Bouley

Bouley's front door, currently hidden behind construction scaffolds

Walking into Bouley it doesn't take long to see just how much the dining scene of NYC has changed.  In a time when restaurant decors are designed and geared towards sleek minimalism, Bouley sits as a reminder, amongst very few others, of the opulent chambers one diner can be tucked away into.

Fresh apples line the wall, perfuming the entrance

From the front door you enter a vestibule of shelves upon shelves of fresh apples.  Perfuming the air transporting you to a fresh countryside orchard.  To the left a waiting room with the hostess stand up front.  A waiting room comprised of plush couches and chairs, floor to ceiling windows and artwork, exquisite chandeliers, and hardwood floors.  Before even entering the dining room you realize Bouley is a labor of obsessive love and care for guests.  This is not the waiting area comprised of a thin banquette set against the wall at your local Applebees.  

The large, romantic, dining room evokes the feeling of the French countryside.  Large Monet paintings, wrapped in velvet no-less, of orchards and wineries hang on the walls.  Fresh flowers sit atop every table that are dressed with rich, thick tablecloths.  Deep banquettes line the walls with plush pillows to cushion your back and to keep you from falling backwards.  A vaulted ceiling is brushed with gold leaf.  A fireplace and a library are tucked away in a darker, more seclusive secondary dining room towards the back of the room.  

Atera

**Note.  If you are planning on dining at Atera, I highly recommend eating the food before reading this post, as it will ruin a lot of surprises through the course of the meal**

It's amazing how many culinary trends New York City has undertaken in the past decade.  The fall of the twin towers caused the death of fine dining, where as a nation we turned to more economically feasible comfort food options.  We looked for menus that had a recognizable burger and french fries, instead of duck and foie gras.  Fast forward a few years and we became ready to play with our food, and all the emphasis was on molecular gastronomy and the multiple ways we could manipulate nature's ingredients.  Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray, England, and Ferran Adria's El Bulli in Catalonia, Spain were the world's best known restaurants to showcase it.  When trendsetters like Alinea in Chicago, and WD-50 in New York City ran out of ideas, so did the city's interest with science.  We've seen it already, what can we do next?

Then out of nowhere the "fad" was a practice multiple chefs had been utilizing for years.  Relationships they had built with farmers and emphasis on fresh and local produce started the "farm-to-table" craze.  Like little kids showing off their newest and coolest toys, it became a trend for restaurants to show which local farmers they were using, and how they were showcasing their products.  "Here we have a strawberry soup utilizing strawberries from Berried Treasures Farm."  It was a vehicle that caused all these hard-working low-key farmers at the greenmarket to finally become celebrities in their own right, but chefs decided to push this further.  They wanted to up themselves.  Thus began urban farming and rooftop gardening.

But this is New York City.  We need to push the envelope even further.  We need to watch what chefs from all around the world are doing, and then we need to up that.  Well, New York finally has a theater in which to showcase the newest food craze.  It is called Atera, and the 31 year-old Chef Matthew Lightner has brought from Portland not just a philosophy to utilize local farms, but local parks.  The new trend is called "foraging", and foraged food is now beginning to pop up on menus all around the city.

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.

Cotogna & Quince

The culinary power couple.

Before I had made my way to San Francisco there was but one recommendation I could not get out of my head.  Chef Floyd Cardoz told me I need to visit Cotogna.  From what I have realized from our own similar tastes in the past, when he recommends a restaurant, I must listen.

Cotogna is a small, rustic Italian restaurant owned and operated by Michael and Lindsay Tusk.  The two chefs first opened their fine-dining flagship Quince in 2003.  A hit right from the start, their passion lead them to move Quince into a more luxurious and grander space taking over Myth in San Francisco's Jackson Square in 2009.  The space included a small corner cafe, and after about a year and a half, and Lindsay Tusk doing much of the design work herself, transformed that cafe into Cotogna, which actually means "quince" in Italian.

Cotogna is centered around the pastas that Michael Tusk became famous for at Quince, having removed all of them from the now four-star establishment, making them more readily available in a more casual atmosphere.  There is not much to the decor of this 50-seat restaurant, with windows looking out to Jackson Square and wooden panels flowing throughout.  But what makes this space stand out is the small open kitchen showcasing a wood-fire pizza oven and a stand-alone grill with rotating spits.  Two cooks man these stations in the front while three more work behind the scenes.  The rest of the kitchen can be seen on a visit to the restrooms.

Getting a reservation here is hard.  Very hard actually.  I was trying for up to one month to see if I could make a reservation here before actually being in the Bay Area.  On a Tuesday night I decided to press my luck and visit the restaurant, and thankfully I got lucky.  I walked in and starting talking to the hostesses about my chances of dining that night.  They told me they accept walk-ins at the dining counters which were full at the moment.  They then took down my number and offered to call me if a space opened up.  Jumping at the chance I was put on the waitlist, and 20 minutes later received a call saying I could dine.  I thanked them profusely for the kindness.

Jardiniere

View of Jardiniere from across the street

Whenever I travel I make it a point to eat out a lot.  There is so much you can learn from a city by eating your way around it.  The dining trends, where people like to hang out, and visit all the different neighborhoods by visiting different restaurants.  With a visit to each city I always splurge on one big-named restaurant.  A restaurant that I don't mind paying upwards of over $150 for myself, as I know it will be worth it and remain a memory worth having.

