The Rusty Face, Brooklyn

The Rusty Face.  Perhaps not the most appealing sounding restaurant name, but still one I sought out when I was recently staying in Brooklyn.  I'm not sure what the name refers to, as the restaurant has no web site (!), so no additional background info was available.

The concept is Mediterranean with a coastal focus, mostly tapas, and mostly involving a charcoal grill.  Not really what I tend to gravitate towards.  They are also known for their cocktails, and get remarkably good reviews in general. 

So what drew me in to this oddly named restaurant, featuring a region of cuisine that I am not really drawn to?  Well, it was a singular dish.  Octopus.  I was really, really, really craving octopus, and The Rusty Face gets extremely good reviews for that dish in particular.  After trying it myself, I can see why.

The octopus was glorious, and I'd love to return to try more of the menu, and of course, those aforementioned well regarded cocktails.

Setting

Interior.

I haven't actually been inside, but I did walk by to scope it out, and was immediately drawn in by how inviting it looked.  Warm tones, exposed brick, fresh plants, nicely illuminated bar ... it really did draw me in (but seemingly, no one else, as the restaurant was visibly empty at 6:45pm ...)

Parklet.

Outside, like many restaurants in the neighborhood, they have a parklet with seating.  I thought it was better decorated than most, with plentiful plants.

Awww.

As I mentioned, I haven't actually been inside the restaurant, as I ordered delivery.

It is just a little thing, but, I loved that the delivery bag had a hand written thank you note on it.  It made me want to visit the restaurant in person sometime, to see how warm the hospitality was.  If they could make the bag feel welcoming, I can imagine the actual dining experience being even moreso.

Food

The menu at The Rusty Face is broken down into a few smaller / lighter starter sections: sashimi, tartar, tapas, salads, and then bigger entrees, sides, and desserts.  The menu doesn't seem particularly coherent at first, with sea bass ceviche sitting alongside spinach pie and olive oil cake, but, at closer inspection, it is all Mediterranean inspired, and much of it features the grill.

I really had eyes for just one thing though (ok, some of the sides sound great too).  But I wanted that octopus.

Tapas: Octopus. $24.

"Charcoal-grilled, olive oil, lemon, hollandaise peppers, onions, capers."

From the tapas section of the menu, I selected the octopus.  I incorrectly parsed the menu to think this dish included a hollandaise *sauce*, and asked for it on the side, so I was a bit confused when my order arrived to have two pieces of charred peppers separate, and no hollandaise sauce in sight.  I'm not really sure what "hollandaise peppers" are ... but anyway, that odd packaging was my own fault.  From photos I see online, normally those are perched on top of the dish.

The octopus was as excellent as reviewers suggested it would be.  Lovely char from the charcoal grill, smoky flavor, perfectly tender, no chewy bits.  Really perfectly prepared.  While I think I might have preferred it served as an full, in-tact tendril, that I could cut myself, it really did make it quite easy to eat already portioned into bite size pieces.  Some of the best octopus I've had in recent memory.

The rest of the dish was pretty simple: lots of capers, slivered onions (raw, both red and white), herbs, and a generous amount of olive oil.  It made me wish I had some nice bread to dunk in the flavorful, high quality oil.  It truly was top notch oil.  

I suspect it would be amazingly tasty to stuff the entire dish into some fresh pita or to top a piece of crusty baguette, but alas, I did not have any.  Instead, I put it on top of mashed potatoes, and the extra oil worked nicely there too.  I loved the combination of flavors from the premium oil and capers in particular.  

As for the "hollandaise peppers", these were just charred sweet bell peppers.  Definitely not my thing, but they did have nice char marks on them, which I could appreciate.

Overall, a very good octopus dish, worthy of the praise, and a very reasonable price and portion at $24.  I'd gladly get it again.  ****+.

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Murray's Bagels, NYC

Bagels.  When in NY, you kinda must seek one out at some point.  Which of course I did, on several occasions.

"Our amazing selection of bagels are hand-rolled and made fresh everyday from just a few simple ingredients. However, through a time-honored process that's been passed down through generations those simple things become something a bit magical."

Murray's Bagels isn't particularly old in NY bagel shop terms, only started in 1996.  It also hasn't turned into a chain, like many others.  But I think that Murray's Bagels were the first NY bagels I ever had, many years ago. (Or maybe it was Ess-a-Bagel ...). Either way, Murray's is always a place I visit in NY, partially because it is right near my office, but also partially because I really *do* like their bagels, even though I know the locals have plenty of other places they rank more highly.

Storefront.

Murray's has a pretty standard menu: a lineup of bagels, along with cream cheeses, whitefish spreads or lox, and a few other spreads like Nutella.  No crazy flavors, just your classics.  The most novel bagels they offer are flats (available in several basic flavors) or gluten-free plain bagels.  No rainbow or cinnamon toast crunch bagels here.  If you want something more substantial, there are egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches, a few deli sandwich fillings, soups, and token salad.  But I had just the basics: bagel and cream cheese.

Pumpernickel Bagel. $2.15 (plain),
$4.75 (plain cream cheese), $5.75 (flavored cream cheese).

This visit, I went for a pumpernickel bagel, really craving something a bit more flavorful (after having a pretty plain tasting, but brilliant looking, rainbow bagel from Liberty Bagels a few days prior).  

I really quite liked it - it had a great chew, nice crust, lovely shine to it.  Exactly the deeper flavor I was looking for from the pumpernickel.  Didn't need toasting, was perfect to enjoy just as-is. The chew really set it apart. ****+.

I also had the Maple Raisin Walnut Cream Cheese, which was quite good. I loved how it had big hunks of walnuts, and the sweetness was just right.  Maple made it a bit more interesting than more common honey walnut or raisin flavors.  ****.

Overall, a great bagel experience, better than Liberty Bagels for me.

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