by Sarah Bragaw Cassell
(Page 2)
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Also Italian, with a well-publicized garden and fountain is Barolo. I went to a very romantic wedding at Barolo a few years ago, not long after it had opened. It was early spring/late winter, so it took place in the large rear dining area that in summer opens with a long balcony over its garden. Their garden is filled with cherry trees that for a few weeks each spring form a pink cloud and for the rest of the summer, a shady umbrella for the shiny modern settings beneath. There is a small fountain against the rear wall -- it's not a small fountain per se but it's dwarfed by this Euro-Urban scene and the sea of cherry trees. People don't come for the food as much as the scene. The outdoor bar is just under that balcony and Barolo is amazingly well planned for people watching and hanging out. The recently enacted NYC smoking laws can only be a boon for this place with its largely downtown, heavily European influenced clientele. Everyone seems to be smoking but the garden is so big it didn't have the usual hazy cloud. The atmosphere was that of an outdoor cafe in a park in a European city. Great when you're in the mood for this sort of thing but you can't hear the fountain and never, for me anyway, has Barolo recaptured the romance of that wedding. |
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The tiny bi-level garden behind Chelsea's Gascogne and the tented garden room in Soho's Provence are both wildly romantic. Gascogne is a family-run restaurant that specializes in the cuisine of Gascony in France. There are several Foie Gras dishes and am emphasis on armagnac and game throughout the menu. Fish dishes are $19.00 and meat and game are $21.00. That's just about how the menu reads. There's a neighborliness about the place that adds to its casual romance. The bird in the cage eats out of the same dish as the resident kitty, next to a pot of lobelia and pansies while back in the tiny fern garden the small cement cherub pours water out of his urn. You relax into the folding chair and savor a glass of Chateau Bouscasse as someone plugs in the string of colored lights and evening just melts into midnight.
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Provence's Garden, in Soho, has a blue and white striped tent, as the chef, Pablo Trobo calls it. It appears to be rather a retractable awning (with a few suspicious stains on it). French doors (but of course) open from the main dining room onto the stone floored garden with trellises and hanging baskets and a tiered cement dessert tray of a fountain covered by potted flowers as the centerpiece. The garden, while technically outside, is another room in the restaurant. The only difference is the folding chairs on the stone floor. Provence is filled with flowers in pots anyway -- the whole restaurant is like a garden year round with its colorful and fragrant decor. Pablo Trobo uses seasonally available ingredients in his Southern French Cuisine and just now features Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Ratatouille in a Saffron Buerre Blanc that is out of this world. His herbs are blooming and there are edible violets and nasturtiums garnishing his plates. The staff adds to the Gallic flair and the fountain cuts the ambient noise so conversation can be intimate. Deliciously romantic. No cherubs.
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