Day Three Hundred and Fifty Four - Fish + Cheese? A review of Fishtag

Fishtag is Michael Psilakis' fourth restaurant in the same locale on 79th street between Amsterdam and Broadway -- first there was Onera (never went), then there was Kefi (love the new larger location), then there was Gus & Gabriel (went once but never seemed to make it back) and now there is Fishtag, a modern fish centric restaurant with a simple elegant dining room.

The menu is not laid out via appetizers, entrees, and desserts, or by vegetables, meats, fish, etc, it is laid out by the type of drink recommended to enjoy with each dish, appetizers in red print, entrees in black. They did also have an entire appetizing menu -- smoked fishes, cured meats, and a wide variety of cheeses. But this place was not about having a cheese selection, it was about trying Psilakis' inventive creations.

Before I get to what we ordered, I have to make a quick comment about the wine list -- what a disaster! Do not put unappealing descriptions of wine. It is a turn off to your consumers. We split a lovely bright and fruity Cotes du Rhone which was light and delish. However it was described as "some berry fruit, yet much more dusty licorice spice than anything."Apart from the wine list descriptions, this place was totally and completely wonderful. We split a variety of dishes so that we could get a really sense of what Psilakis had done with the space this fourth time.

First came his chopped chicory, wild arugula and bulgar salad with medjool dates, pomegranate, green olives, breakfast radish, pistachio, peppers, grilled onions, and smoked almonds.  Crispy, crunchy, and fresh, this was a salad that was right up my alley! Next up came grilled sardines with fennel confit, dried capers, safron pickled fennel and radish. For someone who doesn't eat that much fish, I love sardines, why I'm not sure, but I just do. And these sardines just melted in your mouth...the perfect combination of salty, savory, aromatic, and all around fabulous.

Then we all split two of the three bruschettas on the menu, interesting to have bruschetta on the menu at a fish place. Hard to eat, yes! Totally messy, yes! But yummy? Yes yes! The first bruschetta was tuna confit, baked ricotta, spicy peppers, pickled pearl onion, garlic confit and fried herbs. It was an excellent melange of flavors that melded together perfectly -- sure was a bold combination, but boy did it pay off! The other bruschetta was also delish, but in my opinion not as good as the first -- this one was jonah crab, sweet and sour eggplant, onion, peppers, pinenuts, smoked almonds and manouri cheese. A nice subtle eggplanty, fishy, cheesy mixture that became mostly about the eggplant but was smooth and satisfying.

The last thing we split was one of their entrees which just sounded too good to pass up and it sure was just as good if not better than we could have imagined! What was it? Homemade sheep's milk dumplings, with bay scallops, crab, aji amarillo peppers, and sea urchin fonduta. Creamy yet light, full of strong flavors that managed to complement each other perfectly. Such a treat!

Overall a fabulous meal, I will definitely go back. Each dish was composed of a large number of ingredients but they functioned to create successful and unique flavor profiles that one would not think to combine and that didn't taste complicated but had the right sort of refinement.

Fishtag
222 West 79th Street