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End of Freeman Alley, off Rivington between the Bowery and Chrystie (Map) New York NY 10002 212.420.0012 http://freemansrestaurant.com
It’s not every day that a member of the WBC hits a milestone age. This time it was Sylvia’s turn (but to be polite, we won’t say which milestone–let’s just say it’s over 10 but under 90). So, the WBC had to celebrate in grand style, lest we feel the wrath of our breakfast czar. What would we do? Well, nothing says celebration like a birthday brunch in Manhattan, and Sylvia selected Freemans, a rustic-style hipster haven tucked down an alley in the Lower East Side. Freemans offers a full menu of hearty brunch items ranging from standard fare like eggs, pancakes, and mac and cheese to more creative dishes like Devils on Horseback and smoked trout, both of which were enjoyed by members of the WBC. And if you just need a little absinthe to go with your bacon (like Reid), Freemans offers a range of cocktails to wash down your meal. So, what did we think? Did the Devils on Horseback gallop away? And how old is Sylvia? (We’ll never tell…and no, that’s not an intentional reference to Gossip Girl.) Read on to find out.
Attendees: :jump_to_Shelley:, :jump_to_Andrew:, :jump_to_Sylvia:, Jeffrey, Reid
:a_Shelley:
I’ll cut right to the chase: I loved Freemans, but I didn’t love the meal I chose.
Now let’s backtrack and start at the beginning.
The concept and ambiance is charming. At the end of a know-exactly-where-it-is-or-you’ll-miss-it alley near The Bowery lies Freemans. Strung across the alley near the entrance are round outdoor lights, like the kind you’d put up under an umbrella for a mid-summer fete. Signs outside warn patrons to keep the noise level in the alley to a minimum, since people live in the buildings above and surrouding the restaurant. Inside you’re greeted by a warm, cozy atmosphere, rustic wood tones abound, creepy animal heads are perched on the walls. We were led to the second floor, where the dining area looks like it’s right in the middle of a friend’s study or library; very warm and inviting. We were seated in our own room, which featured some pictures of farm animals hung on the red brick walls and nice displays of pinecones and candles. It was hipster rustic and I loved it all.
I contemplated ordering the “soft scrambled eggs”, but requesting them to be hard scrambled (is that the right term? I don’t know), but instead I settled on the Egg Skillet, which would contain eggs, spinach, gruyere cheese, and bacon, served with a side of toasted sourdough toast.
The tap water that we got for the table tasted like cardboard. How do I know what cardboard tastes like, you ask? It’s just one of those things that you know. Like, transfer the smell of cardboard into a flavor, and that’s what the water tasted like. I didn’t care for it, but I also didn’t want to get a pricey drink.
The egg skillet arrived and while it was made up of all the yummy-sounding ingredients, the eggs were not what I expected. Don’t ask why, but I assumed the eggs would be scrambled. Instead they were sunnyside up, which looked pretty, but I’m not a fan of runny yolk. I didn’t want to be fussy,though, so I ate the egg whites and all ther skillet mix-ins. The second thing that bothered me a little bit was the gruyere cheese. There was a bit too much of it and its aroma was, to me, overpowering to the extent that on a couple of bites I didn’t breathe through my nose.
What I did enjoy were the lemon ricotta pancakes that we got for the table. They were, I’d venture to say, the best lemon ricotta pancakes that I’ve had to date with the WBC. (Fun fact: Just a week before we went for brunch Freemans switched out their winter menu for the springtime menu. On the winter menu instead of lemon ricotta pancakes there’s a pumpkin spiced pancake. That sounds delicious as well and will, I’m sure, lure me back to Freemans when the days get chilly again.) The pancakes came served with a rhubarb whipped cream, which we requested on the side, and maple syrup in a glass container shaped like a log cabin. While this was charming, it wasn’t entirely practical, since the syrup spilled down the sides of the cabin anytime someone tried to pour some. It was also topped with what appeared to be a re-used cap from a soda bottle. Oh, hipsters.
The prices were, thankfully, not outrageous; my skillet and my share toward the pancakes came to $16 and change. Worth it for the overall experience; next time I’d get just the pancakes or the soft-scrambled eggs made hard-scrambled (or something like that).
