Last weekend Darren and I were lucky enough to have his parents volunteer to babysit so we could go out for the evening.  We eagerly accepted their offer and decided to venture into the city for a great dinner.  Since David was born we have not been out and about dining at trendy restaurants so we though we would treat ourselves to a reservation at Little Owl.

Little Owl is a charming and quaint American/Mediterranean restaurant in the West Village.  Reservations at this little gem are very hard to come by but we used TableXchange to purchase a reservation.  Usually this restaurant is booked 30 days prior and with 15 tables or so, you can only imagine how difficult it is to get in.  It was our lucky night though because the day before we used TableXchange and for $25 we were able to buy an 8pm reservation that a patron was not using.  The reservation was NOT sold by the restaurant, let me be clear about that.  TableXchange allow diners who have reservations at top restaurants to post their reservation for sale to the public rather than canceling them outright.  I know it might sound crazy to most of you that someone would buy a reservation but if you really want to eat somewhere or have a very last minute opportunity to go out, you might just want to consider this website.  We did and a day later we were eating at Little Owl which was magnificent.

Little Owl is located on the corner of Bedford and Grove Street and is extremely charming.  Small and intimate this restaurant is perfect for a date or for a special evening with friends.  Most of the tables are for two but there were a few larger parties.  The menu is small but has a lot of variety and they are very accommodating in the kitchen if you need to ask for something prepared a little different.  We started our dinner a few drinks and half a dozen oysters on the half shell.  The oysters were medium sized from Nova Scotia and were served with a soy based dipping sauce.  Outstanding!   An unlikely other appetizer we sampled were the gravy sliders…magnificent sliders made with beef and veal served with a gravy sauce on mini buns.  Scrumptious.   For our entrees we both ordered fish.  I had the red snapper special which was a pan roasted with chunks of lobster in a lobster and clam broth over small pasta bites and escarole.  It was out of this world – flavorful, fresh and presented beautifully.  Darren had the cod over risotto and he said it was excellent as well.  The portions were unbelievably generous and prices were on the higher side but not outrageous. We were too full for dessert but the choices sounded yummy.  We really enjoyed our meal and understand why it is so difficult to get a reservation.  For anyone that wants to dine there, it is worth the wait.  We loved it and would go back in a heartbeat next time we have a babysitter.