Graffiti

Last night, I had a very interesting meal at Graffiti, a four-table yet somehow 25-ish seat restaurant.  The place was crammed like a little bohemian coffee shop - a mishmash of colors and patterns strewn from floor to ceiling.  There's Eastern artwork, chandeliers, mirrors and over-sized cabinets as well as foreign newspapers at place mats.  Confusing to say the least; distracting sets the mood more accurately.  But the menu was quite the opposite.  Focused into $7, $12, and $15 options, each dish description is as meticulous as a scientists calculations...or a baker's?  The chef/owner worked as pastry chef for Jean-Georges prior to opening Graffiti in 2007.  It shows.  Everything plays on savory and sweet, spicy and mellow, crunchy and smooth as our waitress pointed out each time she served us a new dish.

Start with the zucchini hummus pizza.  The dough is puff pastry (sweet, flaky), the hummus is smooth, the zucchini is mellow and the kicker is wasabi peas crushed atop - the savory, spicy, and crunchy.  I loved the squid and lotus root, which came to us looking like a bowl of strange grub.  Squid and sauce were sweet; lotus root and white poppy seeds was savory and crunchy.  I also adored the green chili shrimp.  A $15 item, it came with six sweet and spicy shrimp.  They got crunch from a bed of bean sprouts and kick from mirin soaked daikon.  The skate was a surprise delight.  Chickpea-crusted translated into a flavorful encasement to keep the fish moist.  Mint/yogurt sauce was sweet and mushrooms on top were savory.  Don't miss out on dessert - chef did specialize in pastry after all.  We couldn't pass up the hazelnut chocolate caviar cupcake.  A moist hazelnut-cocoa bun came doused in a rich chocolate mousse, dotted with balls of dark chocolate.  A scoop of chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream made the a x4 chocolate dish.  Heaven.

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