Since I was still a bit hungry, I insisted the WBC wander around the Lower East Side in search of a wholly satisfying dessert. We first happened upon the gelato place near Katz’s (Sylvia has the name of it). And while 48 flavors of gelato was intriguing, I wanted something I could actually sink my teeth into, so I waited while the rest of the group scooped up their gelato selections. A little more wandering brought us around to the Clinton Street Baking Company (location of not one but two WBC excursions). We were going to go to the Dessert Truck next to Clinton Street, but found that it doesn’t open until 2pm on the weekends (and it was only a little after 1 at this point). Rather than walk around for another hour waiting for Dessert Truck to open, I popped into CSBC and got a simple chocolate chunk cookie. Simple, yes, but it satisfied my craving for something sweet and chewy. As we stood outside finishing our desserts, I thought to myself, self, you know what would be perfect to wash down this cookie? Some fresh lemonade. So off we went again. We spied a couple of coffee shops but none that seemed like they would have what I wanted. And then we happened on a little place on a corner, a small cafe that had some seats inside but also a charming little ordering window on the street. We looked at the chalkboard list of beverages posted next to the order window and bingo, at the end of the list: Fresh Squeezed Lemonade. The person taking our order at the window must have been trying to show off because he took the orders for all 7 of us at once and didn’t bother to write anything down. But he got it all correct. Now, I wish I had paid attention to the name of this place, or what street we were on. But I got distracted when the money we had placed on the counter blew off with a gust of wind and behind a dumpster. Fortunately my legs proved to be just the right length for reaching behind a dumpster and dragging money out with my feet. So, eventually we paid and we were once again on our way. How did we spend the rest of our time in the Lower East Side, you ask? Well, if you guessed loitering in front of Jeffrey’s parked car outside an Asian copy shop, you’d be correct. We finished our delicious warm-weather beverages from the mystery cafe and my good, dear WBC friends were very patient as I forced them to listen to my dating ups and downs. Thanks guys, thanks.
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:a_Andrew:
Freeman’s looks like an old farmhouse and NYC was built up around it. It lies at the end of an alley in the middle of a block near Chinatown. The interior is decorated with antique wooden tables. There are stuffed wildlife around, pine cones and candles, and kitschy hipster music plays at low volume, giving Freeman’s a very warm and inviting feel. For brunch, I order the poached eggs with a roast tomato and cheesy grits. I also ordered a side of breakfast sausage. The poached eggs were delicious, the best I’ve had in a long time. Both poached eggs were perfectly cooked and came out at the perfect temperature. These perfectly cooked eggs sat on a bed of grits, which added depth to the flavor. The tomato didn’t really work for me, but it did add color to the plate. The breakfast sausage was one of those “chicken apple fancy pants” sausages, which I did not like. Yecch. I should have gotten the bacon instead.
The poached eggs item costs 12 dollars which is not bad. The eggs came out great and the grits were just wonderful. Skip the sausage (3 links for 5 dollars) and get the bacon to go with it.
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:a_Sylvia:
Freemans is a very charming restaurant tucked down an alleyway in the middle of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Away from the traffic, noise, people, and general city chaos stands this rustic two-story restaurant surrounded by residential buildings. Inside, the floors are wooden, complete with soft creaking when walked upon. The furniture and general decor was almost like a page out of an Anthropologie catalogue, except not as girlie.
We showed up at 11am, a party of 7 and without a reservation (for parties of 6 or more they take reservations). Luckily, they were able to give us a table that was reserved for 1pm with the warning that we will only have two hours to eat. I thought, we can handle that! So we were shown upstairs to a private room.
I had a lot of trouble trying to pick what I wanted to order. Everything sounded so good! I ended up with the Smoked Trout served with hard boiled eggs, horseradish cream and buttered sourdough bread, and a side of cheddar grits. I also had a celery soda to drink.The meals came surprisingly quickly. My smoked trout was perfectly salty and not fishy at all. The pieces were nice and chunky. I wasn’t sure what the right way to eat it was, so I followed Greg and piled some on top of the toast with a liberal application of the horseradish cream. It was excellent if not a bit messy. The wooden plate it came on seemed a bit too small, and I kept dropping bits of food everywhere. Once I ran out of bread, I started using the hard boiled eggs as my vessel for the trout and horseradish cream (I really really liked that cream). The mixture of the spiciness of the horseradish with the egg yolk salted with the fish was egg-cellent.
The cheddar grits did not disappoint, especially evident by Jeff basically polishing off a majority of it.
I also had one of Alli’s Devil on Horsebacks, which is a stuffed date (with what, not sure…maybe blue cheese?) wrapped in bacon. It was only the second time I’ve ever had them (not exactly on many menus I come across), and they did not disappoint!
I’ve never had celery soda before, but this was very refreshing. There was definitely celery in it, but it was unsweetened, which is how I prefer it.
The czar says: All in all, I really enjoyed Freeman’s. I am appreciative that they were able to seat our large party so quickly, and for the quick and somewhat relaxed service (no hovering and silently clearing plates multiple times during the meal). It’s a really cute place I wouldn’t mind returning to in the future for lunch or dinner or even another brunch!
Side note: After brunch we wandered around the LES in search of something for dessert. Across the street from Katz’s, there is now a Laboratorio Del Gelato. I got a medium cup, which gives you three flavors. After hemming and hawing for a long time trying to decide on what I wanted from the 48 flavors available, I ended up with a scoop each of dark chocolate, raspberry, and hazelnut. The hazelnut had tiny pieces of hazelnut giving it a nice texture. However, the combination of the dark chocolate and raspberry took the cake.
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