November 21, 2003

Home Is Where ...

Hearth Restaurant Opens

When it comes to food, appearances can be deceiving. Meringue: looks fluffy, actually crunchy. Oysters: not so pretty, heaven to eat.

So, too, when it comes to restaurants.

The First Avenue location may be gritty and the name may sound homey, but Hearth, which just opened in the East Village, is not your typical mac-and-cheese comfort-food slop house.

That chef Marco Canora and partner Paul Grieco are Craft and Gramercy Tavern alumni is obvious. The space is elegant but not fussy, full of warm tones and done up in slate, copper, and wood. The wall art, designed by Grieco’s brother, was inspired by artist Joseph Beuys. Canora’s kitchen, with its obsessive attention to ingredients, is American with Italian touches. What’s listed on the deceptively minimalist menu as “tuna, capers, anchovy, lemon, parsley” arrives as four different variations on the theme. Other standouts include the salt-roasted chicken, duck pappardelle, and roasted cod. Ingenious desserts, like pecan tart with sweet-potato ice cream and goat-milk panna cotta with huckleberry, come courtesy of Lauren Dawson, also of Craft.

A recipe for success? Well, isn’t it obvious?

Hearth, 403 East 12th Street, at First Avenue (646-602-1300).