everything has its reason: the FINCH

RER 4.9.15

Stepping into The Finch is kind of like walking into your own kitchen, only it’s cooler. The lines are cleaner, the painted white brick is brighter—it’s just better.

And then passing the very open bar and the even more open kitchen, you step through a doorway, and you are transported to somewhere else. Wherever it is, it’s just as cool, just not as clean. This dining room has a formula, just as the front space does, it’s just not the same equation. Its exposed brick brings Brooklyn in and the classic furniture ties it to the front.

You sit down, and you want to explore. Your eyes wander, catching the mortar between the bricks, the different textures on display, the changing light coming in, and the many shades of green of plants. It’s intimate back here too, but it feels airy and open, almost outdoors.

The different spaces echo the streamlined menu and beautiful dishes; it’s apparent each is created, tested and perfected, but here too, there’s a formula. Everything’s there for a reason, even if you don’t want to believe it—like that unfinished back wall. Ingredients seem a little haphazard and unconnected at first, but you want to try everything, you want to see how it all works out.

And somehow, it does.

RER 4.9.15

Your appetizer is split gracefully into two large shallow dishes, one for each of you. Its arrangement is artful, crafted like sculpture, elements hidden and exposed. The sweet beets are roasted and red, soft and perfect, while the toasted traviso is bitter and smoky, cooled by creamy salted burrata. A savory brittle made with pine nuts crunches and plays to the sweet strengths of the beets and the mature savory moments of the traviso, while all unites with the mild and sensuous cheese. 

RER 4.9.15

Pork two ways makes for a whimsical dish, imaginative and sensible, hearty and delicate. A crunchy pork croquette, perfect and stringy, rests on a bed of soft cabbage and sunchokes studded with large pearls of mustard seeds. Every element melds to combat the delicious fattiness of the fried item, while a smooth apple puree marries pink centered slices of pork. There is no redundancy and yet a brilliant continuity is achieved.

RER 4.9.15

Your scallop entrée is a sexy surf and turf, bringing together sea and land seamlessly. The dish is a texture playground, where multiple feelings are playing tug of war. Stalemate. The soft, succulent scallops counter the rubbery, meaty snails that, too, have its own tenderness. There is heat and wonder written in slinky slender mushrooms and kernels of chewy Einkorn. Green things and grains bring in earthy tones and brilliant color, but you can swim in the richness and the decadence without getting lost…

Each bite and memory is meticulously constructed, precise and crafted, but also delectable and indulgent. You almost forget where you are and that your kitchen is nowhere as cool.

RER

4.9.15

RER 4.9.15