Posts for January 27, 2013 -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Posts for January 27, 2013

1/27/13 at 8:00 PM
Restaurant Review
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Platt: The Celebrated Daniel Humm Reinvents Eleven Madison Park—Again

By Adam Platt

Eleven Madison ParkPhoto: Victor Prado/New York Magazine

Most chefs choose to scrap menus, change business partners, and generally turn their professional lives upside down in times of crisis or economic distress. But with Daniel Humm it seems to be the other way around. Since arriving at Eleven Madison Park seven years ago, the talented Swiss chef has earned many awards (a James Beard, for one), accumulated countless stars (from Michelin, among others), and won rave reviews from an array of normally grumpy critics (including this one, who named Eleven Madison the best restaurant in the city last year). During the course of this meteoric rise, Humm has also helped engineer the slightly awkward purchase of Eleven Madison from his former boss, Danny Meyer. He’s reinvented his own cooking style numerous times (from Continental French to haute locavore) and, as the old haute cuisine model has collapsed (along with the economy), he’s come up with radical menu concepts like the famous “grid,” which encouraged diners to build their dinner around specific ingredients instead of predetermined recipes.

1/27/13 at 7:45 PM
Trendlet
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Cauliflower Makes a Move to the Center of the Plate

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Recently it was the carrot that seemed to be caught in the grips of an identity crisis: first at René Redzepi’s Copenhagen restaurant Noma, where it was aged like so much USDA prime (actually, left in the ground until it looked all leathery and almost fossilized), then dug up like an old corpse and braised for two hours in goat’s butter. And later at Eleven Madison Park, where a fitter and more youthful-looking specimen was proudly presented tableside, run through a meat grinder, and deemed a reasonable facsimile of steak tartare.

1/27/13 at 7:30 PM
Openings
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Andrew Tarlow to Open Shipyard Dive-Inspired Achilles Heel in Greenpoint

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

With four restaurants and a butcher shop in his North Brooklyn domain, Andrew Tarlow wasn’t looking to open anything new. But when a friend mentioned a long-shuttered tavern on the ground floor of a 1931 Greenpoint building he happened to be restoring, the waterfront location felt more like something old—a place with history and romance, plus an original bar and banquettes that Tarlow was able to salvage. Achilles Heel, inspired by the notion of the shipyard dive, probably won’t attract many actual longshoremen, but Tarlow is catering to the community with continuous service (8 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily) and a menu culled from his other establishments: Reynard’s croissants and Marlow & Sons’ scones, American hams and charcuterie from Marlow & Daughters, and breads from the oven at Roman’s. The nautical theme extends to raw shellfish, clam chowder, and plenty of rum.

1/27/13 at 7:15 PM
In Season
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In Season: Couscous Tabbouleh With Parsley Root and Preserved Lemon

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Photo: Victor Prado/New York Magazine; Illustrations by John Burgoyne

Although it may look like a parsnip that has seen better days, that is no reason to dismiss the parsley root. This old-world veggie is big in Central Europe, where it’s also known as Hamburg parsley or turnip-rooted parsley, and where its herby, aromatic flavor is put to good use in soups and stews. Hugue Dufour, chef-partner at M. Wells Dinette, has discovered that it makes a first-rate foundation for a clever, winterized tabbouleh, too.

1/27/13 at 7:00 PM
Openings
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Uri Scheft Opening First American Outpost of Breads Bakery in Union Square

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Uri Scheft was born in Israel and raised in Denmark, and since opening Lehamim Bakery over a decade ago, he’s become a local legend in Tel Aviv. He opens his first American outpost off Union Square on January 30 and will keep his deck ovens running around the clock to replenish the supply of signature items like cheese sticks, babka, challah, rugelach, and Danish rye. In the style of New York’s expanding wave of bakery-cafés—Maison Kayser, Runner & Stone, and Bien Cuit among them—there will be twenty seats for customers to linger over a sandwich or salad.

1/27/13 at 6:45 PM
Restaurant Agenda
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Sullivan St Bakery's Jim Lahey Offering Super Bowl Sunday Takeout Chili

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

Because man cannot live by pane Pugliese alone, especially on Super Bowl Sunday (a.k.a. the biggest gorging day of the year aside from Thanksgiving), Sullivan St Bakery’s Jim Lahey is trying his hand at takeout bean-and-beef chili. And if you know the bread man’s stellar work with meatballs and also cannellini from sister restaurant Co., you know it’s probably going to be great. If you’re from the anti-bean state of Texas, well, that’s another story; $24 for a quart and all the fixings—shredded scallions, white Cheddar, sour cream, and pizza bianca (236 Ninth Ave., nr. 25th St.; 212-929-5900).

1/27/13 at 6:30 PM
Openings
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First Look at Harvist, Opening This Week at My Images Studios

By Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite

You can’t run a respectable multimillion-dollar arts-and-culture hub these days without offering your patrons something good to eat. Thus, we have Harvist, an 130-seat restaurant opening this week at My Images Studios (MIST) in Harlem that seems to want to pick up where Red Rooster left off. The woman in charge, Cassandra Quinlan-Ashford, has worked for Floyd Cardoz at Tabla and Bill Telepan at Judson Grill. Her most important inspiration, though, must be her South Carolina grandmother, as evidenced by dishes like shrimp and grits and a red-velvet soufflé. Which isn’t to say the menu lacks international flair: There’s also berbere filet mignon and osso buco, not to mention a raw-kale salad.