Posts Tagged ‘Rotisserie Georgette’

Eat and Drink for a Good Cause at Chefs & Champagne – July 28

Get ready for this weekend’s much-anticipated foodie event, the James Beard Foundation’s annual Chefs & Champagne tasting. The delicious event is held in support of the James Beard Foundation’s  programs which celebrate, nurture and honor America’s diverse culinary heritage.

On Saturday July 28, 36 chefs – many of them James Beard Award winners — from restaurants in New York, Florida, Missouri, California, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington DC will dish up their best under the beautiful tent at Wölffer Estate Vineyard. The 2018 Guest of Honor is Padma Lakshmi, host of Bravo’s James Beard Award-winning Top Chef.

The menu features craveworthy, seasonal dishes like Stephen Bogardsus’s corn soup with truffles (The North Fork Table & Inn, Southold); Georgette Farkas’s tarte pissaladière (Rotisserie Georgette, New York); Mina Newman’s Nikkei ceviche with sockeye salmon (Sen Sakana, New York City); and Nick Stefanelli’s burrata with beluga caviar (Masseria, Washington, DC) that show why summer is the best culinary season. All is to be washed down by constantly flowing Champagne Boizel, Tito’s vodka and a variety of Wölffer Estate wines.

The evening begins at 5pm with a VIP reception. The main event, from 6-8:30pm, is followed by an after-party for VIP guests until 10pm. All guests receive a goodie-filled swag bag and can also take part in an extravagant silent auction with the chance to win a vacation getaway, a delicious dining experience, a watch, cookware and more. Bidding is open online through July 25 and will continue as a silent auction throughout the evening of the event. Take a look here.

Proceeds from the auction and the dinner will support JBF’s initiatives including the Impact Programs in areas of seafood sustainability, food waste, chef advocacy and childhood nutrition; the Women’s Leadership Programs and numerous scholarship programs. For tickets, including VIP tickets to the after-party dining extravaganza, click here

Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Sagg Road, Sagaponack, New York; 212-627-2308, www.jamesbeard.org/chefsandchampagne

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
Print |  0 Comments

Where to Eat Now in New York City: Healthy and Not So Much

Hawaiian poke is a newish trend in New York City – it’s healthy, fresh, and relatively inexpensive.  Try Pokeworks on 37th and 6th, next to a restaurant that’s anything but healthy, Chick-fil-a. You start by picking your fish – tuna, salmon, shrimp (or even chicken), add toppings like seaweed, pineapple, and garlic flakes, and create a personalized bowl that’s far superior to those quinoa or salad bar things.
Sushi Nakazawa and O-Ya – two splurge-y restaurants for sushi and fish.  You can request no meat dishes and have an outrageous omakase (chef’s choice) meal.  Sushi Nakazawa is on Barrow Street in the Village.  O-Ya is in Murray Hill. Both feature superstar food talents, Chef Daisuke Nakazawa, a protégé of Japan’s acclaimed Jiro Ono and the O-Ya team from Boston,  Tim and Nancy Cushman.
Chicken is high on everyone’s list for healthy foods.  Le Coq Rico in the Flatiron District is Antoine Westermann’s tribute to the bird.  He brings his French-Alsatian expertise from Paris to NYC with chicken sourced from the farms of New York.  Roasted, it’s a healthy alternative to that breaded or fried version. I’d save my calories for Chef’s wonderful Ile Flôtante. For pure, unadulterated rotisserie chicken in a luxe setting, visit Rotisserie  Georgette on East 60th Street, where the owner’s many years of experience working with Daniel Boulud is in play at this sophisticated midtown restaurant.
When I’m craving something decadent, I love ordering fried chicken. It’s not something I do every day, and I realize that’s it less-than-healthy, but it’s always wonderful. My go-to is the tiny, quirky Birds and Bubbles on the Lower East Side. You go down a narrow metal stairway to a very narrow restaurant where Southern food is the star. Sarah Simmons, most recently of City Grit fame, has brought her North Carolina upbringing to NYC and paired her amazing dry-brined, fried chicken with Champagne. Who would have thought? It’s pure brilliance.

