Thyme Restaurant & Cafe Bar in Roslyn

Every so often we run into an existing restaurant that we knew nothing about save an overheard nice comment here and there: Thyme Restaurant and Café Bar in Roslyn is one such eatery. We had heard of it, sure. But we didn’t know what to expect in terms of quality of food, service, let alone décor.

Owned by longtime single mom, Nancy Serna, and with a kitchen manned by Lebanese cuisinier, Khaldoun Said, Thyme’s moment is now. (Notice I didn’t say, Thyme’s “time” is now? It was tempting but bored even me to death; I digress.) Said has a deft touch with each of the dishes we tried; he’s a superb cook.

But what intrigued me most were some of the combinations: I’ve never had diced hash-brown potatoes with crabmeat. It worked!

A new menu item – braised short ribs – was served over cheesy grits (not polenta). Real grits. As in Savannah, Georgia grits. I always figure that restaurants have a signature dish. Whether or not Thyme has one they are partial to, I’ll name one for them: the double cut pork chop with this delish fruit tart. The chop was enough for two – thick, juicy, dressed with a nice rub. The accompanying fruit tart was clearly created with thought: apricots, apples, cherries, and mini-chunks of sweet potato were housed in a light pastry shell: I had to have another bite, another bite, and another bite.

Other dishes sampled included Fuji apple and endive salad, crispy sautéed crab cake (excellent jicama and apple slaw) and warm wild mushroom and goat cheese. All were really pleasing. A seafood paella (solid) and pan seared Diver sea scallops rounded out the entrees. (It was the scallops that featured that flavorful crabmeat-Yukon potato hash.)

Desserts were all house made (yes, the ice cream too).

If I lived closer to Roslyn, I would make it a point to befriend this restaurant, this restauranteur and this fine chef. In the meantime, you could go. Now.

Tags: Roslyn, Thyme Restaurant & Cafe Bar