Dinner at NOPA: Report

[pane]

Last night some friends and I were looking for dinner after the Vivienne Westwood show and decided on Tsunami, which ended up being closed on Sundays. Instead we walked over to NOPA.

The bar opens at 5, the restaurant at 6, and by the time we arrived (5:45-ish) the bar area was packed. As previous reports indicate, they accept reservations now, so casually waltzing in may result in a long wait.

We had a drink at the bar near the rotisserie station and waited for the first available table. From my position I was able to watch the chef explain the night's specials to the wait staff and observe the rotisserie/grill station, which was loaded with golden chickens and little teepees of cooling pork chops. The smell can not be described with mere words. The grill guy saw me admiring the birds and said, "You want to come over here and cook these? I'll sit at the bar and drink your martini."

We were seated at about 6:30 and ordered everything family style. Our dishes included nine hour bolognese with polenta and parmesan as an appetizer followed by rotisserie herb chicken with croutons, spit roasted london broil with salsa verde, wood-baked giant white beans with feta and oregano, and grilled asparagus with meyer lemon vinaigrette.

The bolognese with polenta was my favorite, rivaling the lovely warm polenta with pancetta and cracked egg I tried at Cav a few months ago. The chicken meat had a strong, assertive flavor similar to the organic Diestal bird I had for turkey day. I very much enjoyed it, but it may taste off to someone expecting the mild, watery flavor of most supermarket chickens.

The london broil was very tasty but could have used more salsa verde: we were scraping flecks of it off the plate. Grilled asparagus and beans were both very good, though everyone at the table preferred the asparagus. The bean dish was the only one we didn't finish.

Service was friendly and efficient and the courses were well timed. For three people, our dinner was under $100, which seemed an excellent value for a quality meal.

[singleguychef]

Was the bar crowded on a Sunday because people were waiting for a table or did you see people eating at the bar? I was thinking of going to NOPA one Sunday night by myself so thinking of just eating at the bar. Seems weird to make a reservations for one.

[pane]

There were both people eating at the bar and (some) people waiting for a table. I would imagine that during prime dining hours there would be a wait to eat at the bar. I'm not a regular here, so I don't know if this was typical, but it was packed for a Sunday night. By the time we left (8?) every table and bar seat was occupied.

We were asked (encouraged?) if we were eating at the bar a few times, but we wanted a table because conversation would be difficult between three people sitting side-by-side.

[Grubbjunkie]

If you go closer to 5 there is usually no problem getting a seat at the bar, you just have to wait a little longer before you can get food. With the imaginative, quality cocktails (fresh juices, interesting ingredients and combos), that is not usually a problem...