absolutely go back. There is a bar you can sit at if you can’t get in. It wasn’t that busy last night but I would bet that will change soon. The location is a bit far, 42nd between 9/10th but it certainly hasn’t hindered the success of Esca on 43rd literally on the other side of the bistro. The area is continuing to grow and change. Also, there are so few good restaurants in the theater district, lots of restaurants but not such good food.
I, for one, am thrilled to see another option in the theater district.