the seahorse tavern

"Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual equine shape. Unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life. Rarer still, they are among the only animal species on Earth in which the male bears the unborn young." Another fun fact from National Geographic? "Food passes through their digestive systems so quickly, they must eat almost constantly to stay alive."

Must be kind of nice to be a seahorse, huh? I'd agree, except for the fact that their average life span is only 1-5 years. Anyway :) last night I had the utmost pleasure of meeting my roommate Catherine and our friend Nihara at The Seahorse Tavern.

I've walked by this casual neighborhood gem a million times, but it wasn't until I noticed it featured on ScoutMob (with a 50% off deal) that I decided to dine here for a special weeknight meal with friends. Silly, silly girl.

They aren't kidding when they claim to serve the freshest of locally sourced seafood. The owner, Karl Feldmann has practically spent his entire career working with it. For almost ten years he was the head of a full-service fresh and frozen whole fish purveyor, then he became the Director of Buying for The Lobster Place NYC, and eventually, he founded The Seahorse Tavern with others.

To start, we shared a half-dozen fresh oysters of assorted East/West coast origins. The largest one is a Blue Point oyster which Catherine so bravely defeated...

For my entrée, I enjoyed the Atlantic salmon (pan roasted salmon, wilted kale and wild mushroom ragout with braised leeks and violette mustard sauce). It was, in a word, sublime. Nihara and Catherine's dishes were incredibly good too:

[Yorkville Burger (fresh ground sirloin, grilled to your specifications, served with roasted tomatoes, choice of cheese, and tavern fries)]

[Mussels Muniere (the New England classic of Prince Edward Island mussels served with white wine and garlic butter), brussels sprouts side]

By the end of the meal, we were comfortably satisfied (and on our third glass of wine) so when the waiter asked if we wanted dessert, we decided to split one. Unfortunately, our otherwise lovely dining experience became tainted by a less than stellar mixed berry trifle. Fortunately, the restaurant did their best to redeem themselves by removing it from the check and sending over a round of shots. Yes, shots. Would you believe me if I told you it was the second time this has happened to me in a week? They were completely unnecessary, yet we took them all the same. Our four-hour visit to The Seahorse Tavern made for a very happy Tuesday.

Honestly though, I woke up with a headache this morning. I haven't mentioned it but it's probably because I really, truly have far too much on my mind. As such, I am going to end this post with two tokens of wisdom from Grey's Anatomy's Meredith Grey, "however you feel is okay" and "at some point, you just have to let go, move on, because no matter how painful it is... it's the only way we grow." Phew, change is scary. Let's just keep swimming, okay?