Nomad was once known as the Wholesale District, home to many modest hotels favored by business travelers: One of them was christened Hotel Broztell in 1905. More recently it was retooled as the Evelyn Hotel, and its ground floor and mezzanine turned into a bar and restaurant.
Brass opened at 7 E. 27th Street, near Fifth Avenue, following the December opening of Tusk Bar, taking over spaces previously run by Jonathan Benno that closed during the pandemic. Now, the owner is Nick Hatsatouris, and the chefs are Fabián von Hauske Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone of Wildair and Contra (now Bar Contra) fame. I enjoyed a meal at Brass with a friend a week after it opened when reservations were already hard to come by.
Out of the gate, Brass recalls an earlier era of New York dining from the 1960s and 1970s when just this sort of bold and slightly experimental French restaurant dominated the dining scene in the city. Furthermore, despite its name, Brass is not exactly a brasserie: It’s not yet open all day, and it diverges from the simple hearty food formula one expects from that type of restaurant. There’s no onion soup, no croque madame, and no beef Bourguignon. It is, however, an innovative French restaurant that occasionally strays into haute cuisine territory with such dishes as a $120 chicken roulade for two wrapped in chicken skin and stuffed with truffles.
A grand piano stands in the center of the dining room at Brass Brasserie.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
After navigating the Evelyn Hotel lobby, we found ourselves passing through the Tusk Bar, which Esquire deemed one of the top 42 bars in the nation. We ascended a short stairway to a space that seemed like the gloomy backside of a traveling salesmen’s hotel. It was not gloomy for long. On our right loomed a pair of glowing chambers: a barroom with a semi-private table in a nook, and beyond that, a main dining room with an unattended grand piano in the middle, a series of Constructivist murals of colorful geometric shapes, and lots of tables jammed together among dramatic pools of light.
All cocktail bars should make miniature martinis.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
The cocktails blew me away. A series called Classic Two-Sippers features cocktails about half the size of an average drink. They include a Manhattan, a Negroni, a Sazerac, a Champagne cocktail, and a dirty gin martini. The last was the perfect size to drink while examining the menu, and didn’t leave me plastered on an empty stomach. All cocktail bars should serve drinks like this. Also, it’s $12 instead of the $22 to $25 that’s become the norm in New York.
The menu is divided into five sections: hors d’oeuvres, raw bar, entrees, main courses, and sides. We started with the moules frites ($16), a tip of the hat to a classic dish. Mussels with fronds of dill lay atop three boxcar-shaped squares of chickpea panisse. This is fun food in small bites.
We also ordered two entrees, which unfortunately came at the same time as our hors d’oeuvres. Instead of thinly sliced tomatoes, the tomato carpaccio ($23) consisted of baby tomatoes painstakingly arranged with slices of sweet onion and hearts of palm, making a very attractive picture and tasting wonderful, too, bursting with the distinctive sweetness of late-season heirlooms. Less enthralling was a scallop cremolata served in a shell with a few sea beans, smothered in a thick green sauce reminiscent of Argentinean chimichurri, overpowering the raw scallop.
The moules frites.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
Tomato carpaccio.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
Among main courses, the pork shoulder a la moutarde ($41) was agreeably draped with charred leeks and dressed with a dribbly mustard sauce. More impressive was the crusted golden tilefish ($49) deposited in a light saffron sauce with a burst cherry tomatoes and a smattering of clams. We ordered it with pommes frites, so light and perfect for dipping in aioli on the side.
The tilefish main course in saffron sauce with clams.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
The dessert we tried seemed half-hearted, a vanilla slice ($18), a caramelized puff pastry with passion fruit curd and vanilla custard. That custard was a bit pasty and the bottom layers were a bit soggy. Other desserts include a chocolate gateau with mousse, devil’s food cake with a chocolate glaze; and a popcorn ice cream scoop, with in-season Concord grape granita and olive oil jelly ($16).
Even with a few misses, a first meal at Brass Brasserie was enjoyable, which I’ve come to expect from a seasoned team such as this one. I’d be happy to go back, particularly for those two-sipper cocktails.
Vanilla slice at Brass Brasserie.
Robert Sietsema/Eater NY
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