Tom Douglas

Eating New York: Jazz Standard and Blue Smoke/ by Shelley Lance, blog editor

Sunday night, after dinner with friends at Recette, a charmingly romantic little restaurant in Greenwich Village, we cabbed it over to Gramercy/Flatiron to hear Paquito d’Rivera, the Cuban alto-saxophonist, play at the Jazz Standard.

Though we were aware that this jazz club is owned by the famed restaurateur, Danny Meyer, we didn’t realize until we got there that it’s located right down the stairs from Meyer’s barbecue joint, Blue Smoke , which means, in addition to drinks, you can order dinner off the Blue Smoke menu while you enjoy the music.  Double score!! Especially for my husband, Frank, who is zealous about both good jazz and good barbecue!

Jazz Standard is a delightfully intimate, clubby, and civilized space for listening to music, and we were seated only a few feet from d’Rivera (who used to play with Dizzie Gillespie back in the day, Frank tells me).  Which is to say, if you’re in New York and you want to go to a jazz club, put the Jazz Standard at the top of your list.

I foolishly assumed we were too full to order any food, but Frank, claiming we had only eaten “small plates” at Recette,  boldly ordered a Rib Sampler plate which was composed of two Memphis baby back ribs, two Kansas City spareribs, and two Texas salt and pepper beef ribs.  The ribs came with a plate of coleslaw, just chopped green cabbage pleasantly dressed with vinegar and oil- a good foil to the rich meat.  While I only had room to nibble on one excellent Memphis baby back rib, that was enough for me to decide that  I like Blue Smoke’s ribs. The emphasis is on the  meat, and they’re not too saucy. Next time we’re in New York, we’re coming back for more jazz and barbecue!

June 7th, 2010