A fun place on the UWS

I had a little interlude in New York this fall--a trip to my mother's 94th birthday party. That was a great occasion and was held at a lovely French country restaurant where she celebrates her party every year.

A few days later, I contacted my foodie cousin Jenny and suggested lunch. As usual, she knows the new and excellent places to try and within a few hours we found ourselves waiting for a table at Red Farm.

I have no idea how to categorize this place except to say that it serves delicious and interesting food. Is it Asian, do they have Chinese buns? Are the salads examples of fusion cooking? And what of the main courses?

Jenny and I wisely chose four dishes from among the appetizer and salad plates. Each dish was beautiful prepared with fresh flavorful ingredients and presented in an interesting and appetizing way.

We loved the Diced Tuna with Crispy Noodles: cubes (raw) tuna on a bed of salad with crispy wide noodles, summer berries, salmon roe, greens and jicama,

The Shrimp and Snow Pea Leaf Dumplings:

Another set of dumplings, Crispy Duck and Crab Dumplings were presented in a very different way, sitting on the crab shells:

and finally, a very spicy and filling BBQ'd "Black Foot" Berkshire Pork Belly wiht Grilled Shishito Peppers.

The restaurant, Red Farm, has another location in the Village and that probably accounts for the tremendous popularity it is showing after just a few days. The place is pleasant with butcher block tables and a very plain decor. They do serve main courses, but we were too stuffed even to look at them!