Huertas, East Village NYC – pintxos pack a punch
Pintxos are brought around by the wait staff
In NYC, where everyone literally lives on top of everyone else, there’s lots of ‘six degrees of separation’ going on. We’d been recommended to try Huertas, a Basque-inspired tapas or ‘pintxos’ restaurant on 1st Avenue, by Tyson, the barista at Bluebird Coffee House. A few days later, we dined at The NoMad, the restaurant by the same team as the amazing Eleven Madison Park and the Maitre D – another Melburnian named Nic, said he’d been there too, thanks to knowing one of the owners.
We’d walked past Huertas several times and not given it a second look. During the day, closed up, the grey facade didn’t warrant further investigation. At night, with the lights shining through and the windows opened to a very temperate evening, it looked very inviting. The Basque region of northern Spain (think Barcelona upwards) is home to some of the world’s finest restaurants. This had good foodie credentials.
The bar at the front doesn’t take reservations, but there’s a dining room at the rear that you can book for and it serves a nightly tasting menu. In the bar, you pull up a stool, sip a beer (or a beer cocktail with lemon soda in Greedy Girl’s case and, yes, it was very refreshing) and you can order some special platters of fish or meats, some raciones (small plates), or you can take your pick of the pintxos that are brought around on platters, like these oven-baked asparagus spears, held aloft by our friendly waiter.
First up, though was a treat for gluttonous husband – marinated sardines, presented with little croutons and a special beer containing salt and coriander of all things, called Westbrook Gose, a German-stye sour wheat beer (pictured above). Greedy Girl doesn’t allow sardines to be consumed at home because the, ahem, aroma stinks out the apartment. Gluttonous husband relished every mouthful and said the beer went extremely well with the oily fish. Greedy Girl tried the beer but it was not to her taste.
Our first of the ‘pintxos’ was a crouton with speck (made from pork leg), drizzled with honey. Slightly salty, a little spicy, it went down a treat.
Crouton with speck, drizzled with honey
Cod and potato croquette with a citrus mayo
Chorizo with carrots
Mushrooms with smoked garlic
Our second ‘raciones’ plate was ‘Huertas Rotos’ a play on the traditional ‘huevos rotos’. It was potato strands with a chorizo vinaigrette and a slow poached egg. Quite yummy.
Huertas Rotos
Next up, gluttonous husband took one of the pintxos – a russian salad topped with seared tuna and fennel fronds. It looked very appetising but gluttonous husband was starting to feel heavy. He didn’t feel the tuna had an enormous amount of flavour.
Russian salad with seared tuna
Chocolate con churros
The team behind Huertas has some significant foodie credentials. Owner/executive chef Jonah Miller has previously worked at Gramercy Tavern among several NYC restaurants and has spent time in northern Spain, according to the restaurant’s website. It’s a fun, easy place to while away a few hours. Be early to be assured a seat at the bar.
Huertas
107 1st Avenue, New York
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