I love to try new restaurants. Living in New York and traveling to the places we do, you can imagine most of the ones we try are really good. BUT (there is always a but...!), for some of them, if you ask me what I ate a few days after, I may have trouble remembering it (this may also be due to the fact that we eat out A LOT! No....!). Not often I keep remembering about that magnificent bite, the perfect transition from one dish to the following or balance in a tasting menu, the consistency on the quality of each ingredient from start to finish of a meal...
Well... that happened in Betony!
To give you a little bit of background on the restaurant: Betony is a fairly new restaurant, it open it's doors last spring; it describes itself as a "Modern American" restaurant; and both the Chef (Bryce Shuman) and the General Manager (Eamon Rockey), as well as many of the staff, come from Eleven Madison Park (Daniel Humm's 3 Michelin Stars restaurant in NYC, which if you have not been, you should really try to go once in your life! I will review about it with pictures included next time I am lucky enough to get in!). Eamon has also worked at Atera and Aska, two other Michelin Star restaurants in the city (both in my Wish List of places to try!).
The menu is not extremely extensive and there are no additions to it (at least for now or the night we were there) but, to be honest, I wanted to try EVERYTHING!!!The menu is mainly designed to have a "tapas style" meal (my favorite style! I love sharing food so I can try a bite of everything! which I know it drives Jacob crazy... but it is also the only way to have an objective opinion about the restaurant and the dishes); although you can share several appetizers and then order a main course yourself (or not share at all... but you will be missing out!).
Immediately, the cocktail and aperitifs list was presented to us. To my surprise (it is not common in many restaurants on the city), they had a wide selection of Finos and Manzanillas (which if you do not know about them: 1- Don't worry, I promise a post soon; 2- Try it, I don't guarantee you will like it at first but it is an acquired taste). The list was not only wide but exclusive as well. I HAD to try one of the bottles, the Palomino Fino Equipo Nazazos La Bota#42, made in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain (place also that if you have not been, you should go!). I have try these producer before, but not that specific bottle. The sommelier informed us that only 8 bottles had been produced (and one of them THEY HAD!).It was all you expected in a fino: perfect cold temperature; perfect color; intense, very dry, and slightly but very balanced alcoholic flavor that fino is characteristic for. It went perfectly with the crisp, thin, lightly salty crackers and breadsticks that were brought to open our appetite. Then we proceeded to place our order, which I think the best way to show you is with the beautiful pictures of each of the dishes, including, of course, my opinion about them:
Fried Pickles, Heirloom Peppers, Yogurt (Left): I do not like fried food but the pickles were lightly battered in tempura and perfectly combined with a very fresh, cool, yogurt sauce. They paired really well with the fino as well.
Marinated Trout Roe, Puffed Rice, Cucumber (Right): I really love these little bites. The combination of flavors and textures was perfect. The rice cracker only gave crispiness and absorbed all the juice inside the trout roe when they exploded in your mouth. Allow me a little complain about the dish: the cucumber looks really pretty for decoration but I thought it overpowered some of the other flavors.
“Tuna Melt”, Fontina, Brioche: I thought this dish was amazing, creative and beautiful. The reinvention of tuna melt into a little blini, with the bitterness of the arugula on top, and a very subtle taste of fontina cheese inside was sublime.
Palate cleanser (Left): The next delight of the evening was roasted deconstructed beets, in form of ice, horseradish, and goat crème fraiche foam. I do not like horseradish but you could not even tasted. Even if by the look it might seem "heavy" it was light, cold and very clean.
"Lobster Roll", Crème Fraîche, Salt & Pepper (Right): We were told that the lobster rolls were a must. When I think about lobster roll I do not think about much more... Is it pretty heavy in itself... and as an appetizer... we were a little reluctant, but then this reinvention of the dish came. The lobster rolls were in a form of little cigars, with a crispy little herb underneath. The flavor was all you expected of a lobster roll (ok, maybe how I would want a lobster roll to be, much lighter but as intense!). Really really good, and really light and small as well.
