Perla

I had been dying to try Perla.  DYING!  Needless to say, my expectations were high.  We went somewhat last minute and were happy to snag two seats at the bar.  Luckily, the bar area serves the full menu.

While the food may be rustic Italian, there is nothing rustic Italian about the decor and ambiance.  Beautiful 20 and 30 somethings can be seen bobbing their head to solid old school hip hop and R&B tunes. Shiny red leather banquettes line the walls while a communal table runs down the middle of the dining room.

I love Focaccia bread so I was pretty pumped when it arrived.  Dry focaccia, however, is just down right bad.  I figured the amuse bouche ricotta crostini would make up for it but there was barely any ricotta and way too much honey and pepper.  The balance of flavors was all off so it just tasted like peppered honey.



Flavors that tasted off seemed to be the theme of the night.  The Agnoletti we ordered was clearly freshly made but the flavors tasted wrong.  Was the cheese bad?  Or did they use the wrong type of cheese?  Tough to say.  And yet this dish was still better than the Gnocci, which was clearly not homemade and a huge disappointment.  With the exception of the champagne and my company, Perla was not off to a good start.

What to Eat:

The only truly appetizing dish of the night was the Duck Breast, which was placed on a bed of cabbage, and then glazed with a plum balsamic and topped with golden raisins.  The tender slices of duck breast literally melted in my mouth.  The cabbage was lacking -- the duck would have benefited from a more satisfying puree of any sort (celery root, cauliflower, potato, etc...).

I can't fathom why this place is so hyped.  Sure, I enjoyed my champagne and duck but there were way to many miss hits to even consider venturing back.

Looking for top pasta in NYC? Perla can't hack it,

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