Trestle on Tenth

Like many New Yorkers, Mr. Mari and I go out for "brunch". However, brunch is a misnomer for us since we lean towards the lunch part of the word and not the breakfast part. Don't get me wrong, I like Belgian waffles and Eggs Benedict but I'm usually looking for something more savory and frankly, more interesting. Enter: Trestle on Tenth.

Located in West Chelsea, only a couple blocks from the 26th Street High Line entrance and on the edge of Chelsea's gallery district, it's a terrific neighborhood restaurant. The split-level restaurant, with its exposed brick wall and wide planked floor, is Swiss-leaning; you'll find rösti instead of home fries, duck confit subbing for corned beef, and herring in place of smoked salmon but you what you won't find is fondue, showing New Yorkers that there is more to Swiss cuisine than a big pot of melted cheese. 

We shared an order of butter lettuce salad with crispy bacon and buttermilk dressing, Mr. Mari ordered the duck confit hash with poached eggs and béarnaise sauce and I ordered the three-herring plate with warm Yukon gold potatoes, sliced apple and onion. The salad was fantastic, mainly because the dressing wasn't thick and gloopy. The tanginess of the buttermilk was subdued by the buttery lettuce and saltiness of the bacon. Mr. Mari's hash, which I forgot to take a picture of, was as you might imagine: great. The not so shredded bites of duck were placed on top of perfectly poached eggs and the béarnaise had a really nice lemony bite to it. And as far as my herring plate goes, let's just say my friend Hilary, who is of Scandinavian descent and knows a thing or two about pickled fish, would have gobbled up every morsel. I could discern two different pickling flavors - one leaning more fennel/anise-y, the other more onion/sweet & salty - so for a pickled fish lover, as the chalk message on the street said, it was the way to happiness. 

Chef Ralf Kuettel opened a sandwich shop, Rocket Pig, in back of ToT and I mean a sandwich shop - there's only one kind available. It's only open Monday - Saturday, 11a-7p. We'll need to get our act together to try it but I'm thinking, if they're basing an entire menu on one sandwich, it's gonna be good and worth the hike.