Reviewed: 202, New York
202
75 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10011
nr. 16th St.
646-638-1173
Breakfast
Mon-Fri: 8:30am – 11am
Sat-Sun: 10am – 11:30am
Brunch
Mon-Fri: 11pm – 4pm
Sat-Sun: 11:30am – 4:30pm
Dinner
Tue-Sat: 5:30pm – 11pm
Sun: 5:30pm – 9pm
Special Bar Night
Mon: 4pm – 11pm
I did not go to New York City to ogle at art or Statues, to see a Broadway show, or jog through Central Park. I went, without any shadow of a doubt, to eat. That is why, when picked up at LaGuardia at noon on a Saturday, I did not go get settled and unpacked, I went directly to a New York Magazine award winner for best brunch.
202 Cafe is a restaurant that shares its space with a high-end clothing store. No, there’s no cute back story about how the original owner’s wife used to make sandwiches for patrons and the demand became such that it warranted its own space. This intertwining is deliberate yet unique, and just the tiniest bit pretentious. But once you spend a little time people watching in the heart of Chelsea Market, drinking expertly made cocktails, and eating what should be simply classified as good, familiar food, you’ll be signing up to be the mayor of Pompositytown.
We won the Chelsea equivalent of the superlotto nabbing street parking less than 3-blocks from our destination, and took immediate bar seating both for the quick satiation of our rumbling stomachs and the company of a sassy bartender who not only makes freshly muddled wonders but blurs the line between bark and bite. After small talk, a few snappy answers to stupid questions and a few stupid answers to snappy questions, we sipped mimosas and ordered three entrees to be split between the two of us.
From the daily specials we landed on the shrimp risotto. Unfortunately this, my first bite of 2009 New York, fell flat as inconsistently cooked arborio left some tough spots. Coupled with overcooked and brutally smashed shrimp, the dish was only edible because my last meal was 7-hours earlier at a McDonald’s drive-thru. Shut up. You love a sausage biscuit with cheese as much as I do. For a “special,” it certainly screamed “leftover,” or “gotta move this risotto today.”
Pushing that aside, I dug in to the classic salmon bagel with cream cheese, capers, 
and red onion. I lathered the components, stacked high on a bagel, and dug in. Have I had better bagels? Probably. Have I had better smoked salmon? Yes. The cream cheese? Likely just a hunk of Phily. But there was just something about the way the combo came together for me this time. Well executed, simple, and delicious.
Then it happened, a plate of French toast covered by strips of bacon and served with maple syrup was finally pushed in my direction. A strategic cut with the fork, and all the components were captured into a single bite. The soft and moist, almost cake batter-like interior of the toast was just sweet enough when combined with the sugary, caramelized outer crust and maple syrup. Thick cut bacon brought smoky and savory goodness to the party, and was cooked 
perfectly firm, not too crispy. I would hate to be as cliche as to say that this is the best French Toast you can get, but I can tell you that it’s without a doubt the best French toast I’ve ever tasted. Not that I eat French toast with any type of regularity, but it was really, really good. Truth be told, it was also the last entree we ate, so it sat neglected for about 10 minutes before we even got to taste it. It withstood the holding pattern with panache.
I can’t help but wonder if the people that would purchase clothing from Nicole Farhi are put off by high fashion with a hint of smokey bacon in the fibers. Me? I think smoked meat scent should be an option when buying any garment. I would return, and no doubt will return, to 202. They deserve another shot at that risotto, and I’m going to need that French toast again. Despite the early hiccup, 202 was a great start to the weekend, and is a must visit restaurant if you find yourself in Chelsea Market.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 10:54 pm and is filed under Food, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
