Vento

Vento is a Stephen Hanson restaurant located on the coolest corner in town. I say its the coolest corner not because of it's location in the now dapper Meat Packing District, but because I work one block away. Dave and Rajesh made the hike here because basically, their jobs' neighborhood suck (especially Rajesh in midtown). We were going to eat at The Diner but it was packed. And for good reason, The Diner is awesome. It serves upscale comfort food without the upscale price, but I digress.

Vento is very close to Pastis and I feel like they are going for the same thing; hot hostesses, hip menu, small portions, crowded, standard martini menu with non-standard names for the martini's themselves (a cosmo is a cosmo already). Well, it delivered all of that except for the crowded part. We grabbed a choice table and hoped for the best!

This was about a month ago, so I don't remember the details. Perhaps thats not a good thing. Everyone seems to like there food but I don't remember anyone raving about it. The place has a great location and a lot to choose from, but if I had to sum up the food, it was just good, but not amazing. If I spend $14 for a small bowl of pasta at lunch, I want to be impressed. If you're in the area and need a bite to eat in a cool spot, sure, give it a try. But it doesn't take much effort to find something better.