In the case of San Francisco this restaurant was Jardiniere.  Owned and operated by Chef Traci Des Jardins, Jardiniere has remained one of the top restaurants in the Bay Area for the last 15 years.  Recently just finishing a solid run on Top Chef Masters, Traci has won numerous awards through her career including "Rising Star Chef", "Best New Chef", "Best Chef Pacific Region", and "Best New Restaurant" after Jardiniere opened.  With so many accolades under her apron it was no surprise I made it a point to dine here.

The spectacular ceiling of twinkling lights

Located just across San Francisco's City Hall, the corner building with exposed brick walls is where Chef Des Jardins makes her home.  Walking through the glass door entrance you are transported to a room designed after an inverted cocktail glass filled with champagne.  On the ceiling is a spectacular glass dome with twinkling lights evoking the feeling of effervescent bubbles.  The decor continues downward to a champagne-colored staircase connecting the ground floor.   The ground level has marble floors sweeping throughout, laying home to a large, circular mahogany bar and the entrance to the main kitchen.  Exposed brick walls on the inside of the restaurant give a more rustic feel and counteract the elegance of the tablecloth covered dining room.

ilili

I received my first taste of Lebanese cuisine many years ago at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Brooklyn.  I didn't know what to expect of the cuisine before heading in.  With a friend's help, she navigated me through the menu and after one bite of the fresh baked bread covered in za'atar (a fresh herb blend mixed with sesame seeds, sumac, and lemon), I fell in love.  I will never forget that first taste, and that first meal.

For years that followed I became intrigued by Lebanese, as well as other Mediterranean cuisines. Small plates of mezze (think tapas) of traditional hummus, baba ganoush (baked eggplant mixed with various seasonings), tabbouleh (bulgar and herb salad), to large skewers of meat (mainly lamb and chicken), fresh pita breads, and heavy seasonings of garlic, lemon, fresh herbs, cumin, aleppo pepper (a mild type of chili flake), and sumac (a dried reddish berry powder with a lemony flavor, but not as tart).  There are few that could dislike this cuisine, and if you have yet to try it, I am hoping my descriptions have made you willing to do so.  

At nighttime it can easily be seen as a restaurant

However, it has always served as a medium-profile cuisine.  Small restaurant owners setting up shop serving traditional small plates of hummus, pita sandwiches, and grilled meats over rice.  With the introduction of ilili into the NYC restaurant scene back in 2008, Lebanese cuisine has finally come into the major spotlight.  

Located just a short distance from Madison Square Park, it is very easy to pass by ilili in the daytime.  Like the service staff inside, the restaurant is painted black.  Unless you notice the brown lettering sketched into the black awning over the front doors, the space looks vacant.  Step inside, though, and its a whole other story.  

Junoon

With Tabla now closed, the torch of fine dining Indian in the Flatiron District has now been passed along to Junoon, which surprisingly is located just two blocks away from where Tabla resided. 

A few months ago I had the pleasure of walking into Junoon for the first time and meeting the Executive Chef Vikas Khanna.  If you’re a fan of the television show “Kitchen Nightmares”, you may remember Chef Vikas from the episode featuring “Dillon’s” Indian restaurant in midtown, in which he was brought in as a consulting chef to help get the restaurant back on track.  The show did a great job showcasing Chef Vikas’ signature style and flavors, and now his cooking is on display at Junoon.  Today I returned to the restaurant and tried his cooking for the first time. 

At first notice of walking into Junoon you realize no expense was spared, anywhere.  Junoon means “passion”, and this restaurant is the lifelong dream of Rajesh Bhardwaj, the man behind “Café Spice”.  This restaurant is beautiful, and there is a touch of elegance everywhere.  Upon entering you walk into a small room with a small reflecting pool, of which the sleek black hostess stand can be seen through two more glass doors.  The hostess stand is directly in front of a 50-foot passageway which also contains a long reflecting pool filled with stones, white sculptures covering flood lamps, and beige sandstone sculptures depicting vines (the same design on their website).  I couldn’t help but feel reminiscent of Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan.  The main dining room is to the left of the pool, in which an open kitchen stands in the middle. 

Tabla through my eyes

I am sad to say that my once favorite NYC restaurant is now closed.  Tabla had a magnificent twelve year run, and I am lucky enough to once call it my home away from home for 3 ½ years.  This restaurant shaped me into the chef I am today, and I’d like to share my story. 

The years leading up to Tabla…

When I was a young cook starting out in this industry I had no desire to work in NYC.  Through school I did my externship at a very well known two star NYC restaurant, which shall remain unnamed.  Externs in general are picked on at all restaurants.  Coming straight out of school they learn very quickly that they do not know everything, it is very easy to make mistakes, and it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and patience to make it in this industry.  

I was so anxious to be in a professional kitchen for the first time, but that feeling quickly turned into disgust.  As the three months of unpaid work progressed, I learned that all these cooks were just drones.  None of them had any fire in them, no desire to be there.  There was a lack of teamwork.  They were always angry, and obviously took it out on the new guy. 

Luckily, the two chef de cuisines realized my potential and hired me after my three month externship.  I was ecstatic to have found a job in what many people considered to be a great restaurant, regardless of what I thought of my coworkers.  That all changed when I quit three weeks later. 

After two weeks of full time work, I never received my first paycheck.  One of the chefs told me there was most likely a glitch in the computer system and promised I would receive two paychecks the following week.  As the third week ended, the problem persisted.  This time I decided to talk to the other chef, who informed me he had no idea that I was not receiving my paychecks.  He then gave me the cold shoulder, and told me to come back and talk to him the following day.  I was so angry, so hurt, so confused about the communication between upper management.  I remember I went home that night, and I never returned again. 

Was this what it was like to work in a top restaurant in NY?