FirstLook: SHO Shaun Hergatt

The Gluttoness — June 08, 2009

It’s rare that I’m speechless, but last Thursday night’s preview dinner at SHO Shaun Hergatt stunned me into my first satisfied oblivion of 2009. Executive Chef Sean Hergatt has spent two years turning the concrete canvas within The Setai New York into a modern Asian masterpiece with simple elegance and ruby red accents. An expansive glass wall separates diners from the theatrics of the grand kitchen and many of the tables face Hergatt’s “stage” where he commands his dutiful “players.” You witness meticulousness then taste it.

The striking décor is matched by the drama of SHO’s impeccable food, which the chef described as “Asian-accented, modern French cuisine.” Hergatt is a brawny Australian with a sweet smile—the unexpected artist behind brilliantly feminine dishes that are as artistically inclined as they are sophisticated in flavor. There’s a continual dance between delicacy and decadence. Riveting taste always wins, but it’s the manner in which it’s achieved that is so interesting.

Duo of Canapes: Crêpe w/ Tobiko & Sour Cream over Lime & Sesame Seed Tuille w/ Whitefish Tartare

Two velvety crêpes were filled with tobiko and sour cream, then tied in purses, served over thin slices of lime and topped with gold leaf. Two sesame seed tuilles were rolled like cigars and stuffed with whitefish tartare. There was an impressive equilibrium between the rich insides and the subtle exteriors.

Click here for AlwaysHungry's full First Look at Sho Shaun Hergatt >>

AHNY Video: Michael McCarty, Man of All Seasons

June 02, 2009

After thirty years in the business, Michael McCarty, owner of the legendary Michael’s Restaurant, offers his musings on the current direction of the food world. A few excerpts:

“I’d bring the Dutch White Asparagus in from France in 1979. We’d fly that from France. Have a guy go and he takes it from Rouges, from the market. He puts it on the plane, I go have another guy who picks it up off the plane. We should have started FedEx is what the business was, it’s what we should have done. Because that’s what we were doing.”

“Look at the explosion of wine bars in New York recently. People don’t want to go just have the old, famous Cosmo for the eightieth time. Or a Red Bull and Vodka. I mean, that’s like, Pssh!”

Click here for the full AHNY Video, Man of All Seasons: Michael McCarty

Dish by Dish: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Jeff Zalaznick — May 18, 2009

Les Burgers
Beef & Foie Gras Burgers with Caramelized Bell Peppers

It seemed as if I had missed the work of Chef Joël Robuchon when he closed, Jamin, his small, three Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris. I had never been. The food became something that I dreamed about, his famous mashed potatoes, purée de pommes de terre, haunted me in my sleep. Lucky enough, my prayers were answered, and six years after retiring, Robuchon’s L’Ateliers began popping up. First in Tokyo, then Paris, Las Vegas, and finally at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City.

They could not have found a better home for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The bar at the Four Seasons has always been a power drinking scene, but it had never really had the food to go with it. A Michelin-rated restaurant where one can order Asian and French influenced cuisine from one of the world’s most renowned French chefs seemed to fit the bill. As the location will reinforce though, this restaurant blurs the distinction between bar and restaurant, just as it does between bar food and fancy french. Over half of the menu is offered as small plates, including a game-changing rendition of sliders topped with seared foie gras (pictured above). This dish could be interpreted as a symbol for the restaurant as a whole.

The remarkable presentations, ingredients and flavors of Chef Joël Robuchon’s cuisine consistently impress, and since they opened in 2006, there is no question that L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is one of New York’s best restaurants. It is what it’s supposed to be—excellent— and it does what it’s supposed to do: fine dining with out the fancy. It could be that you can sit at one of the twenty bar seats and watch Robuchon-protegé and genius in his own right, Yosuke Suga at work, or it might be that you can order an entire meal as tapas, but either way it is incredibly successful at making you feel comfortable eating foie gras in your jeans. And everyone is served a dish of mashed potatoes alongside the meal.

The world has gained more Ateliers (London and Hong Kong) since, and there is another one planned to open in Philadelphia in 2010. If you have one in your city, and enough money in your wallet, go there now.

Signature Small Plates: Les Burgers (Sliders), L’Anguille (Caramelized Eel Layered with Smoked Foie Gras), Le Calamar (Sautéed Squid with Violet Artichokes & Chorizo in Tomato Water)

Click for the photos Dish by Dish >>