The Nomad

 "The competition would be too great."

When I first heard news last year that Danny Meyer was selling his four-star restaurant, 11 Madison Park, I was a bit shocked.  Restaurateurs and chefs alike strive for that rating given to them by the NY Times.  It takes some restaurants decades to finally mature to that level, honing their skills year after year, until perfection is finally reached.  Once its reached, they strive for an even higher level.

Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, the Chef and General Manager of 11 Madison Park, with a group of investors started the company MadeNice.  Once hearing these two professionals, two people who are truly at the top of their game in their respected fields, were planning on opening a restaurant just a few blocks away from 11 Madison, Danny had no choice but to sell.  The diamond of Danny Meyer's empire was now sold to Daniel and Will, and just a year later, they opened The Nomad Restaurant located inside The Nomad hotel.  Finally having a chance to eat here tonight, I realized Danny Meyer made a very smart decision.

The Nomad has taken casual hotel dining, elevated it with Mr. Meyer's signature hospitality warmth, and mixed it with cuisine cooked with incredibly high standards by a military-style French brigade in the basement kitchen.  Abram Bissell, the former Executive Sous Chef at 11 Madison, has been given the prestigious task of running The Nomad, which includes the now three-star restaurant, rooftop dining, and 24-hour room service.

The Nomad Hotel

The Nomad, which means "North of Madison Square Park", is located on the corner of 28th and Broadway, in a building very similarly designed to the iconic Flatiron Building located just five blocks downtown.  "The Atrium", or main dining room, is situated just off the hotel lobby, and is equipped with a skylight the same size as the dining room.  The skylight allows natural light to shine down on the dark wood furnishings, upholstered chairs, stone floor, and other forms of classic old-world architecture.

Located just off the Atrium is the bar, equipped with a dark mahogany countertop and designed to give the feeling of an old-world library.  Off in the other direction, is an actual two-story library, an area which serves small pastries and coffee.  The last section is The Parlour Room, and is a bit more intimate with red accents on the wall and a marble hearth imported straight from France.  Here, you can meet one of the sous chefs as he overlooks the cooking of small snacks and the now very well-known foie gras and truffle-stuffed chicken-for-2.



Now considered part of the "extended family" the kitchen welcomed me with the Fruits de Mer platter, six small bites of fresh-tasting seafood, each distinct in texture and flavor, all served over ice.  Hamachi and horseradish, crab with avocado, lobster with chili oil, a Beau Soleil oyster with apple gelee mignonette, scallop ceviche, and sadly I can't remember the last.  I was told by my server (a very warm woman named Liz who just moved to NYC from Chicago) to start with the oyster as the mignonette was temperamental.  After I finished enjoying the oyster, the rest didn't take long.  The lobster and crab were definitely the show-stoppers here.

"Fruits de Mer" tasting platter

Close-up of the lobster and crab bites

Sweetbread Croustillant with Parsley

Moving along to the sweetbread croustillant.  This was my least favorite part of the meal.  Meaning "crispy rolls" in French, the sweetbreads were mashed up and mixed with parsley, to the point where they were non-distinguishable.  The flavor was a little salty, and there wasn't enough filling to really be enjoyed.  I recommend staying away from this one.

The strawberry soup made up for it.  Served with fresh strawberries, croutons, olive oil, opal (purple) basil, black pepper, and duck prosciutto.  If you've never heard of it, yes it is possible to make prosciutto from duck.  Prosciutto is not referring to ham, but a process of salt-curing and air-drying the product for as long as it takes to become completely saturated with salt, thus changing the texture and flavor.  The soup was so fresh tasting and smooth, texturally complemented by the small croutons.  To be quite honest, it really didn't even need the duck.

Strawberry Soup and Duck Prosciutto

Not presented at the start of the meal, but a course in, comes the seasonal house-baked bread.  In this case, parmesan and zucchini.  The bread is served warm on a small cutting block with a built-in knife holder.  I would like to know where I can buy these serving designs from, as they were very clever.  The bread was incredibly tasty, but I chose not to eat more than just a bite as I had so much more to come.

Zucchini Bread and Parmesan

Tagliatelle with Meyer Lemon and King Crab

The tagliatelle with meyer lemon and king crab is still making my mouth water.  You can tell the pasta was not made in house, but it was completely coated with a meyer lemon (cross between lemon and a mandarin orange, very citrusy flavor) glaze, chive, and small pieces of king crab.  This was so, so, so good, but my only complaint, and a big one at that, is that for the price I would have liked to see more crab.

As fast as I was eating I noticed how spot on the kitchen was with their timing by now.  My entree of suckling pig was the only course I waited 12 minutes for, which is a great time.  Every other course came out in under 10 minutes.  For a busy NYC restaurant, this matters greatly, as NY diners hate waiting.

So before I get into how great the entree was, I was like to share with you the technique used in creating the presentation of the suckling pig.  The pig is butterflied (broken down the spine) and steamed/roasted until the meat is tender and the skin a slight golden-brown.  It is then turned onto its back, completely de-boned, and picked of all meat while still leaving the skin intact.  The meat is then seasoned, mixed, and re-pressed onto the skin, and weighted until cooled.  The pig is then butchered into smaller square-size portions.  When "fired" by the kitchen, the skin is crisped and the meat warmed through.  There are a few restaurants using this technique now, but that doesn't make the suckling pig entree offered by The Nomad any less worth it.

I dubbed it "Pig in a Forest".  The pig was crisped to a beautiful golden-brown color and served with a sour cherry and mustard jus, sour cherries, torpedo (banana) shallots, and fresh greens, which in this case were red and green mustard, beet greens, and thai basil.  By this time I was getting quite full but even Liz was surprised by how quickly I devoured it.

Suckling Pig with Sour Cherries and Mustard

A visit to the restrooms wouldn't normally be mentioned on a post, but if a restaurant's main focus is to play with your emotions, The Nomad does a great job in making you smile during a trip downstairs to the restrooms.  Each level of the staircase has 3-D artwork of birds flying through the stairs.  I just thought this was kind of cool and worth mentioning since it made me happy.

A tasting of the strawberry dessert was good, but nothing truly memorable.  Dubbed the "Strawberry Shortcake" it was exactly how it sounds.  Fresh strawberries were mixed with shortcake, candied orange peel, and strawberry sorbet.  A foam whose flavor I can't remember, completely masked the presentation.  It was good, but nothing special.

Strawberry Shortcake

The "Milk & Honey" dessert, however, is something completely different.  Milk ice cream is beautifully presented drizzled with honey, and sits atop dehydrated milk "ice" and crushed brittle.  The brittle is what makes the dessert.  So much flavor was running through every bite.  Sweet, crunchy, cold, and about ten other adjectives that all translate to awesome can be said here.  Eating this dessert is worth a trip to The Nomad in itself.  Such a great ending to the meal.

Milk & Honey dessert

I asked my server if I could visit the kitchen and say a quick thank you before I left (tidbit: chefs love this), and as I was presented with my check there was a white card inside with the words "Stay Cool".  I found this quite odd.

The kitchen downstairs is gorgeous, clean, and completely blanketed in white.  It is structured "railroad" style, which I thought was quite odd for a French restaurant, but noticed how much counter space it created for the cooks to work.  As the dining room manager was showing me around he commented how much Daniel Humm loves The Rolling Stones, and there were quotes from The Stones posted all around the restaurant.  The "stay cool" card now made sense.

Main kitchen of The Nomad

The two giant posters of Mick Jagger on the kitchen walls now made sense too.

The Nomad Hotel

1170 Broadway (at 28th Street)

New York, NY 10001