SUMMER IS THE SEASON OF ROAD TRIPS. BUT IF NEW YORK CITY CHEF ANDREW CARMELLINI HAD HIS WAY, HE SAYS, “I WOULD TAKE ONE EVERY MONTH.”
“IN THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES ON PRIVATE LANGUAGES, WE OFFER A SELECTION OF SECRET CODES USED IN THE DINING ROOMS AND IN THE KITCHENS OF SOME OF NEW YORK’S FINEST ESTABLISHMENTS.”
“ON THE CORNER OF THOSE TWO GREAT NEW YORK URGES—FOR SANCTUARY AND FOR SOCIALIZING—STANDS THE UNSUNG SPOT THAT HAS LONG NURTURED BOTH, THE CORNER PUB. IT BESPEAKS THE OLD VALUES: ROOTEDNESS, RELIABILITY, SLAP-ON-THE-BACK AFFABILITY, A DUSKY (EVEN AT NOON) NEIGHBORHOOD HAUNT WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME.”
OUR FAVORITE STARTER WAS SMOKED LIVERWURST —THE BEGINNING OF AN INDULGENT MEAL, PAIRED WITH UNUSUAL VINTAGES, IN A LEATHER BOOTH IN THE LOW-CEILINGED DINING ROOM. THE RESTAURANT IS A MAZE OF DENS, WITH A BOISTEROUS AND LOFTY FRONT BAR FOR TIPPLES WITH A TWIST AND FRESH OYSTERS.
“AS MANY FAMILIAR DINING MEMES CONTINUED TO PROLIFERATE, THE YEAR’S MOST ACCOMPLISHED RESTAURANTS TOOK PAINS TO FEEL FRESH AND BREAK RANKS WITH TIRED TRENDS. AMONG THESE TRAILBLAZERS NO EATERY CAPTURED THE ZEITGEIST OF NEW YORK DINING AS EXUBERANTLY AS THE DUTCH…”
“SOHO HAS BECOME A LITTLE MORE DOWN-HOME WITH KIERIN BALDWIN’S SUPERLATIVE CRUSTS AND FILLINGS. OUR CURRENT FAVE: THE FLUFFY BANANA CREAM.”
“OF ALL THE GREAT PIE BAKERS IN NEW YORK CITY, THE CURRENT CHAMPION IS PROBABLY A YOUNG WOMAN NAMED KIERIN BALDWIN, WHO RUNS THE PASTRY DEPARTMENT AT THE DUTCH, AN AMERICAN RESTAURANT IN SOHO.”
“WHAT CAN STAND UP TO SHARP, DEEP, SPICY RED MOLE? ANDREW CARMELLINI CHOSE SUCCULENT, GAMY, LITTLE-USED LAMB NECK. TO ME IT’S NEW YORK’S BEST EVER MEXICAN DISH.”
A RESTAURANT FILLED WITH NEW YORKERS PLEASED TO BE NEW YORKERS, EATING IN A NEW YORK RESTAURANT, IN SOHO IN 2011. THE DUTCH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS MY RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR.
10 BEST NEW RESTAURANTS OF 2011!
ANDREW CARMELLINI BRINGS THE FASHIONABLE RETRO TRENDS OF THE PAST DECADE UNDER ONE ROOF.
AFTER A PEAK SUMMER SEASON SPENT FEASTING ON HERRING, SARDINES, AND THE OCCASIONAL SQUID, LOCAL ALBACORE TUNA ARE AT THEIR FATTIEST BEST. THE PALE-PINK FLESH IS THE PALEST IN COLOR AND MILDEST IN FLAVOR OF ALL TUNA VARIETIES, BUT TAKES WELL TO THIS SENSATIONAL JAPANESE BLACKENED-TUNA-SANDWICH TREATMENT THAT ANDREW CARMELLINI GIVES THE FISH OVER AT THE DUTCH.
THE GUYS FROM LOCANDA VERDE STRIKE AGAIN AS MANHATTAN WELCOMES ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR RESTAURANTS TO NEW YORK’S LATE-NIGHT SCENE WITH THE DUTCH IN SOHO. MARIA SANSONE COOKS UP THE DUTCH’S FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN AND ENJOYS THE SCENE AT THIS TRENDY NIGHT STOP WHERE A RESERVATION IS QUITE A HOT COMMODITY.
“THE DUTCH IS ABOUT FUN FOOD DONE SERIOUSLY BY A CHEF AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME. NOT SINCE BALTHAZAR OPENED HAS THERE BEEN SO GOOD A REASON TO FIGHT FOR A TABLE IN SOHO.”
KIERIN BALDWIN, PASTRY CHEF AT THE DUTCH IN NEW YORK CITY, USES COCOA NIBS—BITS OF SHELL-ROASTED CACAO BEANS—TO BRING A LIGHT CRUNCH TO THE CAKE LAYER.
THE NEW DOWNTOWN-CASUAL AMERICAN RESTAURANT HAS BEEN PACKED SINCE THE SECOND IT OPENED—“A-LIST IN THE EXTREME,” SIFTON CALLS IT. NOW CHEF AND CO-OWNER ANDREW CARMELLINI, AND HIS PARTNERS, JOSH PICKARD AND LUKE OSTROM, ARE TAKING SOME VERY WELL-DESERVED TIME OFF TO CELEBRATE.
