Daphne's

To say Daphne’s is an Italian restaurant would be selling the place short. Sure, this Bed-Stuy spot from the team behind Decades has a standardly delicious caesar salad and comforting beef cheek ragu. But they also serve food that's not so easily categorized: baked scallops topped with parmesan, pesto, and calabrian chili, a pasta with every type of mushroom under the sun, and beef tartare topped with a shoyu-cured egg yolk and lasagna sheets fried into chips. 

If these not-so-typical Italian dishes sound exciting, that’s because they are. When Daphne’s is good, it’s great. But our visits have been inconsistent. Sometimes the meal is so salty that we can’t imagine recommending this place, even as a when-you’re-in-the-neighborhood option. Other times we leave daydreaming about the grilled calamari salad with thinly shaved celery and olives we ate 20 minutes prior.

photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez

photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez

photo credit: Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez

The scene itself is incredibly consistent, though. Couples eat by candlelight in green leather booths, and the open kitchen and fun food keep things from feeling too stuffy. Your server will assure you the wine you’re drinking is natural, which is nice but ultimately won't matter once you’re three spritzes deep and doodling on the paper-covered tables with a pen someone dug out of the depths of their bag.

Daphne's may be hard to rely on—and therefore not a good choice for anyone on a tight budget or traveling from outside of Bed-Stuy—but we're still semi smitten. If you live in the area and you’re down to find out what green tomato vodka sauce tastes like, then come here with a few friends who are into wine and take your chances. Daphne’s doesn't have to be just an interesting Italian-ish restaurant with a few flaws, it can be your interesting Italian-ish restaurant with a few flaws.