The E.U.(Restaurant review)

This new restaurant, in the East Village, seems an improbable underdog. When plans for the restaurant were announced, it appeared likely to be an instant success. Its owners, Bob Giraldi and Jason Hennings, were veterans of the New York restaurant scene (BREADTribeca and August, respectively); the chef, Anne Burrell, had worked with Mario Batali; and Avro-Ko, the coolly intellectual design team behind Public and Stanton Social, signed on to do the interiors. But then residents in the neighborhood, which has become the hipsters' answer to the meatpacking district, reacted with hostility to the idea of yet another pub, and the State Liquor Authority rejected the owners' petition for a liquor license. Burrell left before the place even opened; after limping along for a few weeks--they tried making it as a B.Y.O.B., but the cops shut that down after one day--the E.U. closed.

When the license finally arrived and the restaurant reopened, the hiccups didn't end: chefs came and went, the kitchen had technical problems. But, as in any good fable, perseverance triumphed over adversity. In January, Akhtar Nawab, formerly of Craft and Craftbar, took over the kitchen, and Eater.com drew back from putting ...