Michael White, a name that needs no introduction. The award winning, well acclaimed chef and his Altamarea group is an absolute power house in Italy cuisine in town. Between New York and New Jersey, the empire has no fewer than 8 restaurants, from causal pizza place to steak house, to upscale fine dining; Chef White seems to do it all. However, it is super tough to maintain standard and quality when one’s tentacles are stretching into so many places. It was sad when his well appraised Alto shuttered. Convivio also abruptly closed about the same time. Costata in SoHo closed earlier this year due to supposedly “relocation”. With all the closing, there’s new blood starting to boil too though. Rumor has it; a new member to the family is slated to open in late August on Park Ave.
While I wasn’t impressed by Costata or Ai Fiori, I absolutely adore Marea, the mid-town seafood place. I love their appetizers. Their crudos are excellent, pastas are exceptional. But I always stay away from the entrees. And who needs entrée when you have the most amazing, specular bowl of happiness name FUSILLI. Al dente pasta soaked in the bone marrow red wine sauce with the tender, mouthwatering braised octopus. I would lick the plate every time if I wasn’t sitting among the well-dressed upperclassmen. Michael White is truly a magician in craving these hearty earthy goodies. Marea opened in 2009, later in the same year, came Osteria Morini.
Category: <span>James Beard awarded</span>
Danny Bowien- A Korean guy cooking (Americanized) Chinese food; a 2013 James Beard rising star Award winner. How does a long hair Asian dude take over down all the Italian chefs and won the pesto world champion (2008)? We are very curious.
We wanted to go to Danny Bowein’s place for quite sometime now. He made his fame in the west coast. After his move to this side of the continent, we now have Mission Chinese and Mission Cantina, both in Lower East Side.
So on a Thursday, we went for tacos. I should have done more reading before I went, apparently Mission Cantina had changed their menu to mostly burrito…. The only taco available on the day was fish taco. All those great cumin lamb taco, pork shoulder taco and mushroom tacos I’ve read so much about were “retired”, so was the chicken wings… Our server told us their menu frequently changes, and the items I mentioned were “winter season”. Disappointed but we still have high expectations about the sole taco on the menu. To be honest, there weren’t a lot of choices.
In recent years, David Chang, Rich Torrisi, Mario Carbone have taken over the New York culinary scene like a storm. All their establishments have been extremely successful, tables are continually high in demand, and food is outstanding too. They have become the new super stars in the culinary world, household names, even if you are not into the food scene, but if you live in New York, you would have heard of the names of at least one of their restaurants. They have changed the landscape of New York food scene. Behind the success of these rock stars, we have one guy to thank for (in part), a man who David Chang, Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone consider as mentor- Chef Andrew Carmellin. A lesser known name, but a name we should know, and his restaurants have been popping up in lower Manhattan too.
The 2 times James Beard Awards winning chef made his name during his time at Café Boulud. After his Michelin star winning venue A Voce, Chef Andrew Carmellin partnered with NoHo Hospitality group and gave us Locanda Verde, the Dutch, Lafayette (By the way, I adore Lafayette), Bar Primi, and most recently, Little Park at the Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca hotel The Smyth. All of these restaurants are participating in restaurant week, and we chose Little Park for lunch.
Little Park is a good looking place. Golden-wood toned, marble topped bar, golden lighting, flower box at the big window pouring in sunlight, to me, it very much resembled Lafayette, same vibe, different ways. It is posh and energetic.
This sleek, blondish hotel restaurant opened in November 2014. It is veggie/ health food focused. The vegetables here are excellent. It might not be as innovative or mind-blowing as Blue Hill, but it is still fascinating. The kohirabi salad is crisp, juicy as it can be. And the Brussels sprouts, so nicely done that we could have that as entrée. Honestly that was the highlight of my lunch. And I wouldn’t be mad if it ended there. I think the Brussel sprouts are poached before it is fried. Tender all the way to its core, while the outer layer is crispy as chips. And there were different sauce at the bottom of the bowl, I think on one side is apple cider vignette, and the other could be smoked mayo, every bite keep us guessing, and we truly enjoy it.
Crispy brussel sprouts (top)- smoked parsnip, apple cider
Grapefruit sorbet (top)- old time fin, bruleed citrus
Chocolate cake is excellent. It’s crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. It’s not overly sweet. The grapefruit is lightly torched or bruleed. With sorbet, absolutely refreshing. The latte I had with dessert could use some more work.
