Much about this restaurant is small: the space (about thirty seats); the font on the menus (a magnifying glass might be useful); the kitchen (wedged into a corner and open to the dining room); and the snapshots lining the wall (two-by-three childhood photographs of the owners, Joe Dobias, who is also the chef, and Jill Schulster). Even the speakers, high on the wall, are teeny, though the music—Dave Matthews Band, Bob Marley—comes out big (often too big; one evening, Dobias and Schulster had a vigorous debate about whether when the volume was just right for the kitchen it might be too loud for the dining room). The number of diners, too, is often on the low side, particularly when you look down the street to the ever-popular Prune, where, on a recent rainy Sunday morning, a crowd huddled under its awning for an hour or more.
It’s not an easy thing to take on the territory of such an established spot, particularly when you are dealing in much the same stock: simple American, with emphasis on the whole animal. But, to Dobias’s credit, the biggest thing about the place is its flavors. (Closely followed by its portions.) A liver-bacon-and-onion sandwich, listed as an appetizer, was luscious and comforting, and large enough for a hearty meal, as was the Beets & Butt, in which the butt (pork, beautifully braised) easily outweighed the beets, and a dollop of marrow butter gave it all a rich sheen. Dishes can be both satisfying and discomfiting: the stuffed rice ball, baseball-size, fried, and sunk in marinara sauce, was addictive, if reminiscent of a mozzarella stick. The sweet-potato gnocchi, with sautéed apples and a pert apple slaw, had the incongruous addition of a fried egg. The Manx Station beef was nicely seasoned but needlessly topped with a tangle of tortilla strips.
Aspirations, unfortunately, can’t guarantee success, and it seems doubtful that JoeDoe—with somewhat dutiful renditions of French toast and omelettes, and a disappointing chilaquiles—will pose any significant challenge to the Prune brunch juggernaut. But the restaurant’s intimacy means that a table’s verdict on their meal can be easily overheard. After dinner the other night, it was a little sentence and a big compliment: “That was fantastic.” (Open weekdays for dinner and weekends for brunch and dinner. Entrées $20-$30.) ♦
