Ger-Nis INTERNATIONAL, LLC

New/Notable Restaurants

Restaurant Review
Annisa
13 Barrow St,
NY, NY 10014
212-741-6699
www.annisarestaraunt.com

We’ve discovered a special little secret in the west village. On a small road with little foot traffic hides a perfect little gem of a restaurant—Annisa. Annisa is upscale but still quaint and accessible. Annisa impressed us with its food, its wine, its coziness, its special occasion feel and mostly the attention given to the use of fresh herbs in its dishes.

Anissa features modern American food specializing in seasonal and “eclectic” cuisine. Their chef, Anita Lo, was voted one of the top ten best new chefs by Food and Wine Magazine in 2001. Her unique and daring creations are sought after by many foodies throughout the world. Chef Lo’s cooking has made Anissa a special diamond in the food world where many chefs themselves come for a lovely night of food and drink.

In fact, we first heard about Annisa through some chefs at one of our favorite restaurants. We decided that if Anissa is where our favorite chefs go out on their nights off, then it must be worth exploring. In retrospect, we had seen and read articles about Anissa, but it never registered. So, one special night we met some out of town friends at Annisa in the west village. Once inside, the cozy atmosphere made us feel warm and welcome.

Originally, we intended to share our appetizers. But, when they arrived, we were stuck between wanting to be selfish with our own dishes and the temptation to try a bit of what everyone else had. Anissa uses herbs in traditional ways, but with a flair and flamboyance that we found daring, fascinating and tasty! The entrees were also simple but at the same time extravagant and eclectic, not to mention completely satisfying. We dined on a salad of feta and grapes with pine nuts, dill and tuna with three mints for our first course. For our second course we had fillet of brook trout with its own smoked roe, roast potato, sorrel and skate with an avocado and radish salad.

Herbs are the staple around which we build our restaurant reviews, but we can honestly say that when it comes to Anissa, we remember really enjoying everything we ate. We enjoyed it so much that we didn’t feel compelled to analyze and critique the food. The French-style concoctions all included a wide use of herbs and delivered what we felt we had been promised when we walked in the door.

The wine was also exquisite and, as it turns out, we learned a little something afterwards. Annisa boasts one of only ninety-seven master sommeliers in the world! The wine list is also full of women—their extensive wine list promotes women in the wine industry. “Almost all of the wine on this list are either made by female vintners and/or made at vineyards owned and operated by female proprietors.” Women are another notable theme of the restaurant. The restaurant itself is owned by two women and their chef is a woman.

In all, Anissa is a lovely and very accessible place for special occasions or if you’re simply in the mood for a spectacular meal on a Tuesday evening. Ms. Lo really has created wonderful “melting pot” dishes that are exciting, tantalizing, decadent and simple. The flavors are well thought out and her use of herbs to capture the essence of certain produce or meats is nothing short of genius. We give it 4 herbs!!

4 of 5 herbs