WAITER, THERE’S A FOIE IN MY SOUP DUMPLING (Annisa)

Anita Lo has been on TV (most notably Top Chef Masters) enough now to be considered a celebritychef. Yet her food is modest and well-presented and her restaurants don’t garner the crowd-busting lines as places like Del Posto. All the better for us.

Annisa recently re-opened in the West Village after a fire shut it down for a few years. And I was brought here to taste one of Time Out’s Best Dish of the year – a Roasted Rack of Lamb with South African Flavors. You can read about that review here.

The other dish that I had endlessly heard about was the foie gras dumplings and since I’m in the midst of my NY dumpling search, I thought I’d give these high-end (and expensive) versions a try. And their own blog post.

The dumplings didn’t look much different from the ones Lo used to serve at Rickshaw Dumpling (which she is no longer involved with). They were the same crescent shaped wrapper, although much more aesthetically presented. And they were topped with pieces of FOIE GRAS!!! That’s the only explanation for the hefty $18 price tag. The friendly bartender even offered us a fourth dumpling to share more easily (that’s right, you only get 3 for $18) and he pointed out that it would only be $6 extra. In Chinatown, you can get 30 dumplings for that price. Of course, they’re not prepared by a famous chef and they don’t have a garnish of foie gras. It’s amazing what a little duck liver can do.

To be honest, I didn’t think the dumplings were quite worth it. The broth inside was amazing – very rich and gamey (the bartender said it was a combo broth of duck, chicken, and veal), but I wish there was more of it and that it was slightly hotter. I guess the refined guests at Annisa are not used to the scalding risks of cheaper soup dumplings. Also, inside was something crunchy (ginger? jicama?) that gave a nice texture to the dumpling. But the only foie gras that I spotted was a little seared piece on top. Not that foie gras is my favorite thing (it’s not really), but I’d expect more for this price.

I like Anita Lo and her restaurant, but strangely enough, I didn’t enjoy these dumplings as much as the cheap versions downtown. TV fame or not.

Does Annisa have the best dumplings in NY? Even though they’re Chinese-influenced, I’m not going to rate these high-end versions because they’re a fancy take on the classic dumpling and not for everybody’s taste (including my own).