Trends

When Did Bone Marrow Become a Menu Must?

The miso-glazed bone marrow at Double Crown.
The miso-glazed bone marrow at Double Crown. Photo: Melissa Hom

Now that Frank Bruni has invited his readers to name recent dining trends, we have to point out that bone marrow (wonderful, wonderful bone marrow) is one of them. Yesterday Martha Stewart fawned over the Minetta Tavern’s roasted bones, and now Eric Hara tells the Feed that one of his new dishes at the Oak Room will be bone-marrow-crusted day-boat scallops with cipollini-onion purée, tomato marmalade, and bone-marrow crouton. Ding ding!

Hara says he’s instituting the new menu because “people want to eat, not experiment.” With some form of marrow having recently appeared on the menus at chic, sexy eateries like Double Crown, Café Select, Allen & Delancey, Bar Breton, the John Dory, and others (let’s not forget Employees Only’s bone-marrow poppers), it has to be asked: When did this formerly exotic dish cross the line into comfort food? Do we have the recession to thank? (The dish is cheap to make and can be sold at an inflated price because its relative novelty — and let’s face it, tastiness — is irresistible to some. We can only imagine what Café Select makes off of the tiny portion it serves.) And how long till we see a $30 bone-marrow burger?

When Did Bone Marrow Become a Menu Must?