Vinegar Hill House

We're suckers for charm and, as some recent posts attest, anything that smacks of seasonality. Dinner at Vinegar Hill House, in Dumbo, gave us both. It also gave us our very own "stars: they're just like us" moment when we noticed that Zach Galifianakis shares our taste in cheese plates.



Global warming, shcnobal schwarming. We were freezing by the time we got to the restaurant, literally a minute after it opened. A good thing too, since the place was full up by 6.30. We started with a fennel salad topped with provolone and one of the appetizer specials, olive oil-and-garlic crustini. The oil and garlic had been baked into the bread, so the taste was there, but we didn't have to wipe our mouths every three seconds. All flavor, no mess.



Then we had a perfectly toothsome tagliatelle bolognese, another special, and the farm plate, a selection of cheeses, apple slices, house-cured meats, house-baked crackers, and fennel jam. We're still thinking about this. There was an awfully long lag between starters and mains, which apparently isn't uncommon, but, hey, that's what happens when it's cold and the place is at capacity.

We finished with a French spice cake served with a side of peppermint ice cream, delightfully full of smashed candy canes. The cake itself was spicy, as in peppery and tart, but the strong savory flavor was mollified some by a dose of caramel syrup. Vinegar Hill House serves a nicely curated (and cooked) selection of fresh, rustic dishes, but so do a lot of spots. We'll return for the warmly lit, lively atmosphere.