Thunder and Lighting

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The New York Sun

Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner built his reputation at Wallse, the West Village restaurant where he still wields a finely honed, delicate interpretation of Austrian cuisine.

At his new spot Thor (its name is an acronym for its home: the Hotel on Rivington) the project is bigger than Wallse, but Mr. Gutenbrunner rises to the occasion in style. Influences here are looser, coming from all over Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as American vernacular food (Fig Newtons!), and straight from the chef’s imagination. His dishes typically comprise one or two excellent ingredients buttressed with one or two complementary flavors, rather than precious, precarious elaborations.

It is surprisingly easy to exit the restaurant feeling satiated and not gouged: Three courses for $50 is cheap for this rarefied territory. A product of the craze for sharing and tasting, the menu is confusingly broken into “Cold Plates To Start,” “Warm Plates in the Middle,” and “Hot Plates.” The implied sequence and ranking by temperature is just for show. The first two both list starters, in the $8-$12 range, and the latter entrees.

The starters, hot and cold both, are beautifully composed little treats. Shot glasses contain a trio of creamy seasonal soups ($9): squash with toasted pumpkin seeds, hazelnutty parsnip, and a rich cream of celery. The tiny portions are just right; one only regrets that the narrow glasses prevent sopping up the dregs with the rustic bread that’s provided. A bone-white cloud of mousse ($10) has a tomato-y tartness; it rests on a sweet tomato cookie, amid colorful heirloom tomato slices. Three ravioli ($11) dotting a vast empty plate look like distant, pale pleasure-domes: They’re stuffed with mild white cheese, lavishly buttered, and each topped with a perfect fresh mint leaf that transforms a delicious but plain dish into a zingy one.

Tossed in cream with abundant wild mushrooms, the gnocchi (a steal at $12 for a sizable serving) are perfectly calibrated: soft without being feather-light. A scattering of several snipped herbs seems like a haphazard garnish at first, but quickly makes sense when the tarragon harmonizes with the peas, and the dill with the mushrooms.

Thor’s main courses hold up their end of the bargain admirably. They veer from delicate to hearty. A whole brook trout ($22) has magnificently juicy flesh, its richness offset by zesty caperberries and complex Austrian vinegar, noble sour, which is made from a Spanish sherry grape.The same vinegar glazes a big, hearty calves’ liver ($21) – very Mitteleuropaische – served with turned apples and a slab of bacon.

The sheer indulgence of sweet poached lobster in a bowl ($22), doused with figgy bearnaise sauce, is balanced by fava beans. Venison ($25) is the only disappointment. So good at Wallse, here the chunk of lean meat seems a little flavor-shy, though a cap of rich chicken-liver pate pressed on top combats that.

Pierre Reboul’s desserts (all $7) almost deserve a review to themselves. They range along a delicious spectrum from classical to offbeat. A housemade grape soda is squirted tableside from a siphon over ginger ice cream; a dense housemade Fig Newton nestles alongside. Dark-flavored maple syrup ice cream complements pumpkin cheesecake; a melting terrine of grapey apples with spice ice cream gets a surprise kick from a reduction of noble sour vinegar. Perhaps the oddest offering consists of stacked discs of sour lime sorbet and mashed avocado, capped with a glassy salted-caramel shell: The quasi-tropical flavor combination tastes alien, then compelling, then delicious, then gone.

Fifteen glasses of wine and 100 bottles make up the smallish, untraditional list, which is divided into New and Old World sections. There are plenty of excellent bottles available under $50, and just a few over $100. The Les Belles Vignes sancerre ($11/glass) and the fresh, fruity Le Pupile from Morellino di Scansano ($28/half-bottle) are a couple of highlights. A section labeled “Sommelier Discoveries” highlights lesser-known Eastern European wines, including a succulent, bright red made from the xinomavro grape, from Greece’s Alpha Estate ($59).

Thor installs an uptown breed of luxury downtown, with a finesse that’s occasionally jarring but ultimately very successful. Even as drab neighboring fire escapes loom above the dining room’s skylight, luxe touches like Riedel stemlessware and a precision-drilled army of servers show that this is a real hotel restaurant that’s not just slumming downtown. By the time you leave after a dizzying meal, it’s the tenements outside that feel oddly artificial.

Thor, 107 Rivington St. at Ludlow Street, 646-253-6700.


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