…we decided to head to Chef Damon Wise’s Frugal Friday, held at Tom Colicchio’s Manhattan flagship, Craft. The three of us intelligently chose the opening night of the experiment (note the sarcasm). Everything on the small plate menu comes in at under ten bucks (some are better values than others), but the experience was pretty great. The place was 
absolutely packed by 6:30, with an hour and half wait time quoted at the door. I noticed three or four tables free by the front of the special events room (where Tom: Tuesdays and Frugal Fridays take place), so I wasn’t really sure what was going on. According to the maitre d’, patrons had been complaining about the cold air drifting in from the street. So I could either wait around for close to two hours, or keep my sweater on? I didn’t really see how this was such a hard choice for people. We were seated immediately (when we left, I noticed couples from earlier who had still yet to been seated).
Our waiter was as nice as they come. He was even friendly enough to give us an extra pizza (which were cooked to perfection), and a few free drinks to top it all off. We all loved the riccotta and black cabbage pizza (white), which really gave off a strong truffle vibe (thanks to Truffle Vinaigrette). We ended up ordering two. The menu also has a strong offal element, which seems to be a trend currently sweeping the city (The Spotted Pig, David Chang’s restaurants, among others), and we took advantage of it. I guess if it’s a recession (or depression) special, offal makes sense in the grand scheme of things. Of special note were the duck hearts in farro and saffron duck egg
(which literally were three full duck hearts on a bed of faro, with the egg placed on top). My heart tasted gamey and had a forceful iron vibe, but surprisingly, I liked it. Or maybe I just like the fact that I ate a duck heart. At our table, the beef tartar, flat iron steak skewers (on some fantastic greenish, blue-cheese sauce), and black bass crudo were also big hits. The only real miss came from the salt cod fritters, which were mushy, and pungent.
Overall, we left full, and impressed, especially for an opening night. For all the food and drink, we spent only (relatively speaking) fifty bucks a person, which when departing a four star restaurant, was almost as refreshing as the food itself.
