Shmone
Shmone is a Michelin-starred Greenwich Village restaurant, known for Chef Eyal Shani’s neo-Levantine cuisine. Although this is Mediterranean, I wanted to see how it represents Israeli and Middle Eastern. Keep in mind that Michelin Stars are awarded for the food alone. We were able to make a reservation a few weeks in advance without any issue. Do note that this is adjacent to their wine bar which is not their restaurant.
Ambiance & Service
The interior is quite bustling and loud. It can feel cramped, but that’s symbolic of the West Village dining scene. If you sit in the middle, the chairs are positioned pretty close to other tables, such that you can hear conversations pretty easily. The 4-seat tables are very small and not much room for placing dishes. They had to bring a side pedestal to hold the water and candle. You can tell this was intentional because they needed to turn tables.
Throughout the night, the service was quite speedy, but we’ve found that the food came out at a moderate pace. We ended up finishing our meal close to 2.5 hours. The moment the check was paid, they rushed us out because they had another table incoming.
Food
The glass of Evening Land Vineyards ‘Seven Springs’ ($25) was a chardonnay coming from Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon 2023. This had a dry, super clean, vanilla-flavored, and vibrant acidity to the taste. For a chardonnay, I was expecting something more straight-forward punchy, but it was actually delicately complex with nice aromas of pears and floral.
The Jasmine Nohito ($15) came with Jasmine syrup, lime, muddled mint, and club soda. This one tasted basically like mint, lime, and fizz, so it wasn’t anything particularly special.
The Southern Sting ($24) came with bourbon, hot honey, fee foam, lemon juice, and Laphroig wash. The person who had this drink mentioned it reminded them of penicillin.
The Jerusalem Bagel ($14) came hot with olive oil and za’atar. The bagel had the perfect texture of toasted, soft, and crisp.
The Maine Bluefin Tuna ($32) came as a sliced sheet with some flavors on top. The wait staff recommended ordering this complement the bagel. The tuna was delectable, and when lathered on top of the bagel, it basically reminded me of a play on lox and bagel.
The Cabbage ($23) came with beef stock and sour cream. The cabbage was tender and the beef stock jus and sour cream added a nice complementary taste. It was quite rustic, but also surprisingly good.
The Spanish Octopus ($48) came confit, grilled to perfection with olives and sheep milk yogurt. This one I think we can do without. The octopus was not as tender as other places we’ve been to. The other ingredients that paired with it seem to be more of a “salad-mix” of things than a blend.
The Stretchy Stracciatella Pyrex Lasagna ($42) was interesting. The presentation seemed rustic, like your parents would cook this. The lasagna flavors were fairly basic. It had one or two sheets of lasagna pasta, which were quite thick. It didn’t have any meat or tomato flavors, but it was very cheesy.
The Wagyu Flat Iron ($56) came with 76 layers on a sharp steel. The sauce on the side was somewhat room temperature and tasted like one of the tomato-based salsas that I’ve had El Pollo Loco. The wagyu meat itself was very tender.
They gave us a side of challah bread to scoop up the sauce of the wagyu flat iron dish. The bread didn’t soak in the sauce that great, but it was pretty good.
The Dark Chocolate Pie ($19) came with swiss vanilla meringue and a sesame crust. This tasted like a mix of a cookie and a pie. The filling was definitely harder than expected, but the flavors were decently balanced.
Overall Impression
Shmoné was a pretty good restaurant in a bustling area of West Village. The food was pretty good, though not the best. I do not think this is a “go out of your way” to visit, but if you’re looking for a West Village scene with Israeli type food at a slightly upscale price point, this could be a good match.
Yelp & Google Jabs
Next was the “Cabbage melting into itself” served over beef stock and sour cream. I’m not one to dole out superlatives on a whim, but this was the best cabbage I’ve ever had. So soft and tender but still had texture so it was not falling apart. I’m very curious about the cooking method. Fabulous!
The cabbage was tender, but not pressure cooked tender. The beef stock rounded it out with savory, and the sour cream gave it some fat. There’s only so far you can go with cabbage though, so I’m not sure if I would describe this as the “best”.
Service was friendly and not pushy, which was what gets the stars. The food, though, felt anything but special and was wildly overpriced for the product. The Jerusalem Bagel was the highlight of a meal, but a bagel is hardly grounds for status.
Actually, this Elitist like many others mistakenly claim that the service gets the stars. Especially for a 1-star, it’s solely judged on the food. The service typically matches because the experience can be intensified through the food for some. I don’t think the restaurant was awarded the star simply for the bagel, but the inspector probably rated all the food during the evening.
Revisions
- May 29, 2026 - Initial revision.