Dressler: New Yorkers have always had two kinds of restaurants: the kind that gets visited when the parents are in town (would you like sparkling or flat?) and the kind that we keep all to ourselves (double order of mac and cheese please). But now there is Dressler. Named for the title character of Steven Millhauser's Pulitzer-winning novel (the parents are sure to love that), Dressler comes to us from the owner of DuMont and DuMont Burger (we love that). The Williamsburg restaurant seems a bit grown up for the mostly hipster crowd, but it's in no way off the fancy meter. Aluminum chandeliers that Edgar Allen Poe might have designed hang above a mosaic tile floor and zinc bar with gothic-looking chairs, and mirrored walls are accented with ornate metal work. The menu will seem familiar to DuMont fans—the famed burger is served at the bar—with dressed-up options of crispy artichoke, veal ragout, and roasted duck breast. And there's a 30-plus bottle wine list, which your parents will be impressed with, and which you will need after another meal of them asking when you're going to get a real job. |
