RW lunch #1 - Burke & Wills

I can't believe I missed the first week of Restaurant Week!  I had in the back of my mind it was coming up, but got consumed with my work trip to La Jolla, so I didn't make any reservations for last week.  I have made up for it - I have two reservations this week, two next week.  I'm still ruminating going to more places the week after that... (how great is it that Restaurant Week (RW) is actually nearly a month long?!  woo hoo!!)

Yesterday was my first lunch - I went to Burke & Wills, a new Australian bistro on the upper west side.  I've never been to an Australian restaurant before (I almost did, years ago, for a company dinner, but that went disastrously wrong and we actually ate at a Thai restaurant across the street), so I figured RW was the perfect time to try something new without feeling as if I'd wasted a lot of money.

When I got off the subway at 79th Street, I looked across the street and saw the restaurant's awning - I realized I used to go to another restaurant that had been in that location for years, Miss Ellie's!  I used to meet friends there frequently and we were all really depressed when Miss Ellie's closed.  I don't think Burke & Wills is the first restaurant that went into that space, but it's certainly a nice spot now.

The very handsome gent at the front took me back to the sun room where most of the tables are located.  The room is pretty small, but gets a lot of light and is comfortable and cozy.  All of the employees were very nice with big smiles and a happy attitude.  If the service was a bit on the leisurely side...ok.  I ordered a non-alcoholic beverage called the Paul Hogan - an oolong tea infusion with ginger beer, club soda and peach nectar.  YUM.  I tell you, now that I've discovered ginger beer, I may overdose on it.

For my appetizer, I selected the grilled octopus with braised pork belly, white beans and chorizo.  There was also a puree underneath, maybe potato?  Turnip?  I couldn't quite tell.  But this was off.the.charts delicious!  The octopus was perfectly grilled, so it was meaty but not rubbery, the pork belly was soft, fatty deliciousness and the small bits of chorizo were tasty spicy crunchy nuggets of yummy.  The white beans were a nice creamy accompaniment to all the proteins, plus there was a sauce that was rich and filled with umami (salty-ish, but not salty, just pleasurable).  I practically licked my plate clean, it was that good.  This dish will most likely make my top ten favorite dishes of the year.

I got the cavatelli as my entrée; it had a charred corn and heirloom tomato sauce.  This dish was also terrific.  The sauce was creamy from the corn (though the kernels still had some bite to them) and the corn milk that pooled at the bottom, and the heirloom tomatoes were bright and acidic.  There were also parmesan tuiles on top of the pasta, which added some nutty crunchiness to the dish.  I just love corn and pasta, I don't know why.  And this combination really hit the spot.

Not that the first two dishes were heavy, they weren't, but I probably should've ordered the fruit dessert or the affogato.  But, there are certain words on menus that get my attention.  And so, instead, I ordered the beignets, with powdered sugar, nutella and caramel dipping sauces.  They were delicious!  The beignets were still warm and the sauces were really thick and rich.  I'm not a huge fan of nutella, so I mainly stuck with the yummy caramel sauce.  But both were really really good.

The food was delicious and the atmosphere was really nice for a solo diner.  I would definitely go back and try some of their regional dishes, plus their wine and cocktail lists were terrific.  They had a 'roo burger' on the lunch menu and I just couldn't bring myself to order it.  Maybe another time.  It's not quite as cozy as Miss Ellie's, but with such delicious food, Burke & Wills is definitely worth another visit.