While the debate about the quality of restaurants on the Upper West Side has raged for decades, the answer to the question of where to find a complete, sophisticated dining experience in the neighborhood known for its rich culture and comfortable living, has finally been answered by Michelin-recommended TESSA, a modern Mediterranean restaurant featuring original, inspired and flavorful food. It’s a place where foodies can enjoy everything from cocktail hour to a full meal at the bar, or dinner in the bustling dining room.
With more than 30 years experience as a restaurateur, creating new concepts in places where they didn’t exist before, owner Will Tracy, (Brighton Grill, Punch Restaurant, Wined Up) joined forces with his friend, Larry Bellone to create a new kind of restaurant for the neighborhood. The menu is designed to support the flexibility of the clientele with categories including mezze, cheese boards, shared plates, appetizers, pasta and risotto, entrees, sides. Some examples include a mezze trio of house dips—carrot harissa, smoked eggplant, ricotta cheese and cucumber dill, served with thin, crispy housemade lavash; flammenküche an Alsatian tarte flambee with fromage blanc, red onions, applewood smoked bacon, figs and speck for sharing; and an appetizer of tender octopus a la plancha with yellow squash caponata, tangy green olive tapenade, and aged balsamic.
Pastas are available in appetizer and entrée or sharing portions and may include lobster whole wheat spaccatelli tossed with local corn, chanterelles, shallots, and purslane and rabbit cavatelli—rabbit and pancetta ragu, smoked onions, lovage and chives, among several other options with fresh pasta made in house. Entrees range from Long Island Duck (honey-spiced breast with smoked duck sausage, purple barley, mustard greens and plums) to market fish, or a 32 oz Cote de Boeuf for two (45-day dry aged Certified Angus Beef with the bone marrow and a side of your choice). Sides include house-made fries with rosemary salt, creamed spinach and kale, shaved Brussels sprouts and other seasonal vegetables.
For dessert, Pastry Chef Yarisis Jacobo brings the same aesthetic to dessert—examples include goat’s milk cheesecake with graham cracker crust, Concord grape jam and pistachio ice cream, and strikingly original TESSA tiramisu, a parfait of marsala mousse, strawberries, brownie, and white coffee ice cream.
To pair with the food, the TESSA Team has developed an intriguing and balanced wine by the glass program with 16 selections from France, Italy, Germany and the US and 10 beers on tap with frequent rotations. The cocktail list includes cocktails featuring sparkling wine, classic cocktails and inventions such as La Flor de Tessa built with Broker’s Gin, Cocchi Americano, lavender honey, fresh lemon, rose water and an edible flower. But it doesn’t end there, after dinner drinks include an enticing list of dessert wines, Port, Madeira, Marc, Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Amaro and Chartreuse. Perhaps most impressive of all, there is also a thoughtfully curated wine list of over 90 labels in the wine room, as well as the highly impressive TESSA Reserve list with over 60 labels.
