Nuela

If you've been paying any attention to my recap of recent work travels, you'll remember that I am "currently" in New York City, living it up in a penthouse hotel. On our first night there, we learned what having the UN in town did to New York traffic, and we also dined at the new and hip pan-Latin restaurant, Nuela.

The moment we stepped into Nuela, we were greeted by the loud "unch-unch" of throbbing music- I immediately thought to myself "I'm too old for this."

A room full of shiny hair, sky high heels and it-bags hinted that beautiful is a prerequisite of dining at the restaurant. Even with my stylish new cropped pants, bohemian blouse and stacked heels, I felt like I needed higher heels, more makeup and a fashion bag the size of a sofa cushion dangling from my arm. Decorated in radioactive shades of orange and red, the main dining room was filled with diners that sat chattering with friends over cocktails (which were pretty delicious actually, especially the Cuba Libre) while simultaneously texting other friends and posting status updates on their social network.

It is needless to say that Nuela oozes with the exclusive glamour of a Miami Nightclub. You know, the kind of exclusiveness that makes one feel a little awkward and out of place at first because you don't quite know if you are actually cool enough to be there... yeah... like I said, I'm too old for this.

Nuela was meant to mark Neuvo Latino pioneer Doug Rodriguez's return to New York. However, Chef Rodriguez dropped out of the project before it actually began, leaving the restaurant's fate to his No. 2, Adam Schop to run the whole shebang. Regardless of who was at the helm of the kitchen, I was in a hip New York restaurant, had told myself I was cool enough and I was ready to get my grub on.

Up first, the shaved hearts of palm salad with smoked dates and a coconut vinaigrette. Not being a huge fan of dates (unless they are wrapped in bacon) or coconut, this salad was a ho-hum dish for me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

The hearts of palm were shaved to a delicate thinness but in my opinion, the dressing was too creamy and rich- I like my vinaigrettes with a little more acidity to it.

We also tried some octopus and pork belly anticuchos (aka Peruvian-style skewers) with pepper escabeche and shishito mayo. I wanted very much to enjoy these skewers but the octopus was tough and in my opinion overcooked, making it a chewy mess.

I know the pork belly was there to act as a balance to the chewy octopus but the combination just didn't come together for me. It was hard to enjoy one, without its counterpart foiling the experience.

Also sampled were these wee little foire gras croquetas with a liquid center of gingersnap and rum.

Definitely not my favorite. I was actually most excited to try this unique dish but could not get over the strong, sickly-sugary, alcohol-flavored goo that burst out of the ball. I haven't met something that I really disliked this much in a long time. It was like the foire gras croquetas were the food personification of a punch in the gut, or worst still, something you would find on the floor of a bus station bathroom.

However, if you are a fan of rich and strong alcoholic taste, then these croquetas are for you. I picture a hearty old man enjoying these. Oh wait... that would be my boss... and he did enjoy them.

Chifa empanadas with pork and rock shrimp in a curry mustard emulsion were also ordered. While they reminded me of the curry puffs that we get back home, the rock shrimp was extremely succulent and provided a divine complexion to the empanadas. The mustard curry emulsion was perfectly balanced and was a nice dipping sauce for the already tasty empanadas.

Having one in our party that did not eat shrimp, we also put in an order of their vegetarian empanadas, which  has a flavorful mixture of vegetables. Again, the empanada shell was nice and crispy

By this time, I was starting to categorize Neula as one of those restaurants where the scene is hot, but the food is not so much. Then the ceviches came...

We ordered two ceviche dishes and first on the palate was the surf clam and heirloom tomatoes, with charred watermelon and basil. My oh my!

I generally steer clear of clams in general but the combination of the tangy tomatoes, sweet watermelon and herbaeous basil was just what I needed to make my mouth water. The chewy clams were just delightful against the watermelon's wet snap. A dish like this could make me rethink my usually unfavorable position on clams.

The second ceviche we had was the hamachi with aji amarillo, sour orange, basil and black garlic. This was easily my favorite dish of the entire dinner. With flavor combinations that were new and exciting to me, I kept going back for more, in an attempt to make friends with every new flavor that walked across my palate.

It was delicate yet strong, simple yet bold. The sour orange combined with the black garlic was such a surprise and was like a flavor bomb going off in my mouth. What was even more endearing was that despite the boldness of the garlic, it did not overpower the hamachi, not one bit. It was exciting for me to see big brash flavors in such close proximity to extremely delicate ones.

For the main dishes we ordered two dishes from the section of the menu labeled Para Dos Personas, or dinner for two. Dish numero uno: The whole smokey peruvian chicken served with huancaina sauce, a piquant green aji sauce, thick crusty french fries topped with gloops of melty cheese, and a soft-boiled egg.

Moist and tender, the chicken was a sign of perfect technique being executed in the kitchen. While some think a perfectly cooked bird is cake walk for any kitchen, experience has proved to me otherwise. The huancaina sauce was peppery and simply over the moon, while the aji sauce provided a nice spicy option.

The second shared dish was the Arroz Con Pato, a beautiful paella-like amalgam of crispy duck breast, confit thighs and gizzards, roasted foie gras, and a fried duck egg served over rice that bears a tender, chewy crust of soccarat on the bottom.

I don't think I've ever seen so many variations of the theme of duck in one dish. I love variety so the multitude of duck was right up my alley. The bird's breast were amazingly succulent and flavorful, while the liver and gizzards offered many different textures and tastes from the duck. The best part of the dish was the combination of the runny fried egg that just gently flavored the golden rice that was beautifully crisp around the edges.

This is definitely a dish not to be missed.  

For dessert, despite all of us being full, we ordered the Passion Y Coconut with coconut crema, passion fruit curd and sorbet, and macaroon toppings.  While I enjoyed the passion fruit curd and sorbet, and while the macaroon topping provided a wonderful textural contrast to the crema, once again the coconut flavors put a damper to my enjoyment.

And lastly, we shared an order of a Panna Cotta with milk foam. I will say this now and will say this forever, foam on food is too contrived and a waste of space! It adds nothing to the dish and looks like someone spit up all over your food. Yeah... I think you know that I barely even touched the panna cotta.

So after 3 hours of dining at Nuela, what is my final verdict? Neula has a bit of an identity crisis. It can't seem to decide if it's a flashy Latin Lounge, or a restaturant with serious culinary intentions. I am not saying that a restaurant cannot be both things. However, the contrived coolness coupled with the brash party vibe of Nuela makes it too exhausting for a multi-course 3 hour meal. In other words, there is good eats to be had at Nuela, if you can just summon the mental strength to ignore the scene.

Details:
Nuela
43 W 24th Street
New York, NY 10010
212-929-1200