First Look: Perch Bistro and Bar Takes Flight

Lynae Fearing and Tracy Rathbun of Far Hospitality (Shinsei, Lovers Seafood & Market, The Viewing Room) recently rebranded Dea, their cozy little spot on Inwood Road that aspired to be a fine-dining Italian restaurant akin to what you’d find along the Amalfi coast. In our opinion, they mostly succeeded, but they thought a change was in order, and thus Dea has been reborn as Perch Bistro & Bar, which opened under this new moniker last Tuesday.

The exterior has undergone a metamorphosis, with new signage on the windows and the entrance awning expanded and branded with the new Perch logo and font, a noticeable change from the more nondescript exterior that greeted us when Dea opened.
We were a bit early for our reservations, but the server seated us anyway in the back dining area. There have been some design changes made, new paint and wall hangings, etc., but it really didn’t have a bistro vibe. Then again, there is still some tinkering going on.
Our server was brimming with enthusiasm as she welcomed us and asked if we’d been here before. Both Fearing and Rathbun were in attendance, the former holding court and stopping by tables and talking with friends and loyal customers, the latter busy on her laptop and phone near the kitchen, no doubt making sure everything was running smoothly here and at their other restaurants. We’d have loved to have asked them some questions, but didn’t want to interrupt them. So, our poor server had to play surrogate and fielded all our queries.

Somehow missing all the birds evident in both the logo staring right at me when we entered as well as all the bird paintings and drawings on the wall, we asked why the name changed to “perch” when there was no perch or any other fish on the menu. It had to be explained to us, with more politeness than it deserved, that, no, it was the bird and not the fish that was referenced. An homage, she said, to all the bird street names in the area. We nodded sagely with some “of course, of course” thrown in, even though we had no idea there were bird street names in the area (not counting Mockingbird Lane, of course). A furtive use of Google Maps later revealed that, indeed, it’s a virtual aviary of street names with Robin Road, Thrush Street, Wren Way, Linnet Lane and Oriole Drive. Boy, were our faces like a robin’s breast in springtime.
As to why the change, she said that the owners wanted to explore more than just fine-dining Italian, although pasta like their famous rigatoni is still on the menu. They’d purchased a really good pizza oven and were excited to offer that, and they’d also gotten their hands on a sourdough starter from San Francisco that was over 100 years old and would eventually be featured in a bread service.

But not that evening. There were some items on the online menu that caught our eye that we were excited to try. Alas, they were unavailable, partly because a new deep fryer that had been added to the inventory still wasn’t quite ready. It happened that we wanted to try almost all the things that weren’t available yet, like the fried deviled eggs, crab cake arancini, duck confit and gnocchi Parisienne. Understandable if not a bit disappointing, but it just gives us an excuse to return.
We ordered some cocktails to start: A Broken Whiskey (Maker’s Mark, citrus, fruit), an Earnest with Coconuts (rum, Luxardo, grapefruit, coconut water, lime) and courtesy of the new frozen drink maker, a frozen pineapple margarita. All were good with complex flavor profiles, but the margarita was probably our favorite.
For a starter, we went with the dip dip dip, an appetizer so nice they named it thrice. You get to select three dips from a set of five, and we went with pesto hummus, caramelized onion and eggplant caponata. Eventually, this will come accompanied with crostini, potato chips and crudités, but on this evening it was tortilla chips. (Again, this was just Day Two.) All were good, our favorite being the onion. Other dip options include ricotta and honey and pimento cheese.

We wanted to try a pasta, a pizza and a main, but we’re only two people so in the end we decided to share some Bolognese pappardelle and the short rib bourguignon, and we were glad we did. In an incredibly helpful gesture and without us asking, they brought out each divided into two separate plates, so keep that in mind when viewing the pictures: each plate just has half an order.
Dea’s pasta was always good, and Perch upholds the tradition. The pappardelle was fresh and cooked a perfect al dente, the sauce rich but not overpowering with a liberal amount of spicy Italian sausage, topped with a dollop of ricotta and dusted with some freshly grated grana Padano. Wonderful.
The short rib bourguignon consisted of tender, fall-apart-on-your-fork short rib with a rich red wine reduction sitting atop a creamy potato purée and accompanied by a scrumptious medley of carrots, mushrooms and pearl onions.
Arms were twisted and we completed our meal with a slice of olive oil cake that came with a scoop of lemon ice cream, some blackberries, and topped with some brittle that almost stole the show; a fitting ending to a really good meal.

We're anxious to go back and try the offerings that weren't available yet and the pizza, which promises to be a great example of the Neapolitan style in either sausage and mushroom, margherita, bacon and blue or prosciutto and pesto.

Perch Bistro & Bar, 7709 Inwood Road; Monday – Thursday, 5–10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday 5–11 p.m.; closed Sunday.