I always like finding the small bistros that really make you feel at home.  Little Frog sits quietly on busy East 86th Street, an authentic French bistro from people you should know from their time at Balthazar, and also from Minetta Tavern.  Order all seafood – try their amazing oysters — or splurge on the fab coq au vin, and you’ll have a wonderful cozy meal. It’s a quick walk from the new Second Avenue subway stop, too.

Indian cuisine has always been notable for offering wondrous vegetarian dishes, and NYC has a Michelin-starred one that takes Indian cooking to a new level.  Tulsi, on East 46th Street, brings cooking from Goa, mixes it up with street food, resulting in a showcase of unusual takes on somewhat familiar dishes.  Here, it’s worth saving room (and calories) for dessert as well. The creations from Chef Eric McCarthy (yes, that’s really his name and he IS from Goa) are anything but ordinary.

Finding a good restaurant after going to Carnegie Hall just got a little bit easier with the return of Jams to New York City. The original California cuisine restaurant of the 1980s, Jonathan Waxman’s Jams is now on the West Side walkable from the Theater District as well as Carnegie Hall. The airy room is a great choice for sampling their signature Jams chicken and pancakes with caviar and smoked salmon, both from the menu of the original restaurant.

For that special-occasion, serene but sensational dinner, book a table at Gabriel Kreuther.  The former chef at The Modern, Chef Kreuther serves up a meticulous menu of Alsatian dishes that are as beautiful as they are delicious. If you don’t want to have the full set menu every night, there’s a separate bar with its own menu where you can order the tarte flambée, a pizza-like creation with sweet onions, smoked bacon and fromage blanc that put this chef on the map.  The restaurant is an oasis across from Bryant Park and has an extraordinary wine list, too. Walk next door to the amazing new handcrafted chocolate shop.

And speaking about wine, how about a wine bar and a tapas bar that’s so small that you’re advised to arrive by 5:30?  Desnuda on the Lower East Side on East 7th Street will thrill you with its tiny space and its chef’s prowess and creativity. Tea-smoked oysters are sensational — it looks like they’re being cooked in a bong — as are the ceviches.

Photo By: Daniel Krieger

If a scene is more your speed, head to the back of the NoMad, to the NoMad Bar in the city’s newly coined NoMad district (north of Madison Park), where the bar is lively and the menu is pure comfort.  In cold weather, the perfectly indulgent chicken pot pie with foie gras and truffles is a knockout, as is Chef Daniel Humm’s Humm dog, a hot dog unlike any you’ve had before. Trying to eat healthy?  The carrot tartare, originally on the menu at sister restaurant Eleven Madison Park, is an exceptional vegetarian dish, with the consistency and ingredients of its meat-based counterparts sans the meat.  Add a touch of caraway seeds, horseradish, apples and … because we’re talking about carrots after all.  It’s pretty and delicious.

And, finally, one of the newest “hot” restaurants on the Manhattan scene is in Midtown, just behind Bryant Park. Coffeemania is NOT a coffee shop.  Rather it’s a Euro-Russian-American eatery that’s chic and has unusual choices in both beverages and food. The menu is so creative that you can eat healthy (or not, as you wish).  I love the hamachi tartare (very healthy) but also the bone marrow (definitely not healthy) and the warm borscht. Teas from around the world are as creatively curated as the wine list.

Happy eating!

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
Print |  1 Comment

Restaurants for Thanksgiving Dinner in Manhattan

Have you procrastinated about Thanksgiving dinner?  If you’d prefer a “Friendsgiving” or just another way to avoid the family stress that usually surrounds this November family get-together, there are many ways to re-locate your dinner to a more neutral and possibly more delightful location.

