Smithereens

New York City

“Summer on Cape Cod this is not,” said Matthew Schneier in NYMag.com . Chef Nick Tamburo’s homage to New England oceanic foodways occupies a cramped subterranean East Village space that makes a meal there “closer to dining belowdecks on the Pequod .” Fittingly, the menu is full of deep cuts and dark riffs on the New England theme: a maple-infused pâté of smoked bluefish, rye-like anadama bread, grilled mackerel that’s “perfumed with tamarind, allspice, and chile,” and head-on whiting that’s whole-fried and “served with the dignity usually accorded to branzino.”

Tamburo also isn’t afraid to be impious: He serves a delicious riff on clam chowder that buries quahogs in steamy rice. Not every dish lands. The chef’s “abiding interest in the weird” isn’t for all

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