RESTAURANTS • Fine Dining Report
Our fine dining correspondent Lee Pitofsky dines at Per Se as often as most civilians order delivery. Here, now, his latest New York City report for FOUND:
→ ACCRUING VALUE: Last month the team behind Atomix opened Acru on MacDougal Street in the heart of Greenwich Village. At $95 per (with the option for a couple ~$20 supplements) Acru instantly becomes one of the most accessible tasting menus in the city. Chef and partner Dan Garwood has spent time in the kitchens of Faviken (Sweden), Kadeau (Copenhagen), and Atomix. Expect a menu that showcases those experiences as well as his Australian heritage. The current menu starts with a beer battered and fried Australian potato cake topped with Maine uni and thinly sliced scallops. BBQ beetroot, dehydrated and rehydrated with caviar and warmed creme fraiche, is worth the $20 addition. My favorite course: golden tilefish from Montauk draped in pork lardo with crispy chicken skin, grilled oyster mushrooms and a chrysanthemum-herb sauce. General manager and beverage director Ambrose Chiang (formally of Momofuku Ko) adds a tight but well constructed wine and cocktail list. Reserve.
→ TIDE IS HIGH: It’s been five months since the loss of chef James Kent, one of the industry’s brightest stars. His final project, Time and Tide, opened late October with his protégée (and Top Chef winner) Danny Garcia helming the kitchen. The Park Avenue space manages to instill a sense of intimacy despite its enormity. The menu is set like a steakhouse, but with only seafood. It’s all à la carte, down to sauce selection. The halibut pithivier (above), with spinach and mushroom duxelles wrapped in a delicate puff pastry, is quickly becoming a signature dish. Plenty big enough for two, pair this with vin jaune cream and the highly addictive nori fries. The wine list is superb — no surprise there, as Kent Hospitality Group’s wine director Kristen Goceljak is often first to feature trendy cult-like bottles on her lists. The excellent cocktails from bar director Harrison Ginsberg are ocean-themed. Reserve.
→ THE NEXT SAGA: Meanwhile, Saga — where Kent last ran the kitchen — is now serving up The Jamal James Kent Legacy Menu. A compilation of the chef’s favorite dishes, it runs through the end of the year ($298 per, Sun-Thurs four courses for $198 per). Expect variations of honeynut squash, white truffle risotto, and the return of one of the more memorable duck sets in the city. New chef Charlie Mitchell, formerly of Brooklyn Heights hit Clover Hill, takes over with a new menu in the new year. Reserve. –Lee Pitofsky