THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED The Populist

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED The Populist Restaurant Review:

Unless you're a party of six or more, in which case you can make a coveted reservation, landing a table at this restaurant-of-the-moment is an exercise in patience. But the payoff --- approachable New American cooking that's seasonal and satisfying --- is absolutely worth the wait. Word has leaked --- fast --- that The Populist is the kind of restaurant where foodniks congregate to enjoy dish after innovative dish, best experienced via the seven-course tasting menu that may strut house-made agnolotti enveloping huitlacoche bobbing in a perfumed beurre monté; beef cheeks specked with salted porcini dust; or dots of roasted jalapeño caviar submerged under a purée of parsnips and apples, a soup that's poured tableside. And the food provides the ideal backdrop for a savvy wine list stamped with esoteric yet well-priced bottles that will delight oenophiles. The cocktails, too, are objects of desire, and the skilled bar staff makes its own bitters, tinctures and syrups. During the summer months, snag a seat on the expansive patio, strewn with foliage.