Butter - New York City

Some restaurants thrive off of their stellar reputation and great word of mouth and once you get there, you see what all the hype is about. While other eateries are constantly praised only for you to arrive and leave with unmet expectations.

Butter falls somewhere in the middle.

To celebrate New York City Restaurant Week, I decided to try out this celebrity staple (Kanye West, John Mayer and Paris Hilton are just a few of their regulars) to dine on their much talked about French cuisine.

Calling the space beautiful is an understatement.

Steve Lewis' design evokes comfort and warmth with a modern twist. Its woodsy feel immediately transports you to a cozy, contemporary log cabin in the mountains of Colorado and you quickly forget that you're in a restaurant on the lower east side of Manhattan.

When the hostess led me to my table in The Birch Room, I was overcome by the laid-back elegance of the space: The late Aaliyah's "Rock The Boat" played softly on the speakers over head; candles and honeydew colored lights lit up the sliver birch covered room (ceiling included); and my table sat right in front of a back wall, which also served as a wine rack back lit by a striking red light.

To get things started, I ordered a glass of pinot grigio from the Cristom Vineyard in Salem, Oregon. It was crisp and light but I would have preferred a glass of Riesling but Butter only sells it by the bottle.

Executive chef Alex Guarnashelli's menu is full of your usual fare: roasted chicken, grilled fish and seared shrimp.

I opted for the soup of the day for my appetizer.

This bowl of steaming, hot corn chowder with smatterings of steamed shrimp was a playground for my taste buds. The sweet chowder mixed with the crunchy corn and soft shrimp makes for a perfect start to any meal.

For my entree, I feasted on roasted chicken with Romesco sauce and grilled scallions and a tower of onion rings

I made the mistake of tasting the chicken by itself first. Coming off the high that was my corn chowder soup du jour, the chicken tasted bland. But when mixed with the sauce, I got an immediate burst of tangy, savory flavor, though, I would have preferred my scallions chopped instead of served whole.

When it comes to French fries and onion rings, I've got one tried and true formula: If I need a dipping sauce to eat them, they aren't that good. Sadly, I had to flag down my waiter, Mark, to ask for some ketchup to eat these.

The texture was perfect (lightly breaded - almost fluffy even; not greasy at all) I could even see the coarse black pepper used to season them, I just couldn't taste it.

Finally, my favorite course - dessert!

I chose the peach cobbler with bourbon pecan ice cream.

Scrumptious!

The cobbler wasn't too sweet (folks tend to confuse cobbler with pie. The latter is sweet while the former is not). The ice cream had just a hint of bourbon and the pecans gave it a crunchy quality that made it a pleasure to eat!

All in all, Butter was good but it didn't make me melt.

I'll definitely be back again but in a different capacity: To enjoy the ambiance and nightlife, listen to the live DJ spin hip-hop and R&B and to sit at one of the two fully-stocked bars to give the drink menu a whirl - and enjoy a bowl of soup while I'm at it.

Want a slice of Butter?

Butterrestaurant.com
415 Lafayette Street
212.253.2828.