RESTAURANTS • First Word
The Skinny: Chef Josh Capon, who ruled the roost at Lure Fishbar in Soho and Bowery Meat Company in the East Village for years, returns to the dance floor.
The Vibe: Little Maven is a nightly party hosted by Capon, who works the two dining rooms with unbridled joy. (Also making rounds the night we visited: entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, who — along with Capon and two other partners — runs VCR Group, the restaurant group behind Little Maven and the forthcoming Flyfish Club.) Throw in an active bar scene up front, and the volume here hits 11.
The Food: Capon knows how to please a crowd with seafood. See, especially, the scallop crudo served with caviar and a spot-on Thai-infused steamed red snapper. But there’s also a killer agnolotti stuffed with pumpkin miso (and buried in grano padano cheese) and a dry-aged roast duck that was the dish of the night at our table. Leave room for Capon’s playful desserts, here including “chocolate mousse from the 80s” and a banana split “with all the things.”
The Verdict: More fun that anyone should be allowed to have on a nondescript block in Flatiron. And if you didn’t get a photo with Capon, did you even go? –Lockhart Steele
→ Little Maven (Flatiron) • 30 West 18th St. • Reserve.