Oh my…it’s sooo good! On a stultifyingly hot evening last week we snagged a table at RedFarm and ordered widely across the menu to share dishes and graze at leisure – and with pleasure. The standout was the crispy beef, above. Dim sum come next, lovely, puffy cushions of deliciousness. I could eat here every night.
Located at 529 Hudson Street in the West Village, this new destination from dim sum master chef Joe Ng and Chinese food expert Ed Schoenfeld aims to be one of the most exciting and influential restaurants in the country. RedFarm brings a greenmarket sensibility to modern and inventive Chinese food and super-charged dim sum complemented by modern, rustic décor.
Joe Ng’s menu takes a clean, fresh approach to Chinese food. Signature items include clever dim sum creations for which Ng is known and small plates: Pac Man dumplings; yuzu wasabi shrimp; mushroom spring rolls that evoke a chanterelle mushroom; and a sculptural chicken salad, a grilled vegetable salad that mimics a garden plot. Modern takes on classic main dishes includes a chicken hot pot, remarkably tender marinated rib steak with steamed baby bok choy and spicy steamed sea bass.
Restaurant designer Jun Aizaki, of Brooklyn’s Crème Design, brought RedFarm’s locavore, farm-to-table mindset to life in the 1828 townhouse parlor-level space. Painted white brick walls and exposed wooden beams add intimate warmth to the 1,200 square foot room. Aizaki outfitted the room with wooden tables, chairs, crates, red and white patterned fabrics to create a classic farmhouse feel. Menus, chopsticks, flora and candles hang from rustic piping above the five booths and two communal tables.
Metta, Norberto Piattoni's Fort Green neighborhood restaurant[/caption]
Francis Mallmann, the revered Argentinian chef made famous by his many restaurants around the world, a couple of books on his cooking style and a hit television series, Chef's Table, has ensured his legacy with a diaspora of chef proteges, two of whom have rolled up in New York. Norberto, better known to his friends as Negro, recently opened Metta, a neighborhood restaurant located on a quiet corner two blocks from the Fort Greene farmers market in Brooklyn. It offers sustainably sourced, vegetable-forward dishes all cooked in a custom designed, open-fire kitchen, using South American asado techniques, utilizing all aspects of the fire (smoke, flame, ash and embers) to create layers of flavor in dishes. Packed with happy diners the night I went, it is relaxed, delicious, interesting and fun.
[caption id="attachment_8248" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Flora Bar, Ignacio Mattos' third opening in New York[/caption]
Ignacio Mattos was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of Mallman and Slow Food legend, Alice Waters. His two other restaurants in New York, Estela, with its bold, Mediterranean-inspired cooking, and Altro Paradiso, with its Italian cuisine, are favorites of mine. Now, Ignacio has come with his team to the Met Brauer on 76th and Madison, offering small bites as well as main dishes in a comfortable setting either indoors or on the open terrace. Service is superb, wines delicious and the food captivating. The space, in my opinion, could do with some tlc - easily accomplished. If you can serve food like that, a bit of flower planting and decorating should come easy.
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