Tartines are French open-faced sandwiches slathered in a rich or fancy spread. Tartinery Nolita’s authentic tartines sit atop French Poilâne rustic sourdough, which the restaurant has flown in directly from Paris once a week; or a toasted organic multi-grain bread from the Bread Alone bakery in upstate New York.
To drink, we chose a Reisling from Nothern Michigan—a region not known for its Teurtonic wines—that was extremely smooth. It turned out to be the perfect complement to our dinner.
My companion and I chose four tartines to taste, but while we were waiting for our main course, we started with mushroom and chestnut soup and butternut squash soup with nutmeg. Both were bowl-lickers that we wiped clean with the accompanying whole grain bread.
The tartines arrived two by two: our first adventure was not really a stretch: a traditional crotin with goat cheese, frisee, fresh thyme, honey, pine nuts and olive oil. Next up was the labne, a Middle Eastern creation with thick yogurt, thinly sliced cucumbers and olive oil. Cukes are not my favorite, but labne is, so I took a chance—and it was a winner. These two simple tartines were great to start.
Our final two tartines were the poulet roti, roasted farm chicken with herbed mayo, shaved fennel and, of course, olive oil. A welcome warm and hearty offering, the chicken was a savory delight. Our final tartine turned out to be my favorite: shaved raw tuna with wasabi mayo, shaved fennel, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil. The various flavors worked together nicely and the kick from the wasabi and scallions was muted a bit by the lemon and oil. A perfect combination.
We saw all sorts of other dishes being served to other patrons and decided we needed to try the ravioli. Definitely a crowd-pleaser, the ravoiles de royan were smothered with baked traditional French cheese and covered with cream, butter and a bit of truffle oil. A rich, perfect-for-sharing dish, this full-bodied dairy treat was divine.
For desert we swallowed a Columbe espresso and a freshly baked fondant au chocolat accompanied with vanilla ice cream. That gooey goodness was followed by a tarte tatin, the tradition French apple tartlet served a la mode.
From start to finish, Tartinery was beyond a pleasurable experience—from the design of the space to the fancy eats and great wine.
Tartinery, 209 Mulberry St, 212-300-5838, tartinery.com