Cynthia: A Tasting Menu That Uses Every Last Scrap

Cynthia, a new tasting-menu restaurant in the West Village, opened in May and is a collaboration between restaurateur Claire DuBois and chef Sherry Cardoso, known for her appearance on 'Top Chef'. The restaurant, named after DuBois's aunt Cynthia Peck, formerly of Angelo's and Vinci's Ristorante, offers a refined and tiny dining experience. The menu, listed as six courses but effectively a dozen, features multi-dish courses built around shared ingredients, such as a corn course with three preparations and a lobster dish with two. Cardoso's approach emphasizes low-waste cooking, with scraps used for infusions, XO sauce, and bread. The restaurant recently moved to online reservations and added an à-la-carte menu at the bar. The meal concludes with a simple dessert of watermelon sorbet with coconut foam and melon cubes.