My Life in Meals

The Collective

(Photo courtesy Zagat)

The Collective is a new restaurant in the meatpacking district, brought to you by the folks behind STK and Bagatelle. Like most meatpacking restaurants, its extremely loud with music blaring even as early as 7pm, slightly pretentious (we waited for a table for 20 minutes, even though there were many open tables AND we had a reservation), and pretty “sceney” (the restaurant is covered in all kinds of crazy pop art and eclectic deco). The nice thing though, compared to most of its neighbors, was that the prices were fairly reasonable and the food was actually very good.

For starters we got the Veal and Ricotta Meatballs and the Blue Calamari Fritto. The meatballs (3 to an order), were served in marinara sauce and topped with freshly grated pecerino cheese. They were perfectly cooked and extremely moist and tender. The calamari was corn crusted and served with two sides of mango chutney and spicy rouille. I have never had corn crusted calamari before, but I think other restaurant should start experimenting with using this instead of regular boring old breading because it tasted really good! The mango chutney was also really nice and spicy, mixed with jalapenos and red onions.

For our entrees we got the The Signature Mac and the Braised Short Ribs. I chose to do the simple mac and cheese since the appetizers were so heavy, but you can customize yours with different proteins, veggies, and even truffles for an additional fee per ingredient. It was really well made mac and cheese, and I can see why they would call this their signature dish. It was neither overly creamy nor overly dry, but perfectly in the middle. The short ribs were tender and juicy, but you could get these made just as well as any other “New American” style restaurant in the city.

The Collective
1 Little W. 12th St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 255-9717
Website
Price: $$-$$$