The Pint Sized Palate – A Kid’s Take on New York Food
Little Owl
90 Bedford Street
By Churchill Stone
LITTLE OWLS on our perch. Photo courtesy of Webster Stone.
Little Owl is in the heart of the vintage West Village. It’s next to the Friends apartment, half a block from Grove Court, and a block away from the narrowest (9.5 feet) townhouse in New York where someone famous lived.
On a very rainy Sunday, we walked in for brunch as a group of five: two adults, two kids, and a toddler. Even though it was very busy, they found us a table and seated us quickly.
The restaurant is small, most of the 12 tables are for two people with more at the bar. We got a nice table in the middle of the room. They even had a highchair for us, though my brother actually would not sit in it most of the time because he was too excited for the food.
Most of the restaurant’s lighting is natural and very warm, with huge corner windows and amber lights. Little Owl has very high ceilings, about 15 feet. The original tin ceiling is painted gold. At the bar, there are four seats with cute Edison lights hanging from above. In the high back corner there is a tiny disco ball above the cups and wine glasses — my sister and I love disco balls. I knew most of the music they played — very California 1970s (Hotel California, Dreams, Blue Bayou) which happens to be one of my specialties.
On the other side of the restaurant, there is a platform with leather cushions where you can actually eat, but it’s only for one or two people. My sister and I had to try it, so we used the mini wooden ladder to get up there. You can sit up there and look down on everyone like you’re the queen. It’s really fun!
Back at our table, we ordered the beignets, the poached eggs, and a side of their signature fries. Everyone was super friendly, and our food was brought out surprisingly fast. My parents told me that this place is one of the last places where you can still call to get a reservation on the phone — now, that’s vintage.
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The beignets were served with raspberry sauce and Nutella on the side — both were delicious. The raspberry sauce was a bit sour which I actually really liked. The beignets were very warm and really good even alone. My sister loved them so much we had to order them again. My 2-year-old brother definitely liked the beignets the most and got them all over his face — an excellent kid-friendly dish for all ages!
Next up were the fries which were crispy and excellent too. They had little greens on them (parsley?) but it just made them taste better. The sauce (aioli) was tasty and a bit spicy. The best part was that it my favorite color, pink. We asked our waitress what made it that color and she said it was chile. This chile aioli was much better than ketchup, for me at least.
The poached eggs were amazing because they were basically Eggs Benedict. When I cut open the yolks it was orange, which I think means they were made from high-quality eggs, or high-quality chickens, I’m not really sure which. There were some greens under the egg which I did not like, so I took that out. So, now I had an egg, sitting on a circle-shaped pork sausage, on a southern cheesy biscuit, with hollandaise all over it. It also came with Brussels sprout home fries which I did not try because, well, Brussels sprouts, but my parents seemed to like them.
Even though Little Owl is little, they have a whole other room a few steps down the block where you can also eat. Also, last year, after the Easter egg hunt at St. Luke’s, we had a big brunch outside at Little Owl. My father says that dinner outside in summer is so fun, “Joey’s Bucatini all’Amatriciana is like Rome.”
My whole family loved the food so that was definitely a win. And I love how you can see the kitchen from practically everywhere in the restaurant. The place is very cozy, and they let us take our time — that surprised me on a busy Sunday morning.
Little Owl has great food and is the definition of a vintage West Village restaurant; in fact, they told me they are 20 years old this year — so, they must be doing something right!
It’s just what people want when they come to this part of town, especially kids. But hopefully not too many people will come, or I will never be able to get a table!
