Smörgås Chef (Dinner)

283 W 12th St

I tried; I really did. I’m open minded. People and places deserve second chances, right?

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by the chef of the tiny Scandinavian restaurant, Smörgås Chef. He found my brunch review unfair and offered me a $50 gift card to try again.

Despite my reservations about revisiting the same place twice and my initial experience leading to the unfavorable review, I gave it another go. On a Friday evening, I invited DeeScreenWriter and a colleague to join me for dinner at the West Village eatery.

We were seated in a cozy booth shortly after we arrived. So far, so good. Then I glanced at the dinner menu and things started to get rough.

For the record, I don’t know the first thing about Scandinavian cuisine, nor have I visited the northern European region. However, I imagine there is more than rice and veggie burgers for vegetarians to eat.

Not at Smörgås Chef. Whereas, for brunch I had a plethora of options to choose from, for dinner I had 2; risotto with mushrooms, asparagus, and balsamic vinegar or a standard vegetarian burger. I chose the risotto.

There was nothing spectacular about my rice. I could easily have made it myself, which was disappointing considering the length the chef went to accommodate me. I do not recall what meat dishes my dinner companions ordered, but know they both enjoyed their entrees.

Pluses for the evening included the specialty cocktail I ordered (visually and tastefully stimulating) and the intimate atmosphere/décor, different from when I came during Sunday brunch.

For the three of us, the total bill came to around $80. After the gift card, we split the remaining $30 and paid separately. My colleague’s credit card was charged twice, but I later found out the server reversed the double charge. Apparently, he also believed in second chances.

I get that chefs take a lot of pride and enthusiasm in their restaurants; I take a lot of pride and enthusiasm in reviewing them. What I don’t get is why a chef would go thru the trouble to contact me and offer me to come back knowing I am vegetarian and expecting me to be thrilled the second time around. Oh, and the dust on the glass bottle décor I complained about in my initial review was still there.

Overall, Smörgås Chef is a cozy eatery, but the food leaves something to be desired.

In the meantime, I am re-examining my philosophy on second chances…

DAMAGE ~80
VERDICT: PASS

Smörgås Chef

283 W 12th St

Painted in yellow on a cute corner in West Village is a cute spot known as Smorgas Chef. Sir Fancy Pants chose the Scandinavian venue as it featured a reasonable pre-fixe Brunch menu.

We were seated immediately at a table for two near a brick wall separator. I got started with a café au lait and SFP, a Bloody Mary. For our meals, I ordered the Eggs Florentine with salad, and SFP had baked eggs with their version of hash browns.

Because I was not in the best of spirits when we visited, I barely touched my coffee and ate half of my meal. The entrée came with a mimosa, which I took a couple sips of before passing it over to SFP. Luckily, my stomach came around later in the afternoon and was pleased with the leftovers. SFP enjoyed his baked eggs, and his potatoes were very good from what I tried.

Despite the delicious food and the cute décor featuring funky light fixtures made of glass bottles, I cannot recommend Smorgas Chef. The brick wall separator to the left of me had literally an inch of caked on dust. As any true restaurateur can vouch, the little things matter just as much, if not more, than the big. The glass bottles scattered as artwork around the room looked as if they had not been cleaned in years. It frightens me to think of what the kitchen looked like.

The eatery has four locations around Manhattan, so no doubt you might stumble upon one someday. Enter at your own risk…


DAMAGE ~32
VERDICT: PASS