Details matter at MŌLÌ, a Chinese restaurant and bar on Greenwich Ave. styling itself after 1940s Shanghai. The rice is perfect. The kitchen, under the direction of Chef Luis Parreira is skillful. The drinks compare favorably to better-known and award-winning bars elsewhere in the state. The service is affable. The dining room is handsome.
On a recent weekday lunch, a companion and I sat at a corner table under chandeliers and subway tiles of the former Putnam Trust Co., wishing a little for a better cup of tea than jasmine and a tea bag, stepping through a menu that felt comfortable in its own skin appealing to whatever your pleasure – lobster, truffle, Satay Wagyu or maybe poached Hainan Chicken, beef tendon, Cold Jellyfish and Cucumber Salad.
For us, that meant a selection of four Soup Dumplings to start – pork, chicken, seafood, truffle pork – a treat that often disappoints. These didn’t.
The wrappers were short of delicate, but brimmed with fragrant broth and a rewarding small bite of meat, as good as any in the state.
A generous portion of Crispy Eggplant was made for drinks – each crisp fried mouthful melting into a custard, glazed and sprinkled with fried garlic.
I had a Naked & Famous – a modern classic combining mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol and lime. My companion had a turmeric-citrus nonalcoholic Golden Hour. We were happy.
We ordered Peking Duck.
At MŌLÌ, the duck is roasted daily and brought in from Queens, prepared table side and served with delicate spring pancakes.
Who doesn’t love crispy duck? And this duck was very good.
But unexpected, what came after – the fatty bones rolled in Szechuan pepper and chili and fried until crispy – was even better, our favorite bite, and generously rewarding to anyone willing to nibble around the edges. You should.
By this point the dining room, which sparkles more than it glitters, and began quiet, was humming with young business types in quarter zips, well-heeled young women on lunch dates, a small holiday office party, a smattering of Chinese American customers.
We ordered Shacha Chicken and Shanghai Bok Choy, and chatted with the head bartender, Brianna DiFrancesco.
MŌLÌ is also Bar MŌLÌ with a late night menu, and DiFrancesco – an up-and-comer trained as a pastry chef – might be the least-talked-about best bartender in the state (if that’s possible to say after just one sitting).
After a half-decade of obligatory plods through too-many-to-count drink menus that fail at the purpose of an aperitif – DiFrancesco actually made me a believer again.
Was I really glad I took her recommendation and ordered a Persimmon Persuader – a seasonal addition to the menu?
Yes, I was.
And our lunch never skipped a beat.
Shacha, an adaptation of satay by southeast Asian ex pats, is usually shallot, garlic, dried seafood, but here unexpectedly closer to yellow curry and cumin. The tender slices of chicken, garnished with chives and chive flowers, were the star and again very good.
The Bok Choy were tiny and tender and would pleasurably accompany almost anything.
We skipped dessert but will be back soon.