I Tre Merli

 



Last Saturday I ventured off to I Tre Merli for brunch. After being turned down by Bagatelle for a seat at their beloved Saturday brunch service I luckly made back up reservations at I Tre Merli in Soho. I Tre Merli is the  new home of Day & Night's Saturday Brunch Parties in New York City (It was first Merkato 55 which closed down, then they moved to Revel and now they're at I Tre Merli). On days other than Saturday, I Tre Merli is kind of like a failed Cipriani Downtown as no one really goes there but Day & Night is planning to change all that. The Koch brothers have taken over the restaurant for the Saturday afternoon implementing a new drink & food menu and reservation system. You can't call I Tre Merli directly for a reservation but instead you must call Day & Night directly (212-755-1222) to get a table. The Day & Night menu is more based on drinks than food. The food menu consisted of a small page worth of appetizers (all priced $15), a pizza ($18) and three pastas ($20) but the drink menu took up an entire clip board ($475 for a 3L bottle of Rosé and $3000 for a bottle of Dom Pérignon with sparklers are just a few of the options for bottle service). The restaurant begins "brunch mode" at 3 so be sure not to make a reservation earlier than that (make it at 2:30 the earliest). For the brunch that I went to DJ Serebe, the famed DJ who also played at Merkato 55 numerous times, was spinning pulsating house music that could be heard two blocks down. By 3:15 a table of 6 was dancing on their table and by 4, when they dimmed the lights, only a few remained in their seats.





Though I Tre Merli is a restaurant, their food during their brunch service isn't the main focus. With that said it isn't too bad. The Pizza Margherita was average though not exactly worth $18. But my Porchini Ravioli with Truffle Sauce was actually good, if not a bit heavy. The Fried Calamari were also decent and up to par with Da Silvano. But to be honest no one really cares about the food here. I'd say only about a half of the restaurant ordered food and less than half of them ordered an entree. The patrons here only care about the four liter bottles of Rosé with sparklers for the whole tables and the latest dance songs being blasted at super high decibels. Its truly like going to a club in the afternoon.



Though I'd say Merkato's brunches had more of a buzz, I Tre Merli is the next best thing. The atmosphere is perfect and the food is a lot better than expected. The service is also great and you don't get the usual snobby attitudes that you get at these types of places. The pretentiousness may be too much for some and those searching for good food may want to skip this restaurant all together, but those looking for a party have come to the right spot with Day & Night's brunch at I Tre Merli!