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Initially we wanted to tell you about this new restaurant, Loring Place. Chef Dan Kluger offers an inventive veggie-centric cuisine with premium quality products and a light-hearted spirit. The only downside: it took us over a month to get a reservation at a decent time (i.e. not 5 or 10.30pm). Because of recent press coverage, because Obama just dined there or whatever, Loring Place is one of those (too many) NYC restaurants which has fallen victim to its own success and where it is impossible to get a table.
We decided to boycott Loring Place; instead, this week we’ll be writing about a restaurant which is just as good but out of the spotlight where you can actually have dinner on a Saturday night without getting into a logistical headache. Welcome to Tuome! This discreet East Village restaurant is one of our all-time favorites where we love to take refuge. Subdued atmosphere and service attentive to your every need. American cuisine with an Asian twist and lots of love.
If you’re not familiar with the chef Thomas Chen, he cut his teeth at Eleven Madison Park, the three-star Michelin restaurant, the crème de la crème. His cuisine is sophisticated but unpretentious. The menu is fortunately brief allowing the small kitchen to concentrate on perfect execution. The must-try is their “Pig Out” dish: 10 nibbles of grilled pork to share on a slate-grey plate. Individual portions of chili and ginger sauce to season as you please. It is playful and highly addictive.
Ideal for a date or with friends, Tuome is your joker card for all of your upcoming improvised dinner parties. Trust us, you’ll thank us the next time you’re organizing a dinner last-minute in the city for 8.
Tuome
536 E 5th St, EastVillage
646-833-7811
And if you’re a planner (because it’s still very good):
Loring Place
21 W 8th St, GreenwichVillage
212-388-1831