Farewell, Contra

Food & Drink

Oct 17

After visiting Wildair for some shared plates, cocktails, and girl talk earlier this year, I discovered she had a sister – Contra. I immediately added it to my foodie wishlist, but then read an Eater article announcing the restaurant’s expected closure, which came as a surprise considering they’d been open for a decade. So I quickly booked an OpenTable reservation for 1.

To kick things off… Le Brésil. This cocktail was so light and refreshing, which is just how I like to start my meals. And if you have a sweet tooth, you’d like the banana and lemon flavors paired with cachaça, which is a Brazilian rum derived directly from sugarcane.

Bread to start the meal, of course… The Celeriac Crumpet was served warm with brown butter. It was so good, I probably could’ve eaten five of them before the meal started. I enjoyed the Tofu because of its creamy texture and a little bit of crunch. But I really loved the flavor combination of the sweet maple-mirin and the saltiness of the caviar. The Scallop was served with charred scallions and a Calabrian chili sauce instead of the walnut sauce it was supposed to come with, to accommodate my food allergies, which was much appreciated. Per Contra’s menu advisory, I noted my mild tree nut allergy in the notes section of my reservation in advance.

The Heirloom Tomato was my favorite dish! I still don’t know exactly what “squid nduja ragu” is, but I did some research and I’m pretty sure “nduja” is a spicy, spreadable pork sausage from the Calabrian region of southern Italy. Mid-meal, I took a short intermission from eating and ordered the Fall Back Spritz, as recommended by the bartender. This cocktail just tasted like Autumn with its cider base and citrusy aftertaste.

The Fushimi was served with tropea onion and sorrel, which are the leafy greens featured in the image above. Unfortunately, the Buckwheat was not my favorite because the peekytoe crab was extra fishy and I’m not a huge fan of eggplant. But this is more of a matter of preference and has nothing to do with how the dish was prepared. The Pork Collar was served with turnip and lapsang, a type of black tea. It was a little fatty, but I’m just extra picky about trimming meat.

I was so excited that this tasting menu had two desserts. And neither dessert disappointed! The Concord Grape had malted milk and the Mandarin dessert came with caramel popcorn. I was so stuffed at this point of the meal, but I managed to clear off my plate.

Bathroom selfie at Contra (October 2023)

Final Thoughts

I’m so grateful I was able to experience Contra’s tasting menu before they closed. Even though I was dining solo, I had great company from the most hospitable bartender and a few other solo diners who were also sitting at the bar.

One of the benefits of solo dining is using your phone without being rude to anyone. So I took the opportunity to Google all of the menu items that were new to me, which is where any ingredient descriptions above came from.

For the cost-conscious, I believe this meal was well worth it. The tasting menu cost $150 and the cocktails were about $17 each, so the bill came out to $200 (after tax, but before the tip).

Even though this gem is closing, there are plenty of other bar and restaurant recommendations here.