Bell Book & Candle
141 W 10th Street
New York, NY 10014
212-414-2355
http://bbandcnyc.com/

What I ate:
Rooftop mixed greens
Soft shell crab
Grilled sausage
Rhubarb pie
The occasion: Mom’s night out!

I was drawn to this restaurant after seeing a picture of their roof top garden and reading that 60% of their organic produce is grown in house. Their menu is seasonal and their food program as they call it, “revolves around local, organic, sustainable and overall responsible procurement”. Since I too live by these philosophies I thought this would be the perfect place to have a meal with an old friend. We set a date for an evening after work, I made a reservation and booked the baby sitters.
Bell Book and Candle is in a West Village brownstone. As I walked up to the restaurant I could hear the hum of dinner conversation and cutlery. I was filled with anticipation and looking forward to eating produce from their roof top garden. Upon entry I noticed the cozy feel and laid back atmosphere. The servers and wait staff were efficient and attentive without being pushy.
The rooftop mixed greens were lightly dressed with “old school thousand island”. I must say that I was skeptical as I tend to prefer light and citrusy dressings and I think of thousand island as creamy and heavy. Well, I was wrong. The mixed greens were fantastic and lightly dressed. Next came the grilled lamb sausage which was served with jalapenos. It was a perfect combination of warm nicely prepared meat with spicy jalapenos. The soft shelled crabs were lightly dusted with corn flour and oh so delicately pan fried. Truly a melt in your mouth dish. And to top the evening of in true spring fashion we shared a rhubarb pie. It was the perfect ending to a fantastic dinner.
I will surely be returning over the course of the summer to see what other seasonal treats the chefs have in store!