Here are some of my favorite restaurants in New York City that are offering fantastic turkey dinners:

The Dutch

Andrew Carmellini’s popular SoHo restaurant is offering a prix fixe dinner for $95 per person ($50 for kids 12 and under).  Served family-style, the main course selection includes a typical spread of Thanksgiving treats. Roasted turkey with chestnuts and oyster mushrooms; mashed potatoes and gravy; Brussels sprouts with bacon, horseradish, and pickled mustard seeds; spoon-bread stuffing with andouille sausage and green peppers; spaghetti squash; and cranberry-orange sauce will make sure you don’t miss mom’s cooking. A choice of appetizers ranges from oysters to salads, steak tartare, soup, and pasta.  Nostalgic about keeping tradition?  Have the apple pie or pecan pie for dessert.  Or venture into more exotic turf with a pumpkin donut or devil’s food cake. Tax and gratuity, not included. 212-677-6200, 131 Sullivan Street, Manhattan. www.thedutchnyc.com .

Rotisserie Georgette

While you may be tired of turkey, this is the place to have it as Georgette Farkas’s rotisserie preparations are the standouts.  It’s also truffle season, so many of the dishes have optional truffle supplements. The three-course menu is prix fixe at $84 per person (kids are $40 per person) and includes a choice of chestnut soup, pate, or two salads to start; your entrée (roasted turkey with all the fixins, chicken for two with black truffle stuffing and black truffle pureed potatoes for a $45 per person supplement, prime rib, branzino, or farro for the vegetarians).  Desserts are variations on the traditional like a pumpkin mousseline torte with gingersnap crust, or a non-traditional chocolate pot de crème.  Sides like sweet potatoes with spiced marshmallow crumb crust, or turkey sausage with black truffle stuffing are extra as are tax and gratuity. 212-390-8060, 14 East 60th Street, Manhattan. www.rotisserieg.com

The Polo Bar

Thanksgiving might be the time to score a reservation at this not-quite-a-club, impossible-to-get-into restaurant.  The hotspot from Ralph Lauren is strong on Lauren’s holiday favorites including butternut squash soup, roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing with pork sauce.  Drinks are included, from a Champagne toast to cider, with nuts and olives on the side. Dress your equestrian best and enjoy the setting.  It’s yours on Thanksgiving for $150 per person, tax and gratuity extra. 212-207-8562, 1 East 55th Street, Manhattan. www.polobarralphlauren.com.

Kefi

How about a Greek Thanksgiving?  Two prix fixe offerings from $35 to $95 include appetizer, entrée and dessert.  To maintain the Thanksgiving spirit, Michael Psilakis starts you with something turkey, here a turkey abgolemono soup that’s a riff on Greek egg lemon soup. Follow that with roasted turkey, done pretty traditionally with mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables and gravy, and finished with a choice of two traditional Greek desserts, walnut cake with walnut ice cream, or yogurt with nuts and fruit.  212-873-0200, 505 Columbus Ave, Manhattan. Taxes, gratuity extra. www.kefirestaurant.com

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria

If an Italian celebration is more to your liking, Il Buco’s sibling restaurant offers a cozy setting for Thanksgiving dinner. Sit at one of the rustic communal tables and enjoy a multi-course dinner for $85 per person.  A selection of salumi or cheeses is served family-style to start.  Also served family-style are the sides — sweet potatoes , kale and quinoa, and buckwheat stuffing with figs and sage — and desserts, chocolate tarte, roasted pears with rosemary caramel, and persimmon soufflé cake. You pick your own starter – black bass crudo, vegetable soup, or chestnut angolotti – and your own main, baccala in a spicy tomato ragout with clams, rotisserie-roasted heritage pork, or Hudson Valley turkey with caramelized endive and apple. Tax and gratuity are additional. 212-837-2622, 53 Great Jones Street, Manhattan, www.ibucovineria.com.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
Print |  0 Comments

Planning a trip to NYC?