Back Forty West

A couple weeks ago, I had a random day off and met two of my favorite friends for dinner at Back Forty West. I'm not usually the type of person that emails her friends 3 different restaurant options, with quotes about the restaurant and estimates of how long it would take them to arrive from their offices. But for some reason I did that this time. I went in to my little experiment planning to convince them to eat with me at Jack's Wife Freda because I've been wanting to go so badly, based solely on blog posts I've read about the two owners. After further research, I found that they didn't have a ton of pescetarian options for your truly and instead I made a reservation at Back Forty West (though I still want to try Jack's).

I really lucked out, because Back Forty West was absolutely amazing. Housed in a brownstone on the corner of Prince St and Crosby, the restaurant boasts a delicious farm-to-table menu in addition to an inviting, homey atmosphere with a fireplace; which was EXACTLY what we needed on a frigid night in NYC. We were seated upstairs, which really felt like we were in the home of friends or family and we were very luckily placed right next to the fireplace, so it was all the cozier.

Each of us had an appetizer, entree, and we shared 2 desserts. I can tell you in complete honesty that everything that hit that rustic wooden table was delicious. We shared "fireplace creme brûlée" for dessert and we were not disappointed at all. If you're wondering like we were what exactly that entails, the answer is this; our waitress brought out an unfinished brûlée and instead of using a flame to caramelize the top of it, she took a branding iron that resembled a hockey puck directly from the fireplace and stamped the top of the brûlée to create a smoky/crunchy topping.

Keep in mind that what you see below may not be available when you visit as their menu changes frequently based on what is in season and available to them.

Rosemary and sea salt fries, beat and ricotta salad, and roasted brussels sprouts with bacon. 

Farrow risotto with butternut squash and mushrooms (Cremini, I believe).

This was without a doubt the best brûlée I've ever had. It was sweet and smoky at the same time, like a grown up version of s'mores. 

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