From idiotic smushy-face restaurant critic Danyelle Freeman's review of Commerce in the Daily News that came with the headline Trying Too Hard Can Be Trying. A few words into the review Freeman writes the cuisine is "rife with ambition and refinement" and that the Oysters are "luxuriating in a Champagne sauce." She's right! Trying too hard can be trying. Wait. There's more. Particularly germane blatant hypocrisy in red. Though there are a handful of successes on the menu, too many dishes amounted to overworked compositions with little payoff. A poached chicken breast, deprived of its skin, proved a bland centerpiece for a mushy assemblage of potato purée, mushrooms and a braised mixture of cabbage and brussel sprouts. A $52 steamed dorade for two offered no real flavor at all, sinking into a watery verjus scattered with plum tomatoes. Even worse, a stuffed veal breast was entirely obscured by a chalky stuffing and a heavy-handed tarragon mustard sauce.
Then there were misplaced sweet potato tortelloni doused in a pomegranate molasses, so cloying that they were better suited to the dessert menu.
Bent on proving his versatility and culinary repertoire, Moore overreaches with a self-conscious and pricey menu that feels notably out of sync with the informal tavern setting.
