Restaurant Review: Blanca in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Although I'm a spaghetti and meatballs kind of guy, I'm all for restaurants like this. Why do commenters denigrate something wonderful because you prefer something else?! There is a time and place for everything. Pete Wells makes the argument that this is great food, whether I can afford it or not. Thank you, Mr. Wells.

I find tasting menus annoying because they prevent the conversation between the guests to go beyond commenting what is on the plate - too many interruptions by the waiter explaining the often odd association of ingredients, and those explanations take more time than eating the single spoon offering. I prefer the old format appetizer and entree more conductive of discussions between the guests. The only tasting menu I enjoy are in Japan because it is an aesthetic and cultural experience and the small portions are well suited to Japanese approach of cooking. What works in Kyoto dos not translate in Bushwick - for me at least.

Blanca fascinates me for many of the reasons enumerated in previous comments. The restaurant is, in many ways, symbolic of Bushwick at the present moment. It is something highfalutin in, as rredge said, "the back of a pizza place," but that's very much the clash of cultures that the neighborhood is experiencing. I take Steve's comments seriously when he says that Blanca is "not what the neighborhood is about." Blanca inarguably represents the gentrifying element, which—like many of the neighborhood's newest residents—almost always comes disguised as a creative project. But, some creativity can also be destructive, and thus Blanca is costly in two ways: in what it charges diners and in its potential impact on Bushwick. All of that being said, I dined there last night and it was delicious. As I wrote on Yelp, Blanca definitely stands as a commentary on gentrification, a conversation that fits perfectly between the Alaskan king crab and the pizza dough courses.

Mr. Wells clearly believes that Blanca is an important restaurant; otherwise he would not be reviewing it twice in the space of 2½ years.

But I'm having a lot of trouble getting my head around the idea of paying what amounts to at least $300 per person, plus tax and tip, for a total of at least $385 per person, for dinner, while listening to Metallica, at the back of a pizza place.

The problem with eating one measly bite at a time every 10 minutes while drinking wine is it's a recipe for getting drunk and making bad decisions - like spending $600 on dinner. It seems to me that Blanca is more for people who deeply enjoy talking about food as technical achievements than commoners who like eating food for actual sustenance.

A new level of absurdity. A three star NY Times review of a non-restaurant, serving non-meals, to non-people.

These restaurants are such a drag. Snob magnets. The dishes don't even sound that good. I'm glad I've moved out of Brooklyn, the privileged scene in that part of NYC was getting so annoying. So, I moved to Journal Square, the uncoolest hood of them all and there is no cupcake place nor 15 course menu to be seen. Ah, I can breathe easier knowing that the hipsters are across the river.

A great and well deserved review. Carlo's cooking has always been so fun and exciting to me, over many many wonderful, memorable meals at Roberta's and on the two occasions I was lucky enough to eat at Blanca. He deserves to be able to flex his muscles in a format like this, and we are lucky to have it. Go give it a try.

OK. So, I know I'm never going to bother eating at Blanca -- I'm not a fan of Tasting Menus (omakase excepted). I haven't bothered returning to 11 Madison Park since Daniel Humm insisted on imposing the format.

What sticks in my craw here though, is the prospect of paying top-dollar for the privilege of eating in the kind of surroundings that just scream "Artisanal Facial Hair" hipster-wannabees. The experience of dining on great food is so much more than a chef knowing how to use ingredients in a new or interesting, or even yummy, way. Try eating at Jean-Georges next to Central Park and you'll understand precisely what I mean here. Food, service, ambience, decor -- it all works. And several pizzerias are nearby if necessary.

Better yet, try dinner at East 12th Street Osteria on First Avenue & 12th Street if you want some really excellent Italian food that rises to the level of fine dining but in a very relaxed atmosphere. Chef Roberto DeArco is terrific and 2 people will leave well satisfied for only a small fraction of the bill at Blanca. But wait -- that's the East Village, not Bushwick (nor Billyburg), I hear you say?

Correct. And this is where I start to reconsider the conceit of trying to pull off this kind of cooking in that kind of place, ie, Bushwick. Here's the thing: they're not likely to get priced out by insane rent rises any time soon. After all, Florent himself and Queen of the Meatpacking District for so long, ultimately moved where?

Correct. Bushwick.

This review made me angry. Decadent, wretched excess while the planet goes to hell, people starve, and most Americans are one paycheck away from disaster.

Given the price point, maybe the chef is trying to upgrade his stereo system and vinyl collection?

so post-modern to conflate restaurants with art galleries. and the customers -- they must be the people who buy the $2K trousers and $8K watches you advertise.

So many deserving restaurants that could use the publicity but yet again we are treated to a review of some uber-trendy place with micro-plates and macro-prices that only the trust fund hipsters that have invaded neighborhoods like this can afford. The only purpose in going to places like this is to tell your friends, Tweet about it, and then tell yourself how hip and superior you are to have gone to this 'in' place. It's just another status symbol and has little to do with food. I seriously wonder if Mister Wells or any of the people that patronize places like this could tell the difference between the food in this place and any ordinary restaurant if they had to do it in a blind taste test. I imagine most would fail, miserably.

