Restaurant Review: Estela small plate menu, small venue! 44th Best in world!

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I was such an eager beaver to get to Estela, the 44th Best on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list, that I arrived an hour earlier, having been intimidated by the booking confirmation which warned that one should be punctual for one’s reservation. Had I not trusted the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list I might not have entered the restaurant, based on its exterior, located upstairs in a non-descript tacky-looking building.

Most people I spoke to about my New York restaurant list for the week had not heard of Estela before. Last year it made 90th rank and jumped into the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list in June this year, to the surprise of many. The Restaurant Awards list is criticized by some, it being merely a list of restaurant evaluators’ submissions of seven favorite restaurants, ranked, locally and internationally. It felt like a disappointment, when compared to third Best Eleven Madison Park, where I had lunched on Sunday. There is no large volume space, in fact it is a thin narrow room, most of it dominated by a marble-topped bar, with some tables at the backend of a very dark room, with minimal and minimalist decor, with mirrors on the walls, and the glass bar dominating the room. Lamps are cheap. One set of glass windows spanning the restaurant width opens to the street, and has plants, which were watered as I was dutifully waiting downstairs, and I received an anointment of water, but I did receive an apology for it afterwards, a fun introduction to Estela!

I was allowed in fifteen minutes earlier, and sat at the bar counter while the restaurant team met at the back of the room, receiving a briefing about the evening menu. I received a copy of it too already, even though they had not opened the doors. I sat close to a nook with two tables, and as it was closest to the (only) window, I asked if I could sit at that table, which wish was granted.

I was told that co-owners Thomas Carter and Ignacio Mattos were not in, being at their newly opened sister restaurant Café Altro Paradiso. Estela was named after Café Estela, which operated in the space before Estela took over three years ago.

While I was waiting at the bar counter the second guest arrived, wine distributor Looper, and we started chatting, mainly about my dinner at Eleven Madison Park on Sunday. He could not believe that so many things had gone wrong there, and that someone from Cape Town should have been the one to pick up the unexpected weaknesses. He eats at restaurants all the time, he told me, and Estela was so heavily booked that he had booked a seat at the bar counter.

My table had a zinc top, with a blue hue, and was perfect in size for me, but would have been too small for two. The table next to me had a copper top, and was more spacious, both diners sitting on a wooden banquette facing the bar. The table had a white side plate, white serviette with blue stripes, cutlery by Oneida Baguette, a tiny candle, and a water glass. All of a sudden the restaurant had filled up, the music volume turned up, and one could sense that the popularity in the restaurant may be about its cool vibe, and possibly less about the food, some of the bar sitters only coming for a drink. Maitre’d Robert Banat looked a little intimidating initially, but the ice was broken when I told him that I was from Cape Town!

The menu is printed on a cream A4 page, minimalistically listing dish names and prices. It was a surprise that there was no Tasting Menu, and that one can order off this a la carte menu. A young lady dressed in red wearing a white apron presented herself as the server, and brought a bottle of water. As many of the dishes contained ingredients I did not know, I became increasingly perturbed when she did not know the answers to most of my questions, and I could not help feel that she was completely out of her depth. When I asked her, she told me it was only her second day at work! For this stature of restaurant it was not good enough, and I asked her if she could call the manager. I could not help but think that the waitress had stepped out of a typical American diner, blond and beautiful, but not having much of a clue!

Manager Emma was extremely friendly, and patiently talked me through each of the dishes. I talked about the photographability of the dishes, and I was assured that they were all! However, this did not reflect reality, as Estela has a most unusual plating policy, hiding its key ingredients in many instances under a mountain of leaves, sweet potato ones being particularly liked. This was one of the main reasons why this restaurant did not live up to my high expectations. Emma went to place my first two dish orders, the first one being Burrata with salsa verde and charred bread ($18), which fellow foodie traveler Michael Mackenzie had recommended I order. I love mozzarella, but I have not eaten something so soft, chewy, and tender as this Burrata. While the small plate dishes look small, it was a slow and delicious enjoyment.

