After competing and becoming a finalist in the 23rd season of Top Chef in the Carolinas, Sherry Cardoso (who had been an opening chef at Olmsted, among other positions) came back to New York to debut her tasting menu at Cynthia, her West Village restaurant,
with co-founder and business partner Claire DuBois.
It’s named after DuBois’s aunt, Cynthia Peck, who had co-run Fullerton, California restaurants Angelo’s and Vinci’s Ristorante. The $165 six-course menu reflects Cardoso: New American dishes with plenty of Brazilian aspects — and an eye on sustainability, using ends, peels, and trimmings. (There’s a seven-course option for $200.) Each meal is preceded by a cute card describing the seasonal significance and produce in poetic language.
The space is a single airy dining room, with a soundtrack heavy on the 1990s, comfortable seats, and a bathroom sink seemingly carved out of a huge rock.
What you’ll get
- I went during the summer. The presentation of the fluke tostada in the opening bites section was so neat and unexpected. Cardoso tops a yellow masa tostada with fluke lightly layered in a creamy, nutty vatapa sauce, laced with shrimp and coconut, then garnished with a sheet of nori.
- The corn course featuring lots of squash was such a wonderfully complex grouping, with corn served three ways: First, there’s a corn sorbet with tiny sliced squash; the two-layer creamy corn custard topped with caviar; then the roasted summer squash with corn kernels and dollops of a chunky XO sauce made with vegetable trim, lending to a beautiful pairing of sweet and savory tastes.
- The lobster is decadent and showy. A staffer comes with a little leather satchel that unveils loads of truffles. The person shaves those truffles onto the lobster course, where the seafood is paired with a tomato curry. There’s also an accompanying charred lobster and tomato taco that’s quite great.
- The brisket ravioli is both a work of art, beautifully shaped, and delicious.
What to drink
I started with the Tomato ‘Tini, a martini made with tomato eau de vie, amontillado sherry, and a green tomato vermouth ($26), served with a little cherry tomato that’s dusted with black pepper in its own little holder with a toothpick. I adored that they served batikh, a watermelon and arak beverage, as well as house-made tepaches in flavors like strawberry and pineapple.
The desserts
The Amazonian brigadeiro is not too sweet; that, along with the other petit fours, made for a lovely finish.
Best seat in the house
I went with my colleague, who already opined on the wonderfulness of being able to sit side-by-side at the little two-person booth — separated by curtains — along the window of the restaurant facing the dining room and open kitchen.
Insider tip
While you don’t get a menu at the beginning, you’re given a take-home menu detailing the dishes, plus some condiments used in the meal.