It is obvious Mr.Mirarchi is an artist and an original. And like all extraordinary artists he shocks and angers. Blanca, in terms of price, location, wine list, minimal amounts of food is a shocker. I would never eat there. I do not seek adventure at the table. I prefer comfort, abundant portions and robust flavors. Affordable prices, of course.That's what I find in the restaurants of Santa Fe (where my wife and I live). In New York, I dine at my daughter's restaurants (Cookshop, Rosie's, Vic's and Hundred Acres). Farm to table freshness and authenticity. Or, I explore Queens. Uzbeck cuisine in Forest Hills, Greek in Astoria, Chinese and Korean in Flushing.

To paraphrase Daisy Buchanan: "They're such beautiful blobs...I'm crying because I've never seen such - such beautiful blobs before."

Selfishly I prefer your reviews of crummy restaurants for their comedic value.

Is this a tasting menu or a testing menu? Based on what I read, the food seems like laboratory experiments. The result on the plates look like scraps of leftovers. Is this a nice evening spent dining out, or is it being part of a fad that will soon fade away? The satirical restaurant scene in "L. A. Story" is still remarkably relevant here.

I hope I will live the end of amuses and I pity the snob that will pay hundreds for them.

Thanks for reminding me why I avoid tasting menus, three hour dinners and the snob appeal of places like this. Why on earth would I want to go to a restaurant that services 15 courses of stuff one bite at a time. I am past the vintage of having to impress my friends and associates with tales of dining in places like this. And three stars? Gimme a break!

Might I suggest the tasting menu at the local Costco store. It's better known as the multiple free samples offered at lunch and the dinner hour.

"The record collection, which Mr. Mirarchi may well have lifted straight from the garage of his childhood home, is one of the ways Blanca deflates high-end dining’s gassier pretensions."

Personally, I would also call a vinyl turntable on the dining counter a gassy pretension.

I've never been and it's improbable that I will ever, but from the photos and the description it seems a bit like a sushi bar. Morsels of deliciousness.
But 200 bucks? And long waits? Naah!
I can see taking a business contact you want to intimidate, but sounds like a really bad date night.

The restaurant is not a place to go for average folks. Two people spending upwards of $600 for food, drinks, tax, and tip is for those with means, and I don't begrudge them their pleasure. What I will judge is based on the content in the review regarding the food. Neither what I read about in the column nor what I saw in the photos made this restaurant a must-visit. It all sounds so precious, and so 1990s.

I am also concerned that these tasting menu places are bad for the environment. Add them all together in NYC, and you've got an astonishing waste of water and other utilities necessary to prepare the food and clean all the dishes, pans, and utensils. One diner using at least 27 plates at one restaurant is outrageous.

To me, Blanca represents an excess that is unfortunate and alarming.

I don't mind periodically splurging on a fancy dinner, but a $195 tasting menu in this neighborhood is gross, and it's insulting. It's not what the neighborhood is about, it's not what the neighborhood needs. Rather, it reflects a kind of dumb, toxic, rapacious capitalism that is really gnawing at the core not just of Bushwick, but of the entire city.

As a vegetarian, I will have to skip but I congratulate Mr. Mirarchi on the terrific review and hope that his creativity turns Bianca into a successful enterprise. I also hope that he donates a part of his income to charities for affordable housing. His restaurants are not a cause for the gentrification but they are part of it. $195 per person is hard to swallow in a neighborhood that is seventh most impoverished in NYC and many of these poor residents will get displaced further out while others such as himself flourish.

It is difficult to see from the article, what makes this restaurant deserve such a coverage. Guests eating at the counter, like in a drugstore? Unappetizing looking dishes of strangely mixed ingredients? As to the prices, whatever "very expensive" means, the Tasting menu for $195 (is this per person?) in the simple and fairly closely packed setting makes one wonder.

Sorry. This is Bushwick. The NY Times can push articles on gentrification all it wants, but for someone who knows the area, Bushwick is still little more than a fringe neighborhood where restaurants offering $100+ tasting menus for what looks like scaps from leftover dinners have no logical place. Anyone taking this seriously deserves to be ripped off.

Very talented chef creates an entree for which he and his/her peer chefs would charge $$$. Portion it out it out into mouthfuls, which then cost the diner $$$$$ each. Brilliant! A restaurant for people with lots of money who aren't hungry.

Sorry, but not this time. Even Mr. Wells cannot extract a 3-Star that I will buy from a tasting menu-only house and especially at $195 the (net) head ($$$$) If half the courses are good, it still cannot justify the price and we recognize the the tasting menu game saves the Executive Chef some hefty bucks. No! This is not the proper course for good eating in NYC and I cannot imagine how Pete's three++ visits translated into three stars. Sorry, Pete, but this time we must agree to disagree. If the review is accurate- and they always are, Blanca offers far too much NYC Bling and far too little food of consequence. Remind me... **how many courses were you served?** I think they saw you coming.

I ate at Blanca for the first time in May of 2015. There were plenty of amazing dishes. The price, however, makes absolutely no sense when you leave the restaurant hungry (which, if you look over reviews of this place, is a common occurrence). I seriously considered asking the staff at Blanca to go place an order for me at Roberta's so I could take a pie home. I thought they would not take kindly to that request, so my wife and I opted for the deli by my house and split a hoagie and a bag of chips. Not once have I ever gone to Per Se, Daniel, Le Bernardin, etc. and left the table hungry. Blanca stands alone in this regard, and I can never justify going back for that reason.

Last paragraph gave me the chills! What a wonderful review, congratulations to Ms. Carson, Mr. Mirarchi and the rest of the team.

Yet another ripoff, and in a neighborhood that's still dicey in the safety dept. Culinary chutzpah & greed await the suckers who trek out to Bushwick.