BWW Preview: TESSA-Refined and Playful Mediterranean Restaurant on the UWS

TESSA on the Upper West Side in New York City is the spot where you can find a complete, sophisticated dining experience in the neighborhood known for its rich culture and comfortable living. This modern Mediterranean restaurant is Michelin-recommended.

TESSA is an energetic, lively, service-oriented restaurant featuring original, inspired and flavorful food. Adults can enjoy everything from cocktail hour to a full meal at the bar, or dinner in the bustling dining room. It's equally well appointed for pre-theater dinner or post-concert mezze with drinks, as for a multi-course dinner paired with the finest bottles of wines from TESSA's reserve list.

The theme and style of the restaurant is aptly captured by the design and décor conceived by the architectural firm BatesMasi-at once rustic and urban-industrial, welcoming and chic. In the back, there's a private dining/wine room that is set off and quiet, but still part of the action. Downstairs, the kitchen staff is on display in a vast gleaming state-of-the-art kitchen.

The wide-ranging appeal of TESSA is a reflection of the strength of the whole hands-on team-owners Will Tracy and Larry Bellone, front of the house and Service Director Patrick Duxbury, and executive chef Edwin Claflin and pastry chef Yarisis Jacobo. They share a passion for the highest quality food and beverage as well as the highest standards of service. With more than 30 years experience as a restaurateur, creating new concepts in places where they didn't exist before, owner Will Tracy, (Brighton Grill, Punch Restaurant, Wined Up) joined forces with his friend, Larry Bellone (and a long-time Upper West Side resident) to create a new kind of restaurant for the neighborhood.

Executive Chef Edwin Claflin grew up in Nantucket in a family who were passionate about food, but he didn't commit himself to a career in cooking until he started working in the kitchen of his family's bookstore café. After college, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park (in lieu of law school, he says)-and, recognizing the strength of the pastry faculty, decided to get degrees in both Culinary Arts and Baking and Pastry Arts. Before coming to TESSA, he worked at Daniel, DB Bistro Moderne, Bouley, Bobo and WD50, as well as restaurants in New Orleans (August and Cuvee) and Nantucket.

Chef Claflin's creativity clearly shines in his cooking, with strong influences from French, Italian, and Spanish cultures. No matter what you order-the flavors pop and surprise. The menu is designed to support the flexibility of the clientele with categories including mezze, cheese boards, shared plates, appetizers, pasta and risotto, entrees, sides.

Some examples include a mezze trio of house dips-carrot harissa, smoked eggplant, ricotta cheese and cucumber dill, served with thin, crispy housemade lavash; flammenküche an Alsatian tarte flambee with fromage blanc, red onions, applewood smoked bacon, figs and speck for sharing; an appetizer of beautifully tender octopus a la plancha with yellow squash caponata, tangy green olive tapenade, and aged balsamic. Pastas-you do not want to skip these!-are available in appetizer and entrée or sharing portions and may include lobster whole wheat spaccatelli tossed with local corn, chanterelles, shallots, and purslane and rabbit cavatelli-rabbit and pancetta ragu, smoked onions, lovage and chives, among several other options with fresh pasta made in house. Entrees range from Long Island Duck (honey-spiced breast with smoked duck sausage, purple barley, mustard greens and plums) to market fish, or a 32 oz Cote de Boeuf for two (45-day dry aged Certified Angus Beef with the bone marrow and a side of your choice). Sides include house-made fries with rosemary salt, creamed spinach and kale, shaved Brussels sprouts and other seasonal vegetables.

For dessert, Pastry Chef Yarisis Jacobo (previously at Sorella) brings the same aesthetic to dessert-examples include goat's milk cheesecake with graham cracker crust, Concord grape jam and pistachio ice cream, and strikingly original TESSA tiramisu, a parfait of marsala mousse, strawberries, brownie, and white coffee ice cream.

To pair with the food, the TESSA Team has developed an intriguing and balanced wine by the glass program with 16 selections from France, Italy, Germany and the US and 10 beers on tap with frequent rotations. The cocktail list includes cocktails featuring sparkling wine, classic cocktails and inventions such as La Flor de Tessa built with Broker's Gin, Cocchi Americano, lavender honey, fresh lemon, rose water and an edible flower. But it doesn't end there-after dinner drinks include an enticing list of dessert wines, Port, Madeira, Marc, Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Amaro and Chartreuse. Perhaps most impressive of all, there is also a thoughtfully curated wine list of over 90 labels in the wine room, as well as the highly impressive TESSA Reserve list with over 60 labels.

TESSA is located at 349 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024. For more information, call them at 212-390-1974 or visit their web site at www.tessanyc.com. Find them on Facebook by searching TESSA NYC, and follow their Instagram account @tessanyc1. Hours of operation: Dinner Sun-Mon 5-10, Tues-Wed 5-11, Thurs-Sat 5-12, happy hour 4-6 everyday, bar and lounge open later - until everyone leaves. Saturday and Sunday brunch. Seats 65 guests in its main dining room, 50 in the bar/tavern area and 16 in the private dining/wine room at the rear of the restaurant. There is also a sidewalk café. For private events and off-site catering, please contact Patrick Duxbury, Patrick@tessanyc.com. or Elizabeth Meadows, Elizabeth@tessanyc.com.

Photo: Courtesy of TESSA