BEST BISTROS
Although diverse in style, location, audience and cuisine, a commonality runs through restaurants that have gained the reputation for being best at what they do. As intimate neighborhood spaces, they’re overseen by chefs with a strong commitment to fresh, natural foods (grown as close to home as possible) plus impressive coping skills. Those invaluable skills are reflected in horror stories shared after hours over a cold one–the broken thermostat, the kitchen fire, the no-show dishwasher, rotten weather. Take the time one of those notorious Texas summer storms killed electricity throughout the York Street neighborhood at the height of service:
York Street
Dallas, TX - www.yorkstreetdallas.com
“There was no exhaust going through the hood, no air conditioning, no lights, nothing,” Sharon Hage laughs as she recalls the near-disaster at tiny York Street in Dallas, Texas. Mercifully, the gas stove continued to function. “We lit candles and put them on tables where people were eating and kept cooking by passing a flashlight from burner to burner. It was the only time I was grateful for having a tiny kitchen.”
Settle in at this seven-year-old, 42-seat jewel in Old East Dallas and prepare to be surprised. The soft-spoken and slightly shy chef/owner has mesmerized guests for six years with gustatory marvels like kabocha pumpkin soup with sage profiteroles, and striped bass plated with glazed fennel and ruby grapefruit bathed in a vermouth-based sauce. Nightly after closing, Hage adjourns to her computer where she develops dishes
that will incorporate seasonally available ingredients into the next day’s menu, fare that has elicited acclaim from The New York Times, Zagat and Gourmet, which named York Street one of the 50 top restaurants in the nation. She also received a James Beard nomination for best restaurant in the Southwest for four consecutive years through 2007.
Seelbach Hilton’s Oakroom
Louisville, KY - www.seelbachhilton.com
Often the best restaurants, especially in big cities, are small and frequently owned by their chefs–although there are notable exceptions. One of them is the Seelbach Hilton’s Oakroom in Louisville, Kentucky, a Beaux Arts baroque grand dame operating since the turn of the 20th century. Executive chef Todd Richards presides over a kitchen that continues a culinary tradition that’s innovative as well. The Oakroom holds the state’s only AAA Five-Diamond Award, in addition to being honored by Gourmet, Southern Living and Wine Spectator.
Cuisine emanating from Richards’ kitchen ranges from Kentucky country ham and Red Eye hollandaise sauce to the venerable hot brown sandwich. But what makes the Oakroom special is its five-course tasting menu drawn from his 2007 participation in the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” competition—sunny-side up truffle quail eggs, parmesan-sprinkled, bacon-wrapped sweetbreads, and cornmeal-crusted Lake Erie walleye pike in a sweet pea and crawfish gratin. Dessert features a vanilla and parsnip crème brulée served with hazelnut and coffee toffee and blood orange gelée.
Yes, parsnips.
“We know what people expect in a five-diamond restaurant in terms of food, service and ambience,” Richards says. “And we know what’s going to be popular with local people. But we also know what we want to be remembered for when people travel away from here. So we cook what’s in season. If it’s not growing or swimming right now, we just don’t serve it.”
Sfoglia
New York, NY - www.sfogliarestaurant.com
An innovative approach to food is the hallmark of New York City’s Sfoglia, sister to the same-named and highly successful restaurant launched a few years ago on Nantucket Island. Ron Suhanosky and his
wife Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky have transferred their magic touch to Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This 50-seat dining delight has at various times moved Martha Stewart, Bon Appetit, New York magazine and even respected New York Times critic Frank Bruni to praise its culinary prowess—not bad for a 2-year-old eatery competing with scores of neighboring restaurants.
At Sfoglia (an Italian word that describes a thin sheet of pasta) the imaginative menu is short, sweet and to the point. One highlight is the appetizer of wild mussels with tomato, garlic, salami and fennel pollen. Another is chicken al mattone, an ancient Etruscan preparation still used today in Tuscan cooking. The process involves a marinated, herbed bird cooked pressed under a brick. The technique yields a luscious, crispy-yet-moist result that will make you think twice before turning up your nose at a chicken entrée. Don’t be disappointed if something online isn’t on the menu when you arrive; it changes every three weeks based on seasonal availability. Diners in search of a wow-factor shouldn’t be surprised by the spring special–spaghetti with strawberries and balsamic reduction. And if you want to repeat the dining experience in your own kitchen,
be aware that a cookbook is in the works.
Fruition
Denver, CO - www.fruitionrestaurant.com
Customer consideration also permeates the food philosophy of Denver’s Alex Seidel, who opened his 52-seat Fruition a year ago. Since then he’s been consistently booked, serving such creative inventions as potato-wrapped oysters Rockefeller in a parmesan-leek emulsion, finished with bacon lardoons and baby spinach.
“It’s one of those things we just don’t seem to be able to take off the menu,” he says. “We changed the menu about eight times last year, but every time we tried to take it off customers wanted it back.” What Seidel fails to mention is the salmon is cured in-house and served with caramelized brussels sprouts and a cippolini onion and chestnut salad.
Although pork and lamb dishes will vary season to season, the pasta carbonara with seared pork belly will probably survive year-round. “I’m from the Midwest,” Seidel says, “and I still enjoy the same foods we ate growing up. So I try to keep a balance between those foods and the more esoteric ingredients foodies like. And while we want the foodies, we also want to offer approachable foods like chicken noodle soup. It’s organic chicken and hand-made noodles, but it’s still chicken noodle soup. And for people who want
something other than salmon or trout, we’ve got barramundi.”
23 Hoyt
Portland, OR - www.23hoyt.com
A trip to Portland, Oregon might bring you to either gorgeous sun-bathed scenery or dreary humidity, but there’s nothing to be done about the weather. On the other hand, dinner at year-old 23 Hoyt will brighten a dull day and make a sunny one even more positive. Chris Israel brought exciting food energy to this instantly popular restaurant by giving diners diverse international options.
As a result, you can choose from among a braised lamb shank printanier with tomatoes, white wine, asparagus, turnips and baby green beans; black risotto with squid, squid ink, English peas and hot pepper. The spring mixed grill is rabbit boudin blanc and juniper-seasoned quail served with house-made sauerkraut and
hot mustard To gain a better sense of Israel’s approach to innovation, try to recall the last time a
restaurant presented you with a salad of blood oranges, red onion and oil-cured olives tossed with a mint chiffonade in hot pepper oil. He, too, cooks seasonally, building on what’s coming in from the
farmers markets. This upcoming year, he’s looking at more middle-European dishes–Hungarian and Czech–but specifically Mediterranean and European foods. •
23 HOYT
529 Northwest 23rd Ave. (at Hoyt)
Portland, OR 97210
503.445.7400
www.23hoyt.com
Fruition
1313 E 6th Ave.
Denver, CO 80218
303.831.1962
www.fruitionrestaurant.com
Sfoglia
1402 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10128
212.831.1402
www.sfogliarestaurant.com
The Oak Room
Seelbach Hilton Hotel
500 Fourth St.
Louisville, KY
502.585.3200
www.seelbackhilton.com
York St.
6047 Lewis St.
Dallas, TX 75206
214.826.0968
www.yorkstreetdallas.com
By Ellen Sweets