At this point the most charming food-loving lady Liz came to sit at the next door table, and I almost immediately asked her if I could photograph her dishes, so that I could offer my readers more variety. She looked at me, having got a fright, thinking that I had asked to share her dishes, at which we both burst out laughing, and the rest of the evening was extreme fun! She even shifted some of the leaves on her dishes, so that the photographs could show more than leaves! Her husband Gustavo joined the table a little later. We exchanged Eleven Madison Park experiences, and they were surprised at all the problems I mentioned that we had experienced. They started with
a very roughly diced steak tartare into which chopped Jerusalem artichokes had been mixed ($17).

My next dish was a salad of endive, covering/hiding a mix of walnuts, anchovy (which I asked to have excluded), and a very strong-tasting ubriaco rosso cheese ($17). It had been drizzled with orange zest and a citrus vinaigrette, refreshing, and again a dish I savoured slowly. Liz and Gustavo ordered a dish in which I had been interested, but as it contained mussel stock I could not eat it. It was fried arroz rice cooked with black squid ink, with squid, and Romesco ($23).

As Liz and Gustavo had ordered pork shoulder with roasted fava beans (these beans are big in New York, having featured in some of our dishes at Eleven Madison Park), farro (a grain), with wilted sweet potato leaves ($33), I ordered the lamb ribs plated on top of charmoula and honey ($21). While the pork dish was completely covered in leaves, Liz had moved some to the side so that we could see what they were covering. Surprising my lamb ribs had no covering at all, and were plainly presented on a white plate. Server Devonn told me that the ribs were crusted with salt and pepper, lemon zest, cumin, and coriander, adding texture and little colour bites in an otherwise monotone dish. My steak knife for this dish was a perfect size, but for my two previous courses the knives and forks were mismatched in size, the knives being far too big, also relative to the small plates.

Other items on the menu are bar snacks such as olives, salami, pickled carrots, and spiced almonds ($7-$9); Serrano Ham ($18); egg salad with mojama (dried slices of tuna), with rye crackers ($15); oysters with yuzu kosho mignonette ($23); fluke with green beans and avocado ($22); mussels escabeche on toast ($16); celery with pistachios, raisins, and Bayley Hazen Blue cheese ($17); sardines with grapes and lardo ($24); swordfish with heart of Palm and Meyer lemon ($25); ricotta dumplings with mushrooms and pecorino sardo ($25); cod with cabbage and ham ($32); and steak with eggplant, leeks, and Taleggio ($37), which was a dish enjoyed by Liz and Gustavo (left).

The dessert choice was an easy one for me, the strawberry sorbet with coconut and the lovage herb, and I was relieved that there were no leaves hiding this dessert! It was refreshing, and the coconut added texture and crunch. Liz and Gustavo ordered panna cotta with vinegar and honey, not presented in the way we see this dish in our local restaurants. All desserts cost $12, and the other options were parsnip ice cream with sesame and caramel; as well as chocolate cake with whipped cream (perhaps the inspiration for that of Mulberry & Prince). Three cheeses are offered, at $8 each, two from France, and one from Switzerland.

Appearing a little aloof and distant on arrival, with rules and regulations, my view on the warmth of Estela grew, mainly caused by Robert and Emma, and especially by the two sets of diners I met there, Liz and Gustavo in particular, who even walked me to the Subway, and made sure that I traveled in the right direction back to Brooklyn. The building quality no longer mattered, when we had such a good time. However, no one came to check on our satisfaction with the dishes. I had been warned about Estela being loud, but it was not loud inside. It was the traffic noise (New York sirens!) that was unbearable at times. The unknowledgeable young waitress was an irritation, and an insult. Another server noticed that my serviette had slipped off my lap, and I was brought a new one immediately. Time will tell how Estela does. Few of its dishes are cooked, which seemed a lesser culinary challenge compared to the intricacy of the dishes which were created in other top restaurants. Although I am absolutely used to eating on my own, I learnt again that when you are alone you are never alone!

Note: exchange rate $1 = R 14,36

Estela, 47 East Houston Street, New York. Tel +1 212 219 7693. www.estelanyc.com Twitter: @Estelanyc Instagram: @estelanyc