This is another awesome Tasting Collective dining club event we attended in September 2024. (You can read about the previous posts about Tasting Collective events here: Jaz Indian Cuisine, Fish Cheeks, Win Son, FOB, Xixa, Huertas, Bessou, Maharlika, Traif, Lalito, Noreetuh, Traif #2, Txikito, Oka, Xixa2, TabeTomo, Houseman, Nowon, GAUDIr, Contento, NAR, Cecily, 8282, Meadowsweet, and Ernesto’s). Tasting Collective is a dining club for food lovers, and they offer brunch and dinner at great NYC restaurants. They close off the restaurants for the club, so we get to have the entire restaurant and Chef(s) all to ourselves. So, this is more than just eating food at a restaurant, but you get to have the background story and its passion from the Chef(s), eating 5- to 12- or more course brunch/dinner created specifically for Tasting Collectives. There is a discount code at the end of this blog for those of you who are interested in joining.
This event was held at Frena, 5-course Modern Middle Eastern Tasting Event. This restaurant has been features in great lists such as Infatuation’s list of “22 Best in Hell’s Kitchen” and Grub Street’s List of “Where to Eat in NYC.” Interesting back story we got from the owner of the restaurant was that this place used to be another restaurant called Taboon. The restaurant had a fire, and then the Chef Efi Naon and one of the regulars of Taboon came out with this brilliant idea to open a new restaurant together. How amazing is that?
At a Tasting Collective event, you can find out all sorts of interesting background history of the restaurant and/or the chef. They also told us that they replaced everything inside the restaurant due to fire damage and also to revamp the space. The only thing that remains from before is the inside of their beautiful clay oven. Frena is a traditional Moroccan bread, like a fully pita. I hear the bread here is quite amazing.
The interior was quite modern, with lots of greens everywhere, making the space looks like an oasis in the middle of concrete jungle. It has a large, beautiful bar in the middle, and the seating space in the shape of the letter L. The restaurant is not too large, but not too small. Cozy and welcoming.
We decided to get a cocktail to start off. We both chose went with the same one, since it sounded so good. It is Levant Dew ($15), and it said “The greatest thirst quencher you didn’t know you needed” which sold me even more. It is made with Honeydew, Mint, Yuzu, and Tonic. Doesn’t that sounds great? This one is actually listed under “boozelss” section, but you can spike it with Vodka or Gin for additional $3. My hubby got it with Vodka, and I got it with Gin. They both tasted great, so I would say it is up to your preference. It had a nice sweetness from the honeydew, with the refreshing flavor of mint and yuzu. I really enjoyed this!
Now, let’s dive into the food! The first course was Falafel Duo, which had two round falafel balls. One with sweet potato falafel with tzatziki, sour cabbage, green garbanzo. Another one with tahini, amba, pickled cucumber. It had a cherry tomato in a middle. They were so tasty! Crunchy exterior and nicely moist inside, packed with flavor. Fluffy and bouncy. I also loved the presentation, how it had a bao bun look. A nice little starter that let’s you know it is going to be good…
The second course was Roasted Baby Gem Caesar Salad, with black garlic Caesar dressing, roasted cherry tomato, toasted challah, roasted cauliflower floret, 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano. Salad was very fresh, with a nice crisp crunch to it. The dressing had a little kick to it, and loved the charred, smoky flavor. Dressing was amazing, really enjoyed that.
The third course was Wild Striped Bass “Tunschi” in souk-spiced tomato ragout, green garbanzo, preserved lemon. Fish was perfectly flaky and moist, tomato ragout was earthy and robust, comforting and had a great seasoning. A little kick from the spice which brought extra punch of flavor. I don’t think I ever had bass served this way, so interesting and oh-so-tasty!
Now, I was super excited about the next course. It is their Signature Lamb Terra Cotta. I saw some photos of it and I was very interesting in this dish. It is made with Colorado lamb in clay pot, with flatbread top. It looked so amazing! The staffs cut up the top immediately and skillfully at the table. Dinner and a show!
It had four lamb sausages inside, along with tomatoes and onions. Looks great, right? We tore off the bread a little at a time, and the bread was indeed amazing. Loved both the charred crispy part, and the soft, doughy part of the bread.
I tell you, the lamb was out of this world good! And it went great with the charred tomatoes and onions too. We scooped up the sauce with pieces of the flatbread, every bite was delightful from the beginning to the end.
Last but not least, dessert! We got Tres Leches Olive Oil Cake with cardamom Chantilly. The cake was very moist, yet somehow didn’t feel dense but nice and airy. I liked that it was not overly sweet. The cream was light too, elegantly complementing the cake. As the sponge soaks up the milky pool of lusciousness, it becomes even more moist and decadent. What a great ending to this wonderful dinner.
Their bathroom was located all the way in the back of the oasis. they had two gender-neutral bathrooms. Very clean, and the same modern, relaxing atmosphere is carried into the bathroom space too.
We had another successful and amazing Tasting Collective event here at Frena. The staffs were very friendly and efficient, we were well taken care of. The food and drinks were absolutely wonderful. We enjoyed everything! The owner was great too, approachable, relatable, and passionate about the restaurant and food. We will definitely go back for more of their amazing drinks and food!
For those of you who are interested in joining this great dining club, Tasting Collective, you can use this link to get a discounted annual rate of $125 (over 25% off the normal $165/year) for the first year: https://tastingcollective.com/?invite_code=JUN4346
Frena – 773 10th Ave, New York, NY 10019