Greywind: Hudson Yards
Greywind, the sister restaurant of Loring Place by Dan Kluger, opened in Hudson Yards last week. Greywind is an American restaurant with a focus on seasonal, local ingredients with a refined flare. I want to preface this review by noting that my friend and I had a combined $75 gift card to Greywind, which encouraged us to make a reservation and left us with a really small bill at the end of the meal. I enjoyed the meal, but think that without the gift card I would’ve felt that some dishes were overpriced and didn’t blow me away. I was happy with my experience there, but am not rushing back anytime soon. I’m giving Greywind 3/5 flowers from The Flour Child. Let’s get into it:
Before sitting down, we had to wait twenty minutes for our table even though we had a reservation. We could definitely tell that this was a very new restaurant (two days old to be exact) and had quite a few logistics to still straighten out. Once we sat down we ordered drinks, and I got the daisy cocktail which was gin, blood orange, and luxardo maraschino. My friend, Sophie, got the classic spritz and both drinks were a hit. From the snacks portion of the menu we ordered the focaccia with house ricotta, fennel, and rhubarb. Besides the fact that this dish took over 30 minutes to come out, it was the best thing we ate all night. The focaccia was incredibly light and bouncy, and the combination between the creamy ricotta and tangy rhubarb jam was wonderful, all topped with the fresh sprig of fennel fronds. If you dine here I’d definitely recommend ordering this, and getting the order in quickly because every table seemed to have this.
Next, we got the tuna with olives, fennel, chili, and preserved lemon. I love a raw tuna dish, and this one was certainly tasty. The tuna was cubed and tasted extremely fresh, and all of the flavors worked together very cohesively. Delicious, but nothing out of the ordinary, and this was something that I thought I’d probably be able to make myself for half the price. Because the focaccia took so long to come, they brought us a complimentary dish of local radishes with grapefruit and mint, and this was very delicious! It was beautiful and a really fresh dish to cleanse the palate before moving to the main meal portion. I loved the combination of grapefruit and mint, and this dish really represented the restaurant’s emphasis on local and seasonal greenmarket ingredients.
For the main, Sophie and I shared the sugar snap peas with bonito flakes and the burger. The burger at Loring Place is outstanding, so we figured it would be fun to compare the two. This burger was good, but came a little bit under what I asked for temperature wise. The burger is served with rosemary potato chips on the bun which is a fun, unique addition and something we really enjoyed. The star of this part of the meal was actually the snap peas, which were served cold after being charred and layered over a buttermilk sauce. This dish felt very creative and had a mix of flavors that were unfamiliar and really appealing to me. It’s also a gigantic portion, and definitely great to share with one or even a few other people.
Overall, this was a good meal. I wasn’t wowed yet I wasn’t disappointed. Would I be itching to recommend this restaurant to people? No, probably not. That being said, If you’re looking for a more upscale American restaurant with a beautiful design, this might be a good one for you. There were also quite a few large tables toward the back of the space, with one more private looking room, and could be a great spot for a work dinner or more professional event. If you try out Greywind, let me know what you think!