Grilled Short Rib, Romaine, Sweetbreads: Before going to the restaurant, the friend that recommend us to go to Betony told us that her regret was that she shared the short ribs. Well... Jacob did not have to worry about that: 1- I normally do not order / want to share mains; 2- I do not normally eat meet; BUT I will for sure TRY IT! Or.. how else would I be able to tell you that those ARE the best short ribs we have ever had (and Jacob has had many more than me). The ribs were not meaty at all, they almost taste like the best Wagyu that you have ever tasted; almost like Toro. They melted in your mouth! Also, the proportions of the dish are fabulous, enough to leave you wanting one more bite.
Marinated Sardines, Tomato, Fennel: When you see the rest of my lately culinary experiences you will see I have gotten a lot into sardines. They are packed with Omega-3 and taste delicious when they are done and prepared well. I had no doubt Betony would excel at it and I was not wrong: light, extremely tender but as strong in flavor as sardines are. The raw tomato tartar and green leaves added the perfect crispy, firm texture and fresh flavor. (that was one of the appetizers as well, but perfect addition if you, as me, cannot do main courses after trying so many dishes and the ones they were to come!!)
It was one of those long, enjoyable, conversational, celebratory dinners... so... that night we ended up spending several hours at the restaurant and enjoying to delightful bottles of wine:
Garrigues
(Left): the first option was an earthy, medium bodied French wine, which paired perfect with all the first courses.
Regret
(Right): the second was a more intense Italian wine from the Piedmont Regione, on the most north-western corner of the Italian Peninsula (for some Italy's finest wine region), much similar to a Barolo, fuller in body.
Let me start saying: we are not desert people!! At all!! Well, the great waitress we had and the fast the the meal was also (are all new restaurants try to be now, which I love!) light, healthy and very well proportioned, we decided to try one of those deserts everyone seemed so crazy about (and we were NOT disappointed - we actually tried 3.....!!!! yes, THREE!!). If you know me, you are not believing it, I know! but again, they were very elaborated, beautiful deserts, but very very light, fresh and not sweet at all.
Bonne Bouche Goat's Milk Cheese, Classic or Composed: I would have never expected my "cheese course" to look so much like an apple pie but the goat cheese flavors were as present as if you were eating a piece of the cheese itself.
Rice Pudding, Lavender, Meyer Lemon : I have never been tempted to try rice pudding before... but this was nothing like your thought of the dish. A little light pudding was underneath very puffed light rice (imagine rice crispies but lighter!) and lavender mocha (the Japanese ice-cream style). Amazing!.
Chocolate Browie, Coconut, Pecans: By then, I did not wanted anything else but... again the waitress presented it so well... we were at the same time ordering coffees (and it is known for everyone how well coffee and chocolate - and wine we had left! - pair), and also... Jacob is about the most insisting (and persuading) person in this world (who can say no to him...???), well, we got it and I do not regret it at all! Again, perfect combination of textures, the crunchiness of the chocolate on top, paired with the cold ice-cream underneath and the "warm" brownie, but, all of them very light, nothing was too heavy or thick (I always think brownies are) at all!
To finish, we had the usual: a cappuccino with skim milk for Jacob and expresso for me.
Higlights of the evening: well... the quality and elaboration but simplicity at the same time and lightness of every single dish, the impeccable service, the ambiance and beautiful décor, and... the PRICE! Of course, for all of you that do not leave here, remembering that is NY (you would pay much less for the same - or better- quality in some amazing restaurants in Girona or Barcelona or several in the rest of Spain, for example, but... as much as I Spain... It is not NY, and you certainly pay for it...!!). BUT, pay attention to the title of my post..... I would definitely recommend you to go before they start collecting stars because... I am pretty sure they will soon... and then... prepare yourself for it being more expensive and not being able to get in (yes, that many people do not care about the price!).
I really hope you have the chance to try it and, that if you do, you enjoy it!! Ah! if you want to go, you can reserve through OpenTable but make sure you do it far in advance or you will probably have trouble getting in the date and time you want!
Until the next post! MSP
