[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]

On Monday we brought you a bit about the sweets at Café Kristall, a new restaurant from the chef of Wallsé in the West Village. We're back for lunch at the cafe today, tucked in the back of Soho's Swarovski Crystallized Boutique. It's a ladies-who-lunch scene, but just as perfect for a lone diner looking for a quiet break from the chaos of Broadway.

An earthy, deep Wild Mushroom Soup ($8), served steaming in a shallow bowl, offers a duo of Tiroler Speckknödel front and center. The giant Tirolian bacon dumplings, made from stale bread and flour, are the German equivalent of matzo balls, dotted with smoky, salty bacon. Fluffy and kissed with parsley and chives, they're a dreamy match for the rich soup studded with a variety of wild meaty mushrooms, a tease of sweet onions swimming though the cream-based broth.

The entrees can be lighter, though no less rich in flavor. Quark Cheese Ravioli ($15) come four pieces to an order, with a garlicky bed of sauteed spinach. The ravioli is made in-house and stuffed with a mixture of diced boiled potatoes, fresh quark cheese, and parsley. The cheese takes on a crumbly texture in the pasta, slightly tart against the soft potatoes. The ravioli are a bit on the thicker side, with enough presence to command attention. And that they do well, with a companion of fragrant hazelnut browned butter sauce.

The menu offers two other pasta dishes—Spätzle and Fetuccini, as well as meatier entrees that run up for $28 for the Venison Loin. There are also light salads which I spotted on most tables, ranging from a Octopus Carpaccio to a simple Baby Spinach Salad. Soup alone could be enough for a small lunch, with perhaps something sweet to finish. The Topfentore, a quark cheesecake mousse, and the Kristalltore of strawberry and champagne mousse are hard to resist, and we'll be back to try the Coconut Dacquoise and more.

Café Kristall

Inside the Swarovski Crystallized Boutique
499 Broadway, New York NY 10012 (map)
212-274-1500