THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS L'ybane

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED LOCATIONS L'ybane Restaurant Review:

Discreetly set on a bustling First Avenue block in the East 60s, this eatery is actually an outpost of a restaurant of the same name in Nice, France; chef Al Rineh moved to New York and now runs the kitchen here. Servers are competent and friendly and are excellent at guiding diners through the long menu of small and large plates. The cooking is influenced by the southern Mediterranean, and the chef refuses to list the common names of some of the dishes because, as a server explains, he tweaks them enough that using the customary name of the dish would be wrong. For example, caviar of eggplant, otherwise known as baba ghanouj, actually utilizes the very center of the purple vegetable; chickpea purée is really a fluffier (and better) incarnation of hummus; and spiced chickpea fritters are extra-crispy (and well-executed) falafel. The multi-course tasting menu includes all these plus several salads; various pastas and a few fish dishes round out the menu. The short wine menu is all French, all the time.