Nice dinner in W. Village

[bxgirl]

My husband and I are being treated to a higer-end dinner in the W. Village. Price is not much of an issue. We prefer American or Italian food, and definitely do not want anything spicy.
We have been to Gotham (always love it), Perry St, Otto, DelPosto, Blue Hill and other area restaurants.
Our host appreciates fine food and drink, and I am just at a loss as to where to go. This will be for a weeknight in mid-July, if that matters.
Any thoughts? Should we do a repeat of one of the restaurants we've already been to? Any ideas for something new?
We usually default to Gotham, but would love love some new place to try.
Oh, we do not want anything in the Meatpacking district.
Thanks

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Blue Hill
75 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011

[MWinston]

How about Crispo on 14th?

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Crispo
240 W 14th St, New York, NY 10011

[rrems]

Crispo is not "higher-end".

[ChefJune]

Jonathan Waxman's Barbuto is both Italian and delicious!

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Barbuto
775 Washington St., New York, NY 10014

[chompchomp]

Our friends recently treated us to Recette and it was excellent.

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Recette
328 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10014

[bxgirl]

Thank you all l for the great recs. I think the menu at Annisa is a bit too non-traditional for our host, but will consider it for another time. I will definitely consider Babbo and Market Table
Collichio and Sons and Little Owl are also on my radar.
Thanks

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Little Owl
90 Bedford Street, New York, NY 10014

Market Table
54 Carmine Street, New York, NY 10014

Annisa
13 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014

[kathryn]

Babbo is so popular, and reservations go quickly, so I'd call ASAP. They begin taking reservations one month in advance to the calendar day (i.e. today is 6/22 and they started taking reservations for 7/22).

Little Owl is tiny, and most likely you'll only get a very early or very late reservation. I'd call ASAP if you wish to go there. For example, for 4 people on Monday, 7/18, OpenTable shows Little Owl has 5:45pm. They may hold tables back from OT though.

[sgordon]

Colicchio & Sons might be worth a look. Also, if you're willing to go a little further South, Marc Forgione. And of course, Babbo, if you can get a reservation.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Marc Forgione
134 Reade Street, New York, NY 10013

Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

[LouisM]

Annisa should definitely be considered. How about Wallse?

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Wallse
344 W. 11th St., New York, NY 10014

Annisa
13 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014

[InfoMofo]

I still love Babbo, particularly if someone else is paying...

I also like Annisa, but Iit's definitely not traditional italian/american if that's what you're going for.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Annisa
13 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014

[thegforceny]

L'artusi and dell'anima for Italian. Lots of great options in West Village. I'd forego Hotel Griffou though.

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Dell'Anima
38 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10003

L'Artusi
228 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10014

Hotel Griffou
21 W 9th St, New York, NY 10011

[rrems]

Why forego Griffou? Have you been there in the last few months, since the current chef took over? The food is excellent.

[thegforceny]

Fair enough. I don't know who was chef when I last ate there. It was average and overpriced. The menu I had offered lamb tartare which was horrible.

I know people who had worked there - practically the entire staff left (at least FOH). And the fact they were offering deals on buckets of chicken via Groupon did not spell success to me.

[rrems]

A change of chefs can transform a restaurant. In this case it certainly has. It's important to know these things so we don't give information that is now obsolete.

[peter j]

Agreed. And even of the chef is still at the restaurant, any opinions based on visits several months (or years) ago should be qualified accordingly.

Fwiw, I did enjoy my recent meals at Hotel Griffou.

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Hotel Griffou
21 W 9th St, New York, NY 10011

[thegforceny]

I have no vendetta against HG, just didn't like the food. I do love the setting and crowd.
My visit was in March 2011.

The "Angry Bird" special was offered via several coupon sites in late April:

http://newyork.nearsay.com/nyc/west-v...

Make of it what you will, because, as you know, it is soooo important to know these things...

[rrems]

Is there something wrong with their offering a special deal on fried chicken for
Sunday brunch? The brunch has received substantial praise on this board, though only having been for dinner I can't advise on it. Again, if the food you did not like was from a different chef, why is it relevant? There have been various discounts offered by this restaurant. Perhaps it is to attract more customers to try out the new, improved food?

[rrems]

Definitely Annisa.

[loratliff]

If you've enjoyed Blue Hill, you would probably also like Market Table and Little Owl.

Other good options that immediately come to mind: Annisa (has an Asian twist, but very good), Perilla, Po (Italian), and Hotel Griffou.

I'll post back if I think of anything else.

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Perilla
9 Jones Street, New York, NY 10014

Po
31 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014

Blue Hill
75 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011

Little Owl
90 Bedford Street, New York, NY 10014

Market Table
54 Carmine Street, New York, NY 10014

Annisa
13 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014

Hotel Griffou
21 W 9th St, New York, NY 10011