One White Street
The menu runs on Rigor Hill Farm in Columbia County, and the restaurant, the farm and Rigor Hill Market next door work as one operation.3 Kenny Yang rated it 7.7 and said the shaved fennel has been on the card since the room opened.2
Why go
The address is the reason the room exists. This 19th-century townhouse was John Lennon and Yoko Ono's downtown hangout,1 and in 1973 Lennon, facing immigration trouble, used a press conference here to announce Nutopia, a conceptual country with no land and no borders. The restaurant takes that as its argument for how to run a dining room.3 The MICHELIN inspector describes marble, tile and wood, and picks out grilled monkfish under a whey miso glaze over a lemon verbena butter sauce.1 Suzanne DeStio runs the wine list.3
Order this / avoid
- Order: the shaved fennel. Yuzu vinaigrette, blue cheese, aioli and crushed pistachios, and Yang says it has never left the menu.2
- Order: the beef tartare. It is built flat like a flatbread so you pick it up, with dehydrated chive powder and smoked egg yolk gel squeezed over it.2
- Order: the goat cheesecake, whipped rather than dense, against concord grape sorbet.2
- Avoid: committing to the tasting menu first time. Kenny Yang would go back for the a la carte, not the tasting.2
What locals & experts say
- Kenny Yang, The Infatuation, 21 March 2023, rating it 7.7:
All the food at this upscale farm-to-table restaurant in Tribeca is pretty to look at, and not one dish misses the mark in terms of execution. You'll enjoy everything you eat here, and a few dishes will even stick with you. But the decor is what you'll probably remember the most.
2 - The kitchen's own statement, printed on its MICHELIN Guide page:
Not only does sourcing locally ideally keep the menu hyper-seasonal, but the three entities work together to create a significantly more sustainable restaurant and farm partnership. Our farm can feed more than just our daily restaurant guests, we are able to feed our farmers, our employees, and also make charitable donations throughout the year to those in need.
1
Good to know
- Booking: essential. Dinner only, seven days; hours are on the guide page.1
- Format: a la carte and a six-course chef's tasting menu, both now served on all three floors.3
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Michelin green star 2024"
Verdict
should-visit — Book dinner and order a la carte on a first visit. The shaved fennel has been on the card since the room opened. John Lennon announced Nutopia from this address in 1973, and the restaurant runs its dining room on that idea.