• by Barbara Nevins Taylor

I went to sleep thinking about the meal we enjoyed at Cynthia, a restaurant on Jones Street, in the West Village. I woke up thinking about the delicate dishes in the six course tasting menu that came to our table with a gentle explanation.  Each dish looked like a small painting and the description of the ingredients couldn’t possibly prepare us for the taste.

First let me say, this is expensive. It is $165, per person without cocktails or wine,  and the bill comes with an 18% service fee tacked on instead of tips. The restaurant is small. It seats only 28 diners.  But it is like dining in a soft beige jewel box. 

Claire DuBois, who comes from a California restaurant family and  restaurant partner Executive Chef Sherry Cardoso opened Cynthia in the spring. We live down the block and ate at Cynthia for the first time a few weeks after it opened.  We long ago abandoned the mad dash to the newest New York restaurant, but this was close and I was celebrating a victory over medical problems. We were joined by our friends Gail and Israel Berger, and each bite each person took brought exclamations of happy surprise. The six courses then were created with spring ingredients mostly available at the farmer’s market, and we left feeling that we had taken a culinary trip that soon wouldn’t be just a secret to us. 

So when it came time to celebrate our wedding anniversary at the end of August, we asked Claire for a reservation. You can book now on Resy.

Nick and I sat at table against the wall and felt the pleasure of taking in the whole restaurant and the open kitchen. Chef Cardoso, who cooked at Per Se and Brooklyn Fare, was also a finalist in a recent 23  season of “Top Chef.”  She works quietly and determinately with a small staff and it is fascinating to watch her add the final flourish to each dish. The summer menu equaled, maybe surpassed spring. 

They knew it was our anniversary and served us a sparkling wine to start.  In addition to freshly sourced ingredients, Cynthia aims for sustainable, zero waste cooking. Every bit of an ingredient is used in some way or other. This meal began with what they call opening bites. Two small dishes:  a crispy, pretzel like waffle with a dab of uni in the middle, and fluke in a masa tostado with a dab of a Brazilian stew. Sherry is Brazilian-American and she uses Brazilian touches in many of the dishes.

We ordered two glasses of Ube Miraflores from Andalucia, Spain and the server told us we would taste a touch of salt from the ocean, and we were glad that she was right.

Our wine paired perfectly with the next dish, which looked and tasted like desert. I’m lactose intolerant and the chef took that into account. Nevertheless, the corn custard, and sheep’s milk foam with a bit of osetra caviar over ribbons of summer squash and a touch of fois gras looked and almost tasted like dessert. The tiny grains of liver played off the sweetness of the custard and slight saltiness of the caviar

It seemed like an interlude when the server brought the bread and butter course, a steamed brioche with house lemon butter and a small assortment of pickled vegetables. 

The main dish, as if everything wasn’t main, came next. Lobster  arrived in two versions.  Lobster in tomato curry, green mango and black garlic was served with a spoon. Once the plates were set in front of us, a second server came around with a little leather bag and extracted a fat black truffle, which he grated over the lobster dish. The combination of the sweet, the tangy lobster and aromatic truffle made you want to slow down every bite. But there was also a second small lobster course plate. It looked like a slightly soggy taco. Digging around with your fork, you discovered a piece of lobster claw buried in the middle of this  plantain taco. “Oh!” we exclaimed smiling. What a way to celebrate almost 50 years together. 

The pretty sorbet of summer melon, coconut and granita came next and while we didn’t want the meal to end we asked them to pack the petit fours to take home. Did I say love this restaurant?

Cynthia at 32 Jones Street is open Tuesday through Saturday and you can book on Resy.