I arrived at Copper Kettle Kitchen on Second Avenue on the Upper East Side as the management had just pulled their outdoor tables from storage to take advantage of an unseasonably warm day. We, of course, decided to sit there enjoying the balmy weather.
The new restaurant offers American comfort food from a menu designed for both grazing and sharing. Their offerings range from dips served with housemade bread to entrees for two. I’d go back for their inviting happy hour menu (Monday – Friday 4 to 7), if I lived in the hood.
We started with the Latino heat margarita ($14) — with the addition of Ancho Reyes chili liqueur, I thought the drink would pack much more heat than it did. As starters, we tried the subtle whipped cauliflower and Parmigiano dip, topped with chopped blistered shishito peppers and served with homemade flat bread ($9). I preferred the wild mushrooms and goat cheese flatbread drizzled with truffle oil ($14). I had to stop myself from eating the entire portion.
The eggplant meatballs listed on the comfort small plates for $12 are available on the happy hour bites for $3 each. These light and fluffy, gently fried, meatless “meatballs” — in a fresh tomato sauce sprinkled with chopped veggies — are not to be missed.
As their guest, the manager arranged for us to have even smaller than the regular portions of many dishes. Skip the most recent salad addition of baby arugula with radicchio, shaved fennel and shreds of Mountain Gouda ($12) as the dressing didn’t meld the flavors.
If you’re an octopus lover like I am, 
don’t miss the most tender and flavorful grilled version served with giant Corona beans (needing a bit more cooking), red onions and frisee ($16). The only other small plate that I’d recommend is the tender (braised for six hours) short rib sitting in a pool of polenta and delicious braised garlicky 
greens. Neither housemade ricotta gnocchi ($16) with rapini nor the orecchiette ($16) with lamb and roasted cauliflower impressed. The truffled Kennebec fries from the sides ($7), though, are worth it.
– bonnie
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Copper Kettle Kitchen
Upper East Side
1471 Second Avenue (at 77 Street)
New York, NY 10075
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