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Cafe Lebowitz

14 Spring Street at Elizabeth

If it seems I have been concentrating quite intently on a single neighborhood as of late, then I sincerely apologize. While I realize that a shared mission of the authors herewith is to provide the reader with a nice sampling of New York restaurants, I hope I may be forgiven for eating my neighborhood first. So yeah, the same guy that mocks the obtusely fashionable environs of "Nolita" also happens to live in a crappy tenement with viciously sloping floors in the selfsame hood.

The most recent foray was to cute, charming little Cafe Lebowitz, a moderately priced bistro on a particularly well shaded block on Spring Street, not that shade counts for much this time of year. The room is casual, and may actually incite a Paris flashback or two, with butcher block tables and a scattering of Russian constructivist prints on the walls. The menu matches the room neatly as well, a fairly standard sampler of bistro classics such as steak tartare, a seasonal fresh fish, and so on, ad infinitum. The steak frites, perhaps the epitome of the genre, bear a well seasoned strip steak, a bit fatty around the edges, perfectly juicy and tender with a trite little salad and a steel cone of crisp, salty fries that recall those of Union Square's Coffee Shop, just with a bit more girth. My companion ate what I think may have been an appetizer, but looked fine just the same. The dish? Sliced buffalo mozarella with fresh basil and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Provided that the ingredients were of a high quality--and if the steak was good, i'm willing to bet the cheese was ok too--the can't miss simplicity of such a classic combination is a safe bet for sharing pre-entree or eating as meal.

The wine list is heavily francophiliac, and perhaps a bit pricier than desirable, but the range is impressive and seems well selected. The cotes du rhone, available by the glass, worked very well with the steak and was much less raw than many comparable cotes in this heavily hyped though typically dependable varietal. A weeknight or a Sunday is the best time to go, the room full more with locals than fashionista weekenders, and the wait and service brisk. (interruption for a phone call...)

So yeah, I forgot where I was going with this thing, so I guess I'll wrap: Lebowitz is a good, comfortable place for a pretty decent meal. Standard bistro fare, done with a confident, competent hand. Not much else to say really. Nope. Out of words here. Could keep prattling on, but the thought train has since derailed. Sorry, I'll try not to do that again.