First Bite: Governor

Welcome to First Bite, a new feature at DigestNY where we post about some of the city's most anticipated restaurants shortly after they open. We'll take some pics, eat some food, digest, and then report back to you. This go round it's Governor in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. It's the third restaurant from the team behind Gran Electrica nearby on Front Street, and Colonie in Brooklyn Heights. Bradford McDonald is the chef. His time at Per Se and Noma shows in his clean flavors and slick plating.

Governor's facade is subtle. It sits at 15 Main Street, a cobblestone street just a block away from the East River in DUMBO. The acronym defines the few streets that make up the neighborhood located Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

Governor is the nickname of Robert Gair, a Brooklyn-based paper magnate that earned much respect in the mid 19th Century. This wall, with sketches of the Governor, welcomes you to the space.

The menu is small, only 11 dishes. It gets printed and dated each night and features unique items like "mussel emulsion," "chicken caramel," and "farro porridge."

The restaurant is built into a lofted space. This is the view from the mezzanine, which seats about 20 guests.  There's a small six-seat chef's counter in front of the open kitchen.

Bread, Butter and Radishes ($4 or $7) come with a house churned butter and Timberdoodle crumble. Timberdoodle is a cheese from Woodcock Farm in Vermont. It can be just cow, just sheep, or a blend of both milks. It's slow roasted here at a low temperature until it forms a sort of crumble that's then sprinkled over the butter. The sourdough bread comes on a separate plate. It's warm when it hits the table.

Beef Tartare ($14) with mussel emulsion and ramp capers. The dish gets its dose of salt from the subtle salinity in the emulsion and from the ramp capers, which are salt-fermented ramp berries that chef McDonald preserves in vinegar. Clean flavors but the cut of beef wasn't trimmed of all its sinew, so the tartare was chewy at times.

Romaine a la Plancha ($11) is a fun take on a classic cesar. A smear of yogurt dressing is a fresh, light substitute for the traditional egg yolk-based dressing. Grapes add a layer of brightness while sunflower and bread crumbs add texture. The crisp romaine is able to retain its crunch after a quick char on the flattop.

Fresh Cheese ($14) is served with peas, hen of the woods mushrooms, and chicken caramel. Chicken caramel was explained as a reduced chicken stock. The flavor wasn't quite as intense as you'd expect, but the fresh peas and paper thin pieces of chicken skin made up for any lack of flavor. The fresh cheese was delicate and soft, like a light, savory panna cotta.

Beef Tongue ($27) was kept company with oxtail jus, potato puree, chantarelles, and a bone marrow popover. A few raw cremini mushrooms were great sponges for the rich oxtail jus. The tongue was extremely tender, and the rest of the ingredients made for a really beautiful, well thought out dish.

The Governor: paper magnate, pioneer, and inventor of cardboard.

15 Main Street | 718.858.4756 | www

Closed Sundays