My spouse and I dined at Esca for brunch on a Sunday
afternoon in late October 2019. Esca is open for lunch/brunch on Tuesdays
through Sundays (no lunch on Mondays) and dinner daily. Diners can book a spot
using the online Resy reservation system.
For the past 20 years, Esca has occupied a street-level
space in a building on West 43rd Street near the corner of 9th
Avenue in the Theatre District/Midtown West. The restaurant had been closed for
a few months as it changed ownership and then experienced a fire, but it
reopened in September in its renovated space. The main dining room and a small
adjacent room offer seating at wooden tables of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.
The rear wall of shelves filled with cookbooks, Italian food products, and
decorative objects provides a focal point. Another memorable feature in the
main dining room is the antique meat slicer (made in 1919) and prep counter
near the front door. Framed black-and-white photographs decorate the walls and
add to the rustic farmhouse feel. A small bar is located near the front door.
In warmer months, one wall of windows can be opened to join the indoor space
with the large dedicated al fresco sidewalk terrace that seats about 50
patrons. The owners of Esca also operate two restaurants on Staten Island
called Barca and Surf.
Esca cuisine leans toward Italian seafood. While we perused
the menu and ordered drinks (Esca has a full liquor license; be aware that
nonalcoholic beverages including iced tea do not include complimentary
refills), wait staff offered us a choice of two breads (an excellent focaccia and
a more crusty wheat/sourdough); however, no dipping oil or butter was presented.
(The focaccia didn’t need it, but the other bread did.) As starters, we ordered
the burrata (topped with warm roasted peppers and arugula, all drizzled in
EVOO) and the charcuterie (several kinds of meat and cheese served with crispy
bread twists and a sort of “pan con tomato”). The warm peppers atop the cool
burrata provided a nice contrast in temperatures, whereas the charcuterie
platter was most impressive, plated atop a thick round wooded cutting board. For
our main dishes, we ordered the bucatini carbonara (which used tuna “bacon”
instead of regular bacon), the linguine with clam sauce (a dozen littlenecks,
along with two less-seldom-seen razor clams), and a side of the beet tops. For
dessert, we shared a yummy cinnamon walnut cheesecake that had just been added
to the menu that day.
We enjoyed our brunch at Esca; the food and service were
excellent, and we were happy to find such a quality restaurant in that
neighborhood.
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