Openings

A Modern Chophouse’s Roman Excess

That’s right, salmon crusted in gingersnaps.Photo: Melissa Hom

In theory, a chophouse is a pretty simple place. You go there to eat chops, pork and otherwise. But such isn’t the case at 7 Square, the “American chophouse” from Venezuelan-born, Tokyo-based restaurateur Alvaro Perez. The chef, Lespinasse alum Shane McBride, is known for his ornate, rarefied cookery and standards that are “a little more modern.”

McBride’s only steak dish is actually an almost Roman feat of excess: He cuts away the ultra-tasty strip along the top of a grass-fed Wolfe’s Neck Farm rib-eye steak — the very best part of what is arguably the finest cut of beef — then rolls, ties, and sears it in a cast-iron skillet. He also crusts salmon with ground gingersnaps and serves it over fennel. How did he come up with that? “I was eating fennel, and I had just finished some gingersnaps,” McBride tells us. “The big flavors worked well together. So I thought of a rich, fatty piece of salmon … why not?”

Obviously, shrimp cocktail isn’t going to cut it anymore.

7Square, 224 W. 49th St., nr. Broadway (212-262-6236); opens Sept. 20.

A Modern Chophouse’s Roman Excess