A completely weird name for a restaurant that's for sure! Until you learn that the owner is named Jacob and then everything makes sense. Walking into the space it is warm and inviting with a rustic rough around the edges sort of feel, reminiscent of a place you might find in Dumbo or Long Island City, but certainly not on the Upper West. Southern influenced, locally sourced, with an extensive beer and cocktail list, homemade pickles, biscuits, and preserves and of course a food menu, it is an excellent place for a group of friends to sit down and catch up or to grab a drink at the bar, you name it, this is a welcome addition to the Upper West.
They had a cocktail on the menu that was completely after my heart -- a Lavender Gin Fizz which was Farmer's Organic Gin, Housemade Lavender Syrup and house lavender bitters. Smooth yet aromatic, flavorful yet tangy, and definitely not too sweet or too sour. I was already in heaven.
We started with some of their hot sour pickles which were fresh and briny and all around fabulous and their homemade biscuits with "fixings." Fixings were housemade raspberry preserves, orange marmalade, honey and butter. These were comforting and just what you want in a biscuit -- not too heavy and not too light so the entire thing crumbles to pieces. We also had their house smoked salmon with creme fraiche, capers and scallions -- an excellent pairing partner for my aromatic herbaceous cocktail. Being a big smoked fish fan, I always think its an interesting gauge of a restaurant to see how their smoked salmon is, maybe not very adventurous but it allows you to judge the kitchen's skills based on other restaurants with their own house smoked salmon. We also had their mushroom mac n' cheese with shittakes, king oysters, and portabella mushrooms which was decadent, unctuous, creamy, and fantastic. The mushrooms added an excellent rustic earthy feel to the dish so that it wasn't just pasta and cheese and more pasta and more cheese.
Overall a really welcome addition to the Upper West Side whether its just for dinner or for dinner and drinks or simply drinks. I will definitely be back soon.
Jacob's Pickles
509 Amsterdam Avenue
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