Smith Street gets used to having a little Pó
Rachel Markowitz | July 27, 2007
It’s tough being surrounded by fantastic restaurants when you’re broke and sugar daddy-less. But special occasions call for special meals. A friend was in town this past weekend from DC (I heard Bush has actually sneezed on most of the food there) so we had to show her how we do food in Brooklyn.
Luckily, Mario Batalli’s Pó, which has been my roommate’s favorite restaurant for years, recently opened up on Smith street. Po’s cuisine is “new Italian” and entrees won’t run you more than $25. If you want to eat at the original Pó in the West Village, you’ll have to make a reservation at least a month in advance. Not so for its brand new Brooklyn counterpart. At 4pm on a Saturday night we were able to make a 9:30pm reservation. Although the small dining room was packed with Saturday night diners, we were seated immediately.
Our waitress was friendly and validated all of our meal choices by saying, “you guys are doing everything just right.” After ordering a bottle of the house white wine, we were brought a plate of a delicious white bean bruschetta for the table. Unfortunately, I was too poor to order an appetizer, but my friends let me nibble on their cucumber escapeche (a refreshing summer salad) and cured tuna. I passed on the goat cheese and black olive tartufo because I think goat cheese tastes like evil, but they seemed to enjoy it.
Finally the meal arrived. I took my roommate’s advice and ordered the porcini crusted cod. Man was that good. I love the tender, tastes-like-what-you-cook-it-with quality of cod fish, and they did this just right. My roommate got the grouper ravioli special, and while it was good, she regretted not also ordering the cod.
Before we left the restaurant, I had to ask the waitress why they decided to open another Pó on Smith street. Her answer was simple and classy, like the food she’d served us. “We thought Brooklyn could use a little Pó,” she said. And of course, where better to open up a hot restaurant than on our very own Smith street.
Pó is located at 276 Smith Street near Sackett.
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I’m dying to check this place out. And the waitress sounds lovely.