Foxface Natural is a cozy fine dining and natural wine restaurant located in New York City's East Village. It specializes in wild fish, seafood, and game meats, prepared in a wood-burning kitchen. The restaurant is known for its creative, adventurous, and daring cuisine, offering unique flavor combinations and pushing culinary boundaries. It operates as a follow-up to a previous Foxface location that received a New York Times star.
Customers praise Foxface Natural for its creative and vibrant flavors, often highlighting the unique and adventurous dishes like goose barnacles and kangaroo tartare. The service is consistently described as excellent, with staff being attentive and welcoming, especially for solo diners. While many appreciate the daring menu, some dishes may fall outside traditional comfort zones. The atmosphere is noted as energetic, but can sometimes be loud, making it challenging to hear dish explanations. Appetizers are frequently lauded, though main courses and desserts can be more polarizing. The restaurant is also recognized for its exceptional sauces and house-made sourdough bread.
Additional Details
Foxface Natural emphasizes natural wines, which are thoughtfully paired with its adventurous menu. The kitchen utilizes a wood-burning oven, contributing distinct flavors to its dishes. The restaurant also sells its highly-praised sourdough bread on weekends. The interior features a clean, modern aesthetic with a popular dining counter, and some customers have noted the unique, 'funky and metallic' silverware.
The restaurant focuses heavily on wild fish, seafood, and game meats, including pork, boar, goat, and lamb. It does not explicitly cater to vegan or vegetarian diets, and based on available information, it does not serve vegetarian food.
Best Times to Visit
The restaurant is ideal for dinner, offering a tasting menu experience. Special events, such as 'New York New Wave wine evenings,' may also be hosted.
5
Foxface Natural has been on my list for a while for its creative cuisine, and it totally lived up to the hype. The servers were friendly and I felt well taken care of throughout the meal. I did the tasting menu and loved the fresh, vibrant flavors in all courses. It was my first time trying goose barnacles, which are a little tricky to figure out at first, but once you do, they’re so good!! The space does get pretty loud. It didn’t bother me too much since I was dining solo, but it was a little hard to hear when they were introducing the dishes. Overall, a great dinner though and I’d definitely go back for the food.
I visited Foxface Natural for the first time to experience their New York New Wave wine evening. I usually lean towards more traditional/classic restaurants but has read so many good things about Foxface that it had been high on my list to try. I saw that they were hosting a special dinner offering 7 NY produce focused courses paired with 7 Finger Lake wines so that sounded like the perfect opportunity to check the restaurant out.
The building from outside is pretty inconspicuous (I actually walked by and had to walk back) but once you enter the staff are really welcoming and it feels quite cozy, despite it having a more clean and modern esthetic. I was sat at the bar and I have to admit that this was one of my favourite bar set up's that I have experienced.
As mentioned the menu was made up of 7 courses and, personally, some stood out for me more than others. Most of the dishes were well executed but some were definitely a little outside of my comfort zone (namely lamb tartar) however, the venison was very underdone. I had just assumed this was how venison should be served and didn’t enjoy it due to personal preference so didn’t mention anything at the time. I have since been told by several people with more experience with this protein that it is not how it should be served so I really wish I had said something at the time. The stand out dishes for me were the Red Shrimp Roll (delicious and so well seasoned), the sunchoke (which paired beautifully with the wine that was served with this, a real case of the dish enhancing the wine and vice versa) and the Girella. As well as the venison another disappointment for the evening was the panacotta, for me this was not as set as it should have been and was just generally a bit underwhelming.
I also have to comment on the service. As a solo dinner they have really perfected making you feel looked after without being overbearing or rushed. I really enjoyed my interaction with all of the staff and they really seemed keen to get feedback on dishes.
I don't know if I would return to Foxface Natural, it definitely made me realise I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to dining. I did enjoy how it pushed me out of my comfort zone and I tried dishes that I never normally would. I think if you like slightly more adventurous/exciting combinations then this would be your perfect spot. I did leave having enjoyed my evening and being very pleased that I had moved out of my comfort zone slightly.
A memorable dining experience in NYC
Foxface Natural was an exceptional culinary highlight during our honeymoon in New York City. From the moment we stepped into the restaurant, we were captivated by its inviting atmosphere and the staff's warm hospitality.
The food was nothing short of exquisite. Each dish was a masterpiece, beautifully presented and bursting with flavour. The servers were incredibly knowledgeable and attentive, providing excellent recommendations and ensuring that our dining experience was seamless.
A word of advice: Save some of the bread for dipping in the delicious sauces throughout the meal. It's a must! We're still laughing about our record-breaking speed in devouring the bread.
The entire Foxface Natural team deserves immense praise for their attentive and friendly service. We had the pleasure of interacting with many staff members, and each one contributed to making our experience truly memorable.
We cannot wait to return to Foxface Natural and wish the restaurant continued success in achieving its goals.
Fun dishes at the prix fixe here. I recommend an appetizer and two dishes per person. The ingredients are really high quality so you'll at least enjoy everything. My favorite is probably the matsuzaka mushroom soup and the duck. Oh and the kangaroo. Try to take advantage of the flavor variety, so contrast your choices in dishes. By that I mean, go high-veggies for at least one dish.
This place is super unique, they have all types of different meats and the way that everything is cooked is very interesting. If you are adventurous for food, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Their ingredients are also super fresh and specifically offered for the restaurant, would definitely recommend.
The owner and staff are super friendly and nice, would come back again.
