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Home > Restaurants > Marc Forgione

Marc Forgione

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

134 Reade St., New York, NY 10013
nr. Hudson St.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-941-9401 Send to Phone

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  • Price Range: $$$

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Critics' Rating: *

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Reader Rating:

    8.8 out of 10

      |  

    10 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: American Nouveau
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Photo by Zach Desart

Hours

Mon-Sat, 5pm-11pm; Sun, 5pm-10pm

Nearby Subway Stops

1, 2, 3 at Chambers St.

Prices

$26-$34

Payment Methods

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

  • Hot Spot
  • Notable Chef
  • Design Standout

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Recommended

Profile

Forge, which opened on a leafy stretch of Reade Street in Tribeca, is yet another big-city restaurant painstakingly designed to look like the inside of a barn. The walls are made of rough-hewn, knotted cedar, and the room is partially lit by small glass box chandeliers, each one containing a guttering wax candle. The bar serves gin drinks muddled with garden cucumbers, and the shelves of the dining space are lined with flea-bitten knickknacks like spice boxes, tattered cookbooks, and old country-store weighing scales. These decorating choices are not all that surprising, considering that the proprietor is Marc Forgione, son of Manhattan’s original locavore, Larry Forgione. At his seminal restaurant An American Place, the great chef employed mushroom foragers and invented the concept of free-range chicken, a New Age version of which shows up on the menu at Forge. “Free Range Chicken Nuggets” is the name of this misguided dish, which the chicken-nugget freaks at my table rated somewhere below the greasy McDonald’s original but above the desiccated TV-dinner version peddled by Swanson. None of the pastas on the ever-changing, yes, “market-driven” menu (soupy agnolotti, oversalted carbonara) quite achieve liftoff, and in the considered opinion of my friend the Pork Loon, the pricey suckling pig for two ($68) tasted “like baked turkey.” But the fish dishes are capably made (try the kampachi tartare, and the mahimahi with cockles and sorrel), and so are the country chicken and the rib eye, which is spooned with fresh-made chimichurri sauce. The least successful desserts (soggy Nutella crêpes, a panna cotta spiked, oddly, with goat cheese) appear to be some strange attempt at country fusion. So stick to the basics, like “rustic summer” berry pie, and an elegant serving of upside-down peach cake molded, nostalgically, in the shape of a French tart. — Adam Platt

Note

Forge is home to our favorite summer drink of 2008, a mix of Bulldog Gin, muddled cucumbers, and lime juice.

Ideal Meal

Kampachi tartare, mahimahi or prime rib eye, berry pie or peach ­upside-down cake.

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

Recipes at Marc Forgione

8.8 "Highly Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
90% Would you go back?
90% Would you take a date?
11% Would you take kids?
80% Would you go on business?
90% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 9.0
Service: 9.3
Décor: 9.4
Value: 8.4

Great service-mediocre food

andrevs from 10128 | Posted on 12/20/08

Overall Rating: 5 (Mixed Reviews)
Food: 4
Service: 9
Décor: 8
Value: 3

If you are accustomed to eating in Tribeca you are familiar with mainstays like Odeon, Edwards, ROC, Bouley, Bouley Upstairs, Landmarc, City Hall, et al. I have been to FORGE twice and have had the duck, hanger steak, kampachi, scallops, skate and carrot cake and can say that across the board the food ranks between disappointing and just OK. 5 star prices for 2 star food in my opinion. Much better food can be had within a 5 min walk. Unlike the food, service was excellent. Note that many positive reviews are of cocktails and dessert. There is a good bar scene so I think people are staying for dinner after several drinks clouding their judgment of the food. If you go sober you'll find the food lacking.

talent on the plate

Alcerito from 10009 | Posted on 9/6/08

Overall Rating: 9 (Highly Recommended)
Food: 10
Service: 10
Décor: 9
Value: 8

Went to Forge tonite and was blown away by the taste sensation -- surprised since a lot of the "reviews" have been whiny -- oh, this is not right, oh that is not right -- but we found the staff fabulous, the food inventive and delicious, and the atmosphere was of a place where we were able to have a conversation with the couple next to us and not feel like we were imposing -- it's a "neighborhood" place with incredibly "excellent" food -- now that we've lost lower east side Per Bacco to 2 stars, hope that lower west side Forge, better than Per Bacco, ever was or is, stays a bit of a secret!

Read All 10 Reviews >>

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