Eating Local In NYC At Five Points
By Francesca Bartolomey 
June 7, 2010 
17 Comments
Five Points Restaurant
31 Great Jones Street
New York, NY 10012
Tel: 212.253.5700
Website
As much as I like the idea of eating locally, I had always thought it was the kind of thing more suited to midwesterners or Californians, not New Yorkers. After all, a menu item boasting of striped bass freshly caught from the Hudson River sounds far from appetizing. So I was surprised to learn that there actually is a growing local food movement among New York City restaurants.
Five Points is a classy, yet (literally) down-to-earth place in NoHo on Great Jones between Lafayette and Bowery. What makes them special is their menu which is not only seasonal, but changes daily depending on what the chefs find at the Union Square farmers’ market that morning. As our angel of a server described it, Five Points buys local and is “organic when possible.†(You have to love candor like that.)
Additionally, the Five Points menu features meat supplied by EcoFriendly Foods, a Virginia-based processing facility specializing in pasture-raised, organic meat that it provides to both farmers’ markets and restaurants. All the EcoFriendly Foods animals are raised humanely on small family farms throughout the Shenandoah Valley.
A friend of mine chose Five Points for dinner, and we ordered a bottle of Riesling and sampled the bread bowl while poring over the menu’s multitude of mouth-watering options. I had trouble deciding between the pan roasted dayboat sea scallops (with fava bean puree, arugula, red onion and sauce charmoula) and the pork blade steak (with sautéed swiss chard and rhubarb chutney). With Christina’s latest post in mind, I decided that I absolutely had to try rhubarb for the first time in my life so when we were all finally ready to order, I chose the pork.
The pork blade steak was one of the selections of meat that came from EcoFriendly Foods (which also supplies meat to other area restaurants such as Back Forty and Gramercy Tavern). I’m not usually much of a pork eater, but this meal was to die for. The steak was grilled to perfection. It was juicy and tender on the inside with those smoky charred bits on the outside that I love so much.
My first rhubarb experience was a good one as the sweet chutney perfectly complemented the meat. The chard was soaked in the juice of the meat which gave it a smoky, savory flavor that contrasted with the sweetness of the chutney and rounded out the dish beautifully.
Some people might think it a bit strange to pair white wine with a burger and fries, but my friends and I are a classy bunch. One friend ordered oven baked pasta, described in the menu as “thin layered pasta, Di Palo’s fresh ricotta, roasted tomato sauce, fontina cheese and mozzarella.†The other had the char-grilled grass-fed burger topped with Vermont cheddar, apple wood smoked bacon, and roasted red onions with fries on the side.
A few other delectable-sounding menu items included the wild arugula and local strawberry salad with Westfield goat cheese and moscato vinaigrette; the pan roasted Montauk squid with radicchio, scallions, white wine and sauce romesco; and the grilled New Jersey asparagus with pan fried egg, grated pecorino and ramp vinaigrette. The menu changes daily so don’t expect these precise offerings, but there is guaranteed to be an equally appetizing set of options.
Five Points provided an experience that was all-around pleasant. The food on its own would please even the most discerning of palates, but add in the owners’ tireless effort to bring a taste of ethically-raised beef and locally-grown produce to the depths of the urban jungle that is New York and you have a dining experience that will satiate both the belly and the conscience.
Photos by Francesca Bartolomey for Appetite for Good.
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mmmmmmm this looks so delicious! cant believe they change their menu so frequently!! that’s pretty awesome!
Great post!!!!!!! such a great read!
I will have to keep this place in mind! I’ll be heading to NYC this fall and will be looking for some good places to eat!
Well there are plenty of New Yorkers here at A4G at your disposal if you want recommendations!
Wow – you really made me miss NY so much. All of the food looks amazing.
I’ve always wanted to try Five Points, as I hear they have amazing brunch as well. I had no idea they served local and organic foods, though. Now I’m even more intrigued to try it out. All the food looked great. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t normally eat pork either, but the pork blade steak looks delicious!
what pork is delicious! how do you not normally eat pork! youre crazy!!!!!!!!!!
All the food looks great, especially the pork. I love pork. Thank you for sharing.
Thank YOU for reading.
This may be the first time I’ve ever wished I lived in New York! Excellent review.
Thank you! And thanks for reading!
you sure are popular!
Nice write up of Five Points. White wine is great with a burger on an afternoon.
Excellent post:) Must go to NY soon and try the delights!
Yum! That looks delicious!
Excellent write-up on eating local. I have been seeing a lot of that lately and everywhere as you point out. I think it makes sense to use the local foods as close to where they are grown/harvested as possible. I believe as humans we are connected to the environment we live in and somehow local food should do more good for us. Just one of my weird ideas.
Jason
I agree — thanks for stopping by.