The National Cafe

The task of opening a restaurant has gotten even more daunting in the past few years: getting the investors, the space, the chef, the liquor license, and the staff is only the first part of the challenge. The second, impressing your diners, now begins on opening night, because even if the Times waits to give its verdict, Yelpers wait for no one.

The National is one of a growing contingent of restaurants (like the Redhead) that opened in stages. It first served just coffee, then lunch, then dinner when the liquor license came through. This smart strategy allows the restaurant to start making money on day one, instead of sitting on an expensive lease while waiting for all the elements to come together at once. It also means the chef and the staff have some key practice time.

The result is a restaurant that already operates like a well-oiled machine, even in its early stages. The dining room is about the size of your first studio apartment, the kitchen about as big as a walk-in closet. Owners Julie Dickstein and Jeremy Hogeland have used the trick of mirrors to open up the space, but they’ve done it with a collection of vintage mirrors lined up on a subway-tiled wall. Big, globular lights, an eight-seat bar, and a non-attitudinal staff also make this a welcoming place.

Prices aren’t universally cheap, but they also reflect what you’re ordering. An appetizer of butter basted scallops with sweet corn puree, mache, and citrus gremolata is $15 and as good as the fabulous scallops at Alchemy in Martha’s Vineyard, while the intensely flavorful chorizo and smoked mozzarella croquetas are just $5. There are also a lot of enjoyable wines for low prices on the wine list, like a $32 2005 Puy Bardens Bordeaux.

The globe-trotting but concise menu alights on French, Spanish, Italian, American, Mexican, and even Hungarian cuisine, and all the dishes go well together under the umbrella of interesting comfort food.

Unlike the deconstructed roll at Luke’s Lobster, the National’s Maine lobster roll with fries ($24) is lobster salad on a bun, not just a selection of prime parts. While showcasing the prime parts of a lobster without filler is laudable, it also means you miss out on the inflections that vegetables like scallions can bring to the mix, as with the National’s wonderfully oniony lobster salad.

It was exciting to see rabbit paprikash with bacon, onion, sour cream and egg noodles ($22) on the menu – the fact that chef Zoe Feigenbaum would branch out into Eastern European rabbit dishes signaled that this was a place with real chutzpah. Though the sauce was on the watery side, this was true Hungarian paprika with real kick, and the rabbit gave the dish a gamey note that would have been absent with just chicken.

I keep searching for blistered peppers as good as Nobu’s. The National’s blistered pardon and shiseido peppers ($6) were good but lacked the sprinkling of fleur de sel that make Nobu’s a standout.

In this trendy neighborhood, in a space right next to Freeman’s, the National could have gotten by with OK food in a cool setting. But their ambitions haven’t let them settle for the ordinary, and it’s a good reminder that as a diner, neither should you.

The National
8 Rivington Street, between Chrystie Street and the Bowery
New York, NY
212-777-2177