The Afterglow: S'Mac
Ever since S'Mac opened last summer in the East Village, I'd been dying to try it out. It was buzz city, for sure; there was great press, there was good press, and then there was the mac'n'cheese backlash. (And after it all NBC chimed in with some good press; it's a relief to know they're on top of things ...)
And I would have gone sooner; I must have tried over a dozen times. Each time was the same: talked to an eating partner, they agreed, we set a date, then they'd cancel.
Finally, Liz and I felt sufficiently driven to give it a shot last week. The smallish room was crowded for 8pm on a Sunday, and and the radiant heat from the cast iron pans did well by cutting through the early spring chill. She chose the 4-cheese, I went with the Cajun, and we both opted for the bread crumb topping.
The 4-cheese was quite bland and almost too runny, but the Cajun spicy/creamy combo did the job very nicely. I ended up making two meals out of the medium portion size, Major Munch.
Overall, it wasn't the best mac n' cheese I'd ever eaten but it was a strong contender. I will be back, but only when I feel a crushing need to fill myself on cheese and carbs.
The Afterglow is a reoccurring feature where Gourmetros visit buzzworthy places a bit after the buzz. Call us lazy if you must, but we just want to find out for ourselves if the places were ever worth it.
2 comments:
Eh. I was curious as to what all the s'mac buzz was about, too. Had the cajun a few weeks ago and, like you, a little bit deflated.
And yes, even the 4-cheese isn't quite cheesy enough.
I tried s'mac right when it opened and was not impressed. I think Supermac which recently opened in Chelsea is much better. However, neither are outstanding.
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