PAINTING THE TOWN RED AