Two Urban Licks

July 28, 2007 - Tracy, Stacey and Mikey
We had been here before, but’s it’s amazing the difference your perception is when you see a restaurant full of people and the same restaurant empty.

The first time was on a scooter rally with Motovino Wines. It was about 1pm and the only people in the place were the 15 of us on the rally and the guys prepping for that nights service. We tried a few dishes, had a good look around and moved on to the next rally stop.

Now, we are back. Reservations for dinner at 8:30pm on a Saturday Night. A whole different scene. Loud. The place is packed. People without reservations are being told there’s a 1hour and 45minute wait. How smart are we, no wait for us.

This place is more like a HUGE bar than a restaurant as far as the vibe goes. As far as the food goes, it’s much better than bar food.

We started with crispy fried oysters with a creole mustard sauce. Yum.
Thin sliced sweet potato chips with a smoked salmon, chipotle cream cheese, capers and red onion spread. Awesome. It’s a dish we’ve been doing at home since our first visit with Motovino Wines.

Martinis were good and the wine selection was ok.

Entrees were as follows: Seared Tuna with a sesame dressing. Pork Shoulder, alot like Osso Bucco (reminds me of the time in Arkansas) was DELICIOUS. Skirt steak on a big pile of cream cheese mash potatoes didn’t suck either.

Waitron was excellent. We asked lot’s of questions and he had good answers. Even steered us away from a few things.

Decor was way cool. This is an old telephone factory turned loft/retail. You should click on the Two Urban Licks link and check it out. They have done a great job of giving you the industrial feel with tons of comfort. Once again, service was really good. The waitstaff are not working under regular restaurant situations. I cannot even tell you how many tables are in the place, there’s a huge bar for drinks, a food bar facing an open kitchen, where we noticed one station doing nothing but putting out the sweet potato chips with smoked salmon. Like I said, more like a bar serving some really good food.

These people have a couple of other restaurants including One Midtown, Piebar and Trois.

We’ve been to all but Trois. Looking forward to dinner there…