SHO Shaun Hergatt

Just before I left for Toronto I was invited by the Hall PR company  to a very posh cocktail party at SHO:Shaun Hergatt restaurant in the Financial district.  SHO (I'll usual the short form) totally blew me out of the water.

First off it's been in business for two years and I'd never heard of it.  Now that doesn't necessarily mean anything there are millions of restuarants in NYC and my focus is mostly the Lower East Side where I live and the East Village with the occasional foray into Williamsburg and other parts of Brooklyn.  So why should I know about fancy ass restaurants in FIDI (that's what we're call the Financial District these days)? It's not like I really care where Wall Street bankers go to spend their ill gotten fortunes.

SHO is on the second floor which is kind of odd for a fancy restaurant in this country, but in Asia is fairly common, my friend Marc who I took with me to this event has just moved back from living in Hong Kong, said it was considered much nicer to be away from the din of the street. 


Certainly this palatial place has a wonderful air of calm about it.  Set up into two main sections you walk in to the understated luxury of the bar and lounge area.  The decor is contemporary but with a decided Asian feel, down a hall way to the left are private dinning rooms, a canyon of glass enclosed wine storage and in the middle is an exquisite water feature with floating candles and candles which lead you to the dining room.  


I forgot to bring my camera so please excuse the shitty iPhone photo, but it gives you so idea.

The thing that really surprises you with SHO is the food.  No wonder the chef has his name in the name of the restaurant Mr. Shaun Hargatt is seriously talent.  The hors d'oeuvres were each a little work of culinary art my favorite was: foie gras balls rolled in squid ink dyed bread crumbs. 

Not to be out done by the kitchen the bar is holding it own. It's hard to remember now but I believe there were five cocktails the one pictured above is a Chill Passion, a frothy passion fruit concoction that was topped with red pepper flakes.  With drinks and food like this the evening has become something of blur, but SHO made such an impression on me I'll definitely go back and have dinner.  Even thought the sexy lounge area adjacent to the bar is so comfortable I'm tempted to go with Neil and drink cocktails and order from the incredibly reasonably priced bar/lounge menu.  Don't let the bankers and the location put you off, this place is a real contender on ever level and deserves to be a lot better know than it is.