Brunching at ASSET is Nice, But Not Essential
A newly opened restaurant on the Upper West Side is now serving brunch! OK, most restaurants on the Upper West Side these days serv brunch. It’s a great money-maker. But not every brunch is created equal.
In early January, I was invited to join the new ASSET restaurant, which is the younger sister to TESSA, a Mediterranean joint in the neighborhood. They wanted me to try their brunch which would offer “classic yet elevated dishes” and I’m always down to try a new restaurant in my hood adjacent. So, I set a date and made the reservation.
Sadly, the week leading up to the brunch saw the loss of a friend and colleague of mine, Lee Gelber. And Friday turned out to be his funeral, which meant that I consumed quite a bit of alcohol the day before I was due for this meal. Luckily for me, brunch is designed for such a consumer. Unfortunately, I was in bad enough shape that the one thing I imagine this place really excels at was the one thing I couldn’t bring myself to further indulge in—the cocktails. That Saturday also happened to be a grey and VERY rainy day, which made it difficult to get good photos of the venue itself. So I didn’t.
My friend and I were brought to a two-top elevated booth table in the back of the middle section of the room. There wasn’t really a lot of space for a larger human in these booths, so we were grateful for their coat check. In fact, I had to physically move the heavy table just to be able to fit my long legs underneath it. But once it was all adjusted it was fine.
Immediately, we were struck by the vibe of the place. Certainly a very downtown feel for a place catering to the more family-friendly UWS clientele. The decor was very cool—lots of metal and wood in an industrial-chic style, but one thing that those materials are not good for is absorbing sound, which meant the space was rather loud. It was OK for me and my friend, despite my bad hangover, but probably not something my parents would enjoy.
The menu was pretty standard for brunch fare. My friend got the Broccoli & Cheddar Omelette and I ordered the Chicken & Waffles. When asked if we would be able to substitute the mixed greens served with the omelet for a side of the brisket hash, we were told it was not possible. Which seemed a little bizarre to us both. So, instead, we both ordered a side of bacon.
Had I been able to push myself to get a drink, I would probably have tried The Antidote, made with Pendleton Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Ginger, Lemon, Soda Water. But, I couldn’t really do more to my body than bitters and soda—which, although very simple, I will say was a very good bitters and soda—leading me to believe their cocktail ingredients are where they're putting their focus and likely where they shine.
When the food came out it became clear that the lighting was not going to be ideal for food photos, but we tried, and I managed to get my friend to capture both our dishes without shadow from her angle.
Good lighting from one angle…but not the other.
I think this was the first time I’d seen chicken cutlets served for chicken and waffles, and for good reason. I was drawn to the dish for a variety of reasons—but mostly because I needed something fried and fluffy to soak up any remaining poison in my body. The dish was plentiful and it did the job I needed it to do very well. The quality of the dish was fine, but not something I would go back for. My friend’s omelet was also fine, but she commented that the broccoli could have been cut smaller. The bacon was probably a highlight of the meal, because bacon. But I do want to acknowledge that we had two plates of it and one plate was more well done than the other—but neither of us indicated a crisp-level.
After our meal, we both needed some coffee on a gloomy afternoon and were impressed with the mugs that it came in. But that was it. The coffee itself was actually pretty bad. This is not something I generally have high expectations for at a restaurant, but neither of us could even finish half of what we were served.
The staff was all very nice and the manager was friendly. He gave us a little rundown of their other service, including a DJ on Thursdays through Saturday nights that they’re planning on adding to brunch and that makes sense to me based on this experience. I think it would probably be best served for a party type of atmosphere.
All in all, I would be interested in trying their dinner and would definitely go back for their cocktails, I have no doubt that’s their strength. I appreciate the vibe of the place and that the service is not stuffy because of it, but at this point, I’m not quite convinced about the food—especially not for brunch. But perhaps it’ll get better in time.