Last night, I went to The Collective for my friend Laureen’s birthday dinner. Formerly known as One Little West 12, this restaurant is smack-dab in the Meatpacking District, which made me a bit wary of how much I would enjoy it.

For those of you who don’t live in NYC, the Meatpacking District is a “trendy” area of the city where bridge-and-tunnel folk and those who just moved to NYC attempt to prove to each other that they are too cool for school. Meaning, it’s not my scene.

This restaurant was definitely interesting. With tables on top of each other on one half of the space, and a dance floor on the other half, it definitely had a clubby vibe. But the food was actually pretty good. It was mostly comfort food, so I got the braised short rib with roasted parsnips and sauteed greens. The short rib was so tender that I barely needed a knife. Their signature dish seemed to be the mac ‘n’ cheese. That was a little too much cheese for me, but I stole a few bites off of Laureen’s plate.