Review of Ivy's Bistro in Tribeca

Imagine my horror. I had gone to Stroudsburg, PA to pick up a friend who had one goal on his mind for the last few months. He wanted a steak. Not just any steak. He wanted a steak that was so tasty that only a steakhouse in New York City could possibly satiate his craving. We drove to the city without stopping for lunch, it took us two hours to make it through the Holland Tunnel and find a parking space. The wait, I told him, was well worth it. I knew of the perfect little steak house and had been meaning to go back since my last visit nearly two years ago.

We stepped out of the car, it was freezing outside. The wind would just cut through your clothes and skin and chill you to the bone. We made our way to the storefront only to look in disappointment as I realized that a florist now occupied the space where my steakhouse had once stood. It was as if I had climbed a ridge and, expecting to see El Dorado ahead, I was faced instead with Tijuana.

We wandered through the streets in the biting cold. After all, it is New York. There must be another place to find a steak. It was only after our wanderings brought us to Greenwich Avenue that we found our way. Our hands were going numb from the bitter cold and so I stopped to look at a corner menu of a little restaurant named "Ivy's."

"This place has steak, wanna just eat here?" I asked.

"I don't know...." my friend said with some suspicion. At that moment, a gust of frigid wind swept over us. We nodded to one another and went inside.

Perhaps it was fate that brought us to Ivy's Bistro. Maybe it was just a matter of probability, that eventually we would run into a restaurant that was decent. Whatever the cause, we did not walk away lamenting our decision to try out this unassuming little corner bistro.

Ivy's is decorated in a warm contemporary style that did not sacrifice function or comfort in favor of aesthetic appeal. Ivy's holds its own in a part of town where a trendy new restaurant is just a stone's throw away without becoming cliché (as some restaurants in New York tend to do).

The appealing decor is paralleled by a friendly wait staff who, by all appearances, are on par with the staff of much pricier 4 and 5 star restaurants and yet remain down to earth, friendly and very pleasant to be around. Combined, this creates an atmosphere of elegance intertwined with the kind of comfort one seeks when they have been, say, wandering the streets in winter conditions for over an hour. More importantly, while my friend was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, he was in no way under dressed while I, sporting a lamb's wool sport coat and khaki slacks, was in no way over dressed for the occasion.

My friend partook of the steak he had been so longing for. Topped with a pepper sauce that enhanced, not overpowered the beef, it met the expectations of a person who felt deprived of the type of food that can only be found in New York City. Wishing to mix things up a bit, I ordered the lobster ravioli. I have had very bad luck with lobster ravioli in the past. Anything from using too little lobster to lobster meat of poor quality can ruin the dining experience and make you extremely angry at having paid for a dish not worthy of Chef Boiardi's mass production line. So, imagine my surprise when I bit into ravioli cooked to perfection and filled with quality lobster meat. The only disappointment during the whole meal was knowing that we would soon have to brave the elements outside once we finished.

I do not frequent Tribeca as much as I should. I do, however, know that in the future when I am in the neighborhood, I will be sure to stop at the little Bistro on Greenwich Avenue for a meal that will be well worth the money.