Edward’s – New York Bistros

Edward’s

136 West Broadway

New York, New York 10013

212-233-6436

http://www.edwardsnyc.com/

Edward’s was opened in October 2001 by Edward Youkilis. It bills itself as a Tribeca neighborhood restaurant. Edward is a part owner of Lucky Strike. In 2009, the New York Times ran an article about Edward. Edward grew up in Cincinnati and moved to New York to become a painter. He was an assistant to Helen Frankenthaler. She was a major American Abstract Expressionist painter. He migrated downtown and opened his restaurant in Tribeca. He started Cincinnati Night and his restaurant has become popular with expatriate Midwesterners.

I live in Edward’s neighborhood and decided to give it a try to gain insight into my unpleasant experience at Lucky Strike. I was given a prompt greeting upon arrival. It was workmanlike but friendly. Edward’s aesthetic is beat up wood tables and chairs, the stamped tin ceiling typical of Tribeca and old mirrors along the side wall and in the dining room in back of the restaurant. It is very casual and feels like a cross between a diner and bistro.

The bar is to the left when you enter and the main dining room is in the back. There are no table cloths and the napkins are paper. There is no art on the walls. There are various wines and beers listed in faux-antique lettering on the mirrors. The noise level is moderate but the phone rang constantly without being answered. Telephones should not be heard in the dining room.

The feeling is very casual; it is a neighborhood restaurant. It has no frills. It has no pretense. It does not pretend to follow current food trends.

The lighting feels vaguely art deco. I wonder if Edward’s was decorated with caste-off artifacts from Odeon across the street. Apparently, Edward worked at Odeon in the early days. A group of people opened up Bar Odeon in Edward’s current space. Edward bought out his former partners in 2001 and named the restaurant Edward’s.

The specials were presented on a slip of paper in a water glass just like Lucky Strike. The specials of the day were chicken and vegetable soup, beet salad, grilled lamb chops, and seafood spaghetti. Desert was a chocolate brownie.

The dinner menu takes a “something for everyone” approach. For starters there is guacamole with chips, seared fish tacos, french onion soup, Maryland crab cake, quesadillas, and crispy calamari. The mains range from pan seared salmon to grilled hanger steak, penne with chicken, ravioli, pizza, nicoise salad, hamburgers and turkey burgers. In an interview, Edward said that: “it has a little French Bistro feeling with somewhat more of an American menu. We have hamburgers, salads and seafood. Edwards mostly concentrates on easy-to-understand and uncomplicated foods.” The wines are very basic and average around $10 per glass.

My seafood spaghetti arrived promptly. It was arranged attractively with the mussels around the perimeter of the dish with the pasta in the middle. My server grated fresh parmesan cheese on top. It was indifferent. Not good and not bad. Some of the mussels were hot and others were cold. It lacked flavor and the pasta was mildly overcooked. Everyone seemed equally bored by the process of purchase, consumption, and payment.

So, what do we make of this? How should we measure a restaurant such as Edward’s? What is the yardstick? Is it the intention of the owner or is it against a more “objective” standard. Of course, nothing is objective in art and dining but we can make comparison among restaurants of similar price points and cuisines. Bistro to bistro.

Edward’s intention is to serve American, Italian and French food in a casual, neighborhood setting. The pricing is modest, the dishes are modest, the setting is modest. The atmosphere is comfortable, the service is competent, the feeling is friendly. Edward does not set the bar very high and, in this, he succeeds. Edward seems to be clear about who he is, what he wants to offer in his restaurant and in this, he succeeds. From this point of view, I rate Edward highly. From the point of view of high quality food, service and atmosphere, it is average.

The question is one of marginal utility. Odeon is across the street. For a few dollars more per dish you can enjoy better atmosphere, better service and much better food. Why would you not do this?

I passed on desert. I headed to Small’s to catch the early Thursday night jazz set.

Ratings:

Service: 5

Archetype: 2. Noted that Edward’s is not a bistro so is not reflecting the Archetype.

Food: 5

Energy: 5. Energy rating would be higher if they would answer the damn phone.

Resources

Reviews on Edward’s

http://www.edwardsnyc.com/

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/12/14/on-top-of-spaghetti

http://tribecacitizen.com/restaurant/edwards/

https://wwmoore.com/2012/09/24/catch-it-edwards-restaurant/