Wayfare Tavern

For dad's birthday, we celebrated at Tyler Florence's Wayfare Tavern down in the Financial District. Neither of us had been before which is surprising since they've occupied the space for about four years. I was sold with our choice as soon as we sat down since we were greeted with warm, freshly baked popovers. One of the best parts of dining with my dad is that he appreciates food just as much as I do and likes to try everything, meaning he gave me the go ahead to order away so we could sample each others starters and entrees. 

check those badboys out... have you ever tried to make a batch?! Not easy my friends, not easy.

One of the best parts of dining with my dad is that he appreciates food just as much as I do and likes to try everything, meaning he gave me the go ahead to order away so we could sample each others starters and entrees. I opted for the Butter Lettuce Salad, which is made up of Palace Hotel's Green Goddess dressing, avocado, red radish, ruby grapefruit, and ricotta salata

Dad went with the Wayfare Caesar, which was your typical Caesar salad but made with little gems, cheese puffs, anchovies, Caesar dressing, and an egg (which I would have left out). Next up, starters. 

I ordered the Seared Octopus which was served with charred scallion hollandaise and cippolini onion.

Dad tried the American Kobe Tartare which was served with French mustard dressing, and egg yolk, and garlic popovers…drooling yet?

As soon as I spotted it on the menu, I knew I had to order the fried chicken. The organic chicken is prepared with a buttermilk brine, roasted garlic, crisp woody herbs, and lemon. The menu didn't mention that five pieces of chicken are brought to you, so we ended up taking most of it home.

 Dad had trouble choosing between the seared Day Boat scallops and the Pan Seared Skuna Bay Salmon, but chose to go with the Salmon which came with braised swiss chard, lemon, cannellini beans, parsley, and capers.

Not that we had any room for dessert, we ordered the homemade doughnuts, which are alone, worth a trip to the restaurant. Warm, sugary, and delicious – anything fried is right? Served with salted caramel, a cherry sauce, and a lemon curd, but we did just fine devouring them without any accompaniments. 

Overall, a delicious dining experience, my only complaint is the place seemed a bit packed and overstaffed with too many servers and bus boys for such a narrow upstairs place. Other than that, I'd recommend it for a nice dinner or celebration, plus I hear they have a great happy hour ;)

xx