Wink, Nudge, Scowl

I was not very pleased by the menu at Wink, where I ate with RB on Monday night. I am always turned off by phrases like "sorrel aioli" and "lobster buerre blanc" even though they are rather straightforward descriptions of what the food is... you know, if you are French. Other things were mysterious - branzini, sunchokes, salsify, e.v.o.o., cippolini, trumpets royale. (The use of "bcf" for so many of the veg refers somehow to them being locally grown and supplied, from what I overheard a waiter say to another group of people.)

The truly disturbing element was the conspicous and proud (one might say brazen) emphasis placed on the fact that you are going to be eating an animal - bison, duck, mussels, oxtail, pork belly, quail, venison, lamb, and rabbit. Braised rabbit! And they have the cruelty to pair the rabbit with baby carrots. Bastards! (They actually served a lot of different things "braised," which struck me as kind of funny, given that one of the big advantages of braising is that it "is economical, as it allows the use of tough and inexpensive cuts, and efficient, as it often employs a single pot to cook an entire meal," as Wikipedia puts it, and yet Wink charges a lot for everything. Demand side.)

Some of the other obnoxious animal items have been masked using traditional names, of course, like foie gras and sweetbreads. I was impressed (in a bad way) that they even managed to make a vegetarian salad sound disgusting by using "bulls blood beets."

RB had the snapper, which tasted yummy, though one bite was enough of that for me. (This was good, since they only appeared to serve about 6 bites of it.) Fortunately, they serve the flourless chocolate cake of the gods and I loved it.

The service was kind of sucky. They were fast to get the food out, but they did not even manage to keep me hydrated, and I had two glasses going at once (one tea, one water). The glasses were thin but not very tall - the kind that ensures that even a full glass supplies very little beverage. It was so sweet (ahem) of them to bring out a special bowl with multiple varieties of raw sugarcubes for doctoring my tea (although, hello, you do not make sweet tea by adding big-ass sugar cubes to cold tea poured over ice!) but I would have been happier if they had just brought me some more god-damn tea.

So, in short - Wink - pretentious, sadistic menu; awesome cake; BYO bottle of Evian.

Rabbit Disapproval Rating: 9/10