Cookshop

As fun as the Scotch tasting was, we all left feeling pretty hungry--one dumpling, 2 caprese toothpick apps and a samosa do not a dinner make! We wandered along 10th avenue for a bit before settling on Cookshop, which, while bustling, had an opening right away for our party of 4. We were tickled to see their Scotch list broken down by region, which is exactly what we'd just been learning about 30 minutes earlier at our Dewar's tasting!

I'm not sure why so many restaurants feel they need to make places so damn dark, but it was pretty hard to see here. The tiny little tealight candles didn't help much, either. I apologize for the flash photos..ugh! I'm not even showing you the drinks because they came out so dark, but they weren't that noteworthy to me, so you're not missing much!

We ordered the appetizer du jour, veal meatballs with homemade gnocchi. This was deeelicious. The meatballs were just okay to me, but the pillowy soft gnocchi and the finger-licking-good sauce were out of this world, and even made the baby brussels sprouts (which I normally abhor) so good that I kept going back for more. I have GOT to make my own veal stock. This dish sealed the deal for me.

We also shared a pizza (did I mention we were all pretty ravenous?) but I thought this was just okay. It needed some salt and a little more..oomph.

ABF got the lamb 3 ways, which sounded amazing, but was just...okay. The best part was the tenderloin. I think the rest fell a bit short of expectation. He was very sweet to share with all of us.

Sara's BF Mike ordered the porchetta (aka pork awesomeness) that came with cracklins. He even shared some of the cracklings with us--crispy, crunchetty yum.

Sara ordered the duck breast on a bed of lentils, with an awesome, autumny dollop of a butternut squash melange on top. She shared a bit of this succulent, delicious dish, too.

I don't normally veer toward eggplant, but the description of the Eggplant Parmesan dish kept calling to me. I ordered this and couldn't BELIEVE how big the serving was. I had MORE than enough to share with everyone, and I still couldn't finish it on my own. This was outstanding.

For some reason, we ordered dessert, too. I heard the sundae was raspberry and chocolate and immediately went for that. It was pretty, but it wasn't amazing. It was okay. The berries were tart and fresh and pretty awesome, but there was something flat about it. I wouldn't get this again.

ABF & Sara both ordered the pistachio-cinnamon pudding. I don't think they were that crazy about it, but I LOVED it! It was salty, slightly sweet, and yum. It came in oversized (but not too big) ramekins.

Overall, this was a delicious meal (just skip the pizza). Entrees ranged from my $16-27, and desserts were reasonable. If I'm in the area, I'd probably stop in again, but I probably wouldn't make a special trip for it just yet. My best advice: If they offer you homemade gnocchi--GET IT!

Cookshop
156 10th Ave (between 19th and 20th streets)
NY NY 10011
(212) 924-4440