What’s on the menu at Pray Tell, a new cocktail and snack bar with an ex-Home of the Brave chef
Name: Pray Tell
Neighbourhood: Little Italy
Contact: 838 College St., no phone, praytellbar.com, @praytellbar
Owners: Nickie Minshall (Track and Field Bar) and Dustin Keating (Track and Field Bar, Montauk)
Chef/co-owner: Sonia Mondino (Home of the Brave, Patois)
The food
A one-page menu, divided into four sections: little snacks, bigger snacks, shareables and desserts. Some of the dishes are classics with twists: The steak tartare, for instance, gets a kick from wasabi oil, subs out gherkins for pickled daikon and carrots, and is served with togarashi crostini. Mondino’s Italian heritage manifests itself on the menu in the form of a few straight-up Italian dishes, like the pocket pizzas. According to Keating, Mondino is a “70-year-old Italian grandmother in disguise.”
The drinks
Signature concoctions rounded out with a handful of classics, like a super-boozy zombie. There are no draft taps, but beer drinkers have a short list of Ontario cans and bottles to choose from, including Brimstone Brewing’s Sinister Minister. Everything on the international wine list is priced at $11 a glass or $55 a bottle.
The space
Steeply angled shelves line the 41-seat room, and the space is decorated with more than 40 plants. (Luckily, one of the new hires has a botany degree.) Keating and Minshall designed and built everything themselves, including the shelves, wood ceiling, marble tables and copper light fixtures.
 and Dustin Keating (Track and Field Bar, Montauk)
Chef/co-owner: Sonia Mondino (Home of the Brave, Patois)
The food
A one-page menu, divided into four sections: little snacks, bigger snacks, shareables and desserts. Some of the dishes are classics with twists: The steak tartare, for instance, gets a kick from wasabi oil, subs out gherkins for pickled daikon and carrots, and is served with togarashi crostini. Mondino’s Italian heritage manifests itself on the menu in the form of a few straight-up Italian dishes, like the pocket pizzas. According to Keating, Mondino is a "70-year-old Italian grandmother in disguise."
[caption id="attachment_396804" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] From the "shareables" section of the menu, the California cold roll is stuffed with grilled shrimp, pickled daikon and carrot, nori, sesame and cilantro. $8.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_396807" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] The supreme pocket pizza is stuffed with bolognese and mozzarella, and served in a pool of lemon-herb oil. $8.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_396808" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] This beef short rib (from the "bigger snacks" section of the menu) is rubbed in five-spice before being braised for three hours. It’s topped with grilled green onions and pickled ginger. $12.[/caption]
The drinks
Signature concoctions rounded out with a handful of classics, like a super-boozy zombie. There are no draft taps, but beer drinkers have a short list of Ontario cans and bottles to choose from, including Brimstone Brewing's Sinister Minister. Everything on the international wine list is priced at $11 a glass or $55 a bottle.
[caption id="attachment_396803" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] The B-Side: this tequila-based strawberry number’s a spicy one, thanks to a charred jalapeño-pineapple shrub. $12.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_396806" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] The Make Nice is made with pisco, passion fruit purée, Cointreau infused with rose petals, lime and egg white. $12.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_396805" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Don't Panic! is an autumnal daiquiri. Instead of fruit, the drink gets its warmth from vanilla, hibiscus and orange peel—not to mention a mix of mescal, 12-year-old El Dorado rum and Lillet Blanc. $14.[/caption]
The space
Steeply angled shelves line the 41-seat room, and the space is decorated with more than 40 plants. (Luckily, one of the new hires has a botany degree.) Keating and Minshall designed and built everything themselves, including the shelves, wood ceiling, marble tables and copper light fixtures.
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