On a recent trip to Brooklyn, I ate at a nice little neighborhood bar/restaurant called No. 7. The hype on No. 7 is that chef Tyler Kord, who used to work at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Perry Street, has created what Bon Appetit magazine rated as one of the Top Ten Best New Restaurants in America for 2009.
I was excited to try their fried broccoli appetizer ($8). It was an entire broccoli crown, still in the shape of a tree, just off the produce section shelf, tempura battered and deep-fried. Served atop a smear of black bean puree with arugula-shallot-orange salad on the side of the plate. It was weird, it was cute, but I wondered, is this dish inspired? or is it lazy? Is this what you get at one of the Top Ten new restaurants in the country?

 Maybe it was simply because it was late Sunday evening and the chef was off, because things were just not hitting on all cylinders. For instance, the Hamachi Sashimi on Korean pear ($13), while it was full of explosive flavor, the Mackerel still had its skin on. After I tried to chew on this raw fish skin for a minute, I relented. The friends I was eating at the table with came to same conclusion. It was almost a really good appetizer.

One of us ordered the Chicken with Rye Gnocchi and Lemonade ($18). The ‘lemonade’ was basically homemade jello, made with lemon juice and agar-agar, according to our server, and diced in tiny cubes placed on top of the chicken. That’s cool, very creative. I had sea bass and cockles in broth served in a funky iron pot ($19). I liked it a lot but it wasn’t exactly a homerun. This was not living up to our expectations. Another in our party had the swordfish ($20), which was outrageously delicious. The meal was starting to perk up a bit. Unfortunately, another of us ordered the Grilled Wagyu Bavette Steak ($24); a tiny cut of beef seared rare and sliced across the grain…perfectly prepared. However the streak of silver tendon through the center of the steak was unforgivable. I couldn’t understand why the chef served it. Possibly the lights were out in the kitchen at the time…he should have set it aside and eaten it himself, grabbed us another thin slice of the overpriced flap meat and tried again. This place was not living up to its hype.
Overall, I’d chalk it up to the kitchen having a particularly bad dinner service. It happens. I’m not saying don’t go there, in fact, my Brooklyn friends are going to give it another shot, they’re just not going on a Sunday.