This "Pen" Is Mighty
THE PENROSE | 1590 2nd Ave. (bet. 83rd & 82nd Sts.) | 212.203.2751 | PenroseBar.com | 
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FEW WORDS HAD BEEN WRITTEN about the "foodie" culture here on the Upper East Side where I live, especially about Yorkville—formerly Old Germantown—that has been almost slow to write its newest chapters on its culinary offerings. Oh, there were sporadic hints and experiments, to be sure. Sala Thai and Tokubei 86 appeared over twenty years ago here, being respectively the first Thai and Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood, and remaining the only of each for almost twenty years. A little over ten years ago, Yorkville's dining denizens were intrigued and made curious by a place called Penang that served indigenous Malaysian food."What's Malayasian food like?" "Oh, I hear it's like Thai food but sweeter." "Wow, interesting...!"
Jump to 2010, and you can't go two blocks without walking past a Japanese/sushi or Chinese or Vietnamese or all-of-the-above place. Nor could you avoid a pub that serves wings and burgers with their pints, middling Italian restaurants for customers more concerned about their seating than what they're eating, or the ever ubiquitous Subway franchise which has by now completely eradicated anyone's memory of what a real sandwich is or tastes like.
I myself had "written" the Upper East Side off, as I noticed my PHUDE excursions taking me to the Lower East Side, West Village, damn, even Morningside Heights and Brooklyn, more often than looking forward to eating within walking distance of my apartment. But a place called Cascabel took a page out of the modern chef's cookbook and gave Yorkvillians there first real taste of Mexican beyond takeout tacos, Blockheads burritos, and bar nachos, making their own varieties of salsa in-house, using soft fresh and not manufactured crunchy corn tortillas, and filling them house house-roasted beef and pork and topping them off with shredded cheese and salsa, but with pickled hearts of palm, tomotilla sauce, and queso fresca. Then Luke's Lobster, a modest hit from East 7th Street, decided to co-author this new chapter preview of a modern food scene by bringing fresh lobsters straight from Maine waters to diners' hands without the delay and cost of a middle man.
The plot thickened with the opening of Earl's Beer & Cheese on the cusp of where the UES meets East Harlem. They put kimchi and pork belly in their grilled cheese and seared fois gras on their waffles. They owners also knew to not only offer a variety of currently popular craft beers to the sometimes younger but well-seasoned and knowledgeable "hipster" set, but to also feature craft beers a block away at yet another crowd-drawing hit spot ABV, while never letting up on trending or trend-making dishes, such as fried smelt or steak tartare pizza on pita bread.
And now that English gastropub Jones Woods Foundry has added character and old school charm to the area with Scotch eggs and kidney pies, this new chapter seems to be in full swing with the opening of "east side local", The Penrose, from the same creative minds that brought us The Wren, Wilfie & Nell, and Bua. (And as proof as to how unhip and behind-the-times UESers are, of my many neighbors to whom I relayed these references, not a one had ever heard of any of these places.)
Descending on The Penrose this past Saturday with two friends, Danny and Merita, we agreed that there could not have been any greater evidence of a "changing of the guard" than seeing how much the physical space was changed from the fratty local sports bar of the address' previous incarnation, Ship of Fools, to this miraculously tony-yet-expansive comfort of a social room—several rooms, actually.
No more neons or beer-branded mirrors, and not a single plasma screen; instead, expect to find expertly thought-out little homey touches. A darling illustration above a table. Retro-fitted overhead lights. What's that, an old-timey typewriter?. Even arranged potted flowers right out front.
Craft beers are all the craze presently, and many are proudly featured here. I'm not of a beer drinker myself (oh, I drink, just not a lot of beer!), but Danny and I were happy to enjoy the nostalgia of a finely-poured Murphy's Irish Stout before we and Merita snugged into a corner table right by the front window.
Cocktails are a growing trend as well, as more and more menus actually list them at the beginning of their menus, when they were once relegated to the back page. But this is in essence a food blog, so I was here for the grub. The menu lists simple and classic. No surprise that our lovely Merita settled for the wedge salad, remiss that they didn't offer a Caesar. (Again, The Penrose avoiding same-old-story ennui.) Danny, usually adventurous, was expertly convinced by our beautiful server, Katey (or Katie or Caty or however she spells it), that the burger would be letter-worthy, so he ordered his with American cheese.
I, of course, relish any opportunity to go off-book, so without delay I ordered the fried oyster sliders and sandwich of beef that had been cured for 40 days, spiced for 4 days, and slow-roasted for 6 hours. And for good measure, we ordered the fried chicken to share. Our first round of drinks weren't even done when the plates came out.
Merita was very impressed with her salad [please excuse the framing of the second photo! —Ed.], as was I after she offered me some off of her plate. Crisp cold iceberg, warn crispy bacon bits, sharp radish slices, and fresh Ranch dressing spelled satisfaction. Danny enjoyed his cheeseburger, after an ample addition of fresh-cracked pepper and ketchup, so much so that he never got around to offering any of it for me to try!
No biggie, I had two sizable pieces of still hot chicken to cut into.
And ideal fried chicken it was. Crunchy and clingy skin, properly seasoned, juicy sections of both of lean white and more flavorful dark meat deserved, at the very least, a mental note. Especially in an area suffering from a paucity of even paltry poultry pickings.
What I did look forward to enjoying all by myself were the fried oyster sliders. Never got a chance to try them at The Dutch, so how exciting that I might be able to enjoy these on a mere whim with a three-minute saunter down the street.
I love fried oysters, and these sliders are to write home about. The ever-so-slightly cakey yet cracker-crispy exterior conceals a beautifully sumptuous, unctuous, sensually-textured and tasty full oyster, just barely cooked through, with its salinity countered wonderfully by the slight sweetness of the soft slider roll, and its earthiness was complimented by the bright acidity of a single pickle slice.
These being, I assume, the same sliced McClure's pickles (pickels) that The Penrose also offers as a side dish, they also punch up the spiced beef sandwich, along with "nosey" mustard and toast, skillful supporting characters to the fall-apart tender, juicy, smoky, well-marbled, fatty-edged, and thickly sliced seasoned beef.
The beef was so juicy that it alone, save a scrape of mustard on the bread, held enough moisture to accommodate its bread, itself dried slightly from toasting. Merita and Danny had expected to be more meat on a sandwich that costs two dollars more than the burger. But even the stack of the similar-in-theory smoked meat sandwich at Mile End doesn't get so lovingly prepared over such a longer period of time. Is it worth it? I'll put it to you this way. Danny himself—after enjoying that whole burger—sliced off not one, but two pieces of my spiced beef sandwich, as well as admitted that he'd return for it.
I've met others who have already revisited The Penrose, despite it not even being open a week yet. Which can only read as a good omen for the spot. Especially when so many of the coveted "young and hip" crowd live and/or move to this neighborhood—yet resent having to mass transit and/or taxi cab it to other faraway 'hoods to go to the "cool" places—it's nice to see the neighborhood I've lived in the last 25 years regain some energy, some relevance.
But don't worry, Old Germantown. there will always be enough of us long-time Upper East Siders to recount the stories of old for generations to come. It is nice and refreshing, however, to be able to tell a new generation of diners that The Penrose—with its blurb-worthy food, craft beers, and hip vibe—is ink-on-the-page proof positive that Yorkville, at least when it comes to modern food culture, might have, finally and officially, turned the page.
Bun Apple Tea!
KACNYC
THE PENROSE | 1590 2nd Ave. (bet. 83rd & 82nd Sts.) | 212.203.2751 | PenroseBar.com |
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