Foxface Natural
Foxface Natural was on my list ever since it opened, and I was always curious about how eclectic their food was going to be because of the various game meats they offer. They are one of the few, if not only, restaurants to serve kangaroo tartare. I saw that they had a tasting menu, and that seemed like a good thing to pursue for a Friday evening. I was able to make a reservation for 2 for 5:30 PM on a Friday evening about a week prior.
Ambiance & Service
When entering the restaurant, you’re met quickly with some straight edge punk music. It felt hipster and cool. The restaurant seemed fairly small, but it wasn’t noisy enough such that you couldn’t have a reasonable conversation.
The service was great in that the pacing was on point.
Food
The Bonnet-Huteau ($15) was a skin contact orange wine and came from Bonnet Orange 2022. This had a very balanced profile where it had subtle tannin and minerality. You can definitely taste notes of peach and citrus.
The Viteadovest ($17) was a skin contact orange wine and came from Terre Siciliane Bianco 2021. This has some stronger notes of tannin and acidity but in a pleasant way. It definitely has some earthy notes, especially when compared to the Bonnet-Huteau above.
The Berkshire Pork Head & Pickled Oyster Bite came with 4 pieces for the two of us. This was pretty good in that it was just a very hearty bite of meat topped with some pickling oysters on top. The dill garnish on top added a nice fresh taste to the top to round the flavors out.
The Surf Clam came with red aguachile and fermented white strawberry. This was one of our favorites for the night. The red aguachile had a very mild heat level to it. Complemented by the strawberry jus, it was very balanced with strawberry forward flavors.
The Hirame (California Halibut) came with yellow tomatillo, fermented tree tomato, green almond, and coriander oil. This was not as good as the surf clam because the coriander oil was quite overwhelming. You couldn’t taste much of the fish, and there was this bitter aftertaste. Fortunately they gave some sourdough to dip in.
The sourdough bread was complimentary to the hirame. To save the dish, it was actually quite pleasant to dip the bread into the coriander oil concoction above.
The Kangaroo Tartare came with charred eggplant puree and sardinian flatbread. The charred eggplant definitely didn’t taste like eggplant, and at first glance it wasn’t exactly visually pleasing. However, it acted as a paste that can keep the kangaroo tartare attached to the flatbread. The tartare seemed to be seasoned with Lebanese-centric flavors. The kangaroo tartare tasted like pungent meat that was also a little warm too. Each bite was definitely very low fat. I honestly thought that the kangaroo tartare was pretty good, especially for the amount they gave you.
The Tagliatelle Pasta came with soy cured ikura, tomato sherry sauce, and basil. This was a tasting portion, but it seemed to be a good portion for the two of us. The tomato sherry sauce was pretty good in that it had some of the tomato flavors coupled with some of the sweetness from the sherry. The ikura wasn’t salty either but complemented the dish with some fish flavors.
The BBQ Boer Goat came smoked low and slow, recado negro, sour orange, and polenta beignets. When this came out, it was definitely a good portion. We both thought that the recado negro was like a light Mexican mole. The sour orange in the back was the chili, and it gave a nice tart flavor to the flavors of this plate. The little balls were basically round, soft bouncy balls of polenta. The goat definitely had some delicious charred edges, and the meat was quite tender. It was all really good, and I wished we had some more starch to dip into the recado negro.
The Fig Leaf & Mahlab Gelato came with roasted white peaches and a ricotta lace cookie. The final dessert was definitely more earthy and atypical of normal desserts. The roasted white peaches were subtly sweet. The fig leaf and mahlab gelato had a very interesting flavor that was uncommon to my palette. Although this wasn’t a basic sweetened dessert, I much appreciated the eclectic nature of this plate.
Final Verdict
Foxface Natural was definitely an atypical restaurant that I think targets a particular crowd. Their food seemed accessible but also experimental because of the game meats and different flavors they offer in their plates. I felt the restaurant is something to check out if you are tired of the norms. The flavors are actually pretty good. If you’re open to trying something different, this would be a cool place to check out if you’re around the East Village.
Yelp Jabs
The review that my friend Yue wrote was based on facts. We 3 were refused to be seated in an empty restaurant even if there are a lot of availability on resy at that time. One of our friends is visiting the town and leaving the next day.
In defense of the owner, this Yue person shared screenshots of the owner saying that their party of 2 tried to squeeze in 3. I don’t know what these clowns were doing, but it seemed they shared enough evidence to show they are just provoking the restaurant. Adding a seat for a table of 2 is actually a fire hazard and prohibited. Most restaurants will not allow this. There really is no reason for the restaurants to refuse service if they can accommodate, but they couldn’t here. Unfortunately this Yelper and their San Francisco friend shared photos of them being wrong.
Smoked Wild Boar - Also too heavy / rich for me. I don’t think I’m a huge fan of smoked boar - it’s not dry but it’s not quite as tender as other meats (and it doesn’t have much fat to help make it tender).
This Elitist should probably simply avoid any game meats. Most game meats are going to be less tender than your normal meats.
Revisions
- Aug 9, 2024 - Initial revision.