Once again appetizers stand our more than entrée. The veggies are the stars here. It is a lovely lunch. And it was restaurant week menu only. I am excited to see what dinner would be like.
little park | Smyth Hotel, 85 W Broadway | New York restaurant week Winter lunch | Jan, 2016
This year’s restaurant week came early. Instead of starting in February, it surprised us in mid January. And as winter weather finally arrive, we are in need of comfort food. So screw that new year resolution, I need some fried chicken.
Root and bone is a cute little place in Alphabet City. This much hyped place open back in mid 2014, offering southern comfort food. Mainly fried chickens and waffles, grits, devil eggs, the goods. Afterall the chef/owner couple did made their reputation at Yardbird, Miami. I am a big fan of Yardbird by the way. However, it seems like Chef Jeff Mclnnis and Janine Booth didn’t want to be linked to the South Beach restaurant that earned them the James Beard nomination. Check out the root & bone website, there were no mention of the framed restaurant on their website. Perhaps they didn’t want to be compared?
Yardbird isn’t the only place we got to know this pair of picture perfect couple. They did both appeared on “Top Chef”. Jeff was on 5th season, and Janine was on the 11th. They didn’t win. But looks like they won each other. It’s an interesting read, their story, it’s like reading page 6 of the cooking world.
But enough of the gossip, i’m here for fried chicken.
Restaurant week menu is offered for both lunch and dinner at Root & bone. But both are the same. In that case, of course I show up for lunch. The little narrow door on 3rd street opened into bakery like front- take out counter. Small “foyer”, just enough to stand 4 people with no apparent Reception area. Thru a small door way, it’s the main dinning room, with open kitchen and a eating bar. I chose to sit in the smaller dinning room by the bar. It’s like a little breakfast nook. With sunlights beaming in, and heat blasting, it feels more like a chill spring morning than a freezing winter afternoon.
The place is adorable, feels like I am sitting in the kitchen in an farm house. Aged White oak or birch wood cupboard and bar; exposed brick painted in white, edison light bulbs hanging from the sliver polished tile ceiling. Little birch wood tables paired with steel chairs, rustic, warm and comfortable.
I sat down by the bar and watched the room slowly warming up.
Promise ring– white whiskey, green apple, elderflower and lemon.
It’s very light. Perfect for early afternoon drink. What. Too early?!? It’s 1:00 already.
Drunken Deviled Eggs– Catskills farm eggs, pickled roots and chips
Egg white is pale pink. Creamy yolk is stabbed by a crispy chip. I don’t think there is ever a deviled egg that’s not good. So simple yet so satisfying.
Root & Bone’s award winning fried chicken and waffles, sweet tea brined, lemon dusted, spiked Tabasco honey and buckwheat cheese waffles with whiskey maple syrup.
This is the dish that supposedly earned chef McInnis the nod. The dish that I’d fly to Miami for (among other things).
Chicken and waffle arrived in a basket, along with whiskey maple syrup and tabasco spiked honey. The wheat waffle is placed with a piece of cheddar, half melting. The zest of Lemon made the whole plate smells good. And so, the famous chicken… Here at root and bone, they let you chose white/ dark meat. Me? Always dark meat. Dark meat tend to be more tender. If root & bone is anything like Yardbird, given my experience there, it should not matter whether it’s dark or white. Sorry, hard no to compare. I got a thigh and a leg. However, this famous chicken was a bit of a disappointment. Dry… And too much crust. The skin was fried too long and had became tough. Can’t even cut through with a knife. There’s no moisture in the meat anymore. Where is that faintly sweetened, juicy, tender, award winning chicken? That should be where the house made spicy sauce came in. The sauce taste like a mild spicy version of the sweet and sour duck sauce.
On the positive side, root and bone’s restaurant week menu comes with more than 3 course. Other than the appetizer and main course, they also give the table a side dish. Two choices, Mac and cheese or grits. I got the grits.
Citrus custard- blood orange sorbet, pistachio grahams & crunchy meringue.
All in all, for $25, it is still a good deal! Wait, there’s still dessert to come. And after a heavy meal, the blood orange sorbet is a better choice.
So, since summer 2014, New York has upped the chicken game. There are way more choices and players in the game. Looks like Jeff and Janine have works to do. But for the moment, let’s just say, I just planed a trip to Miami.
root & bone | 200 E 3rd St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016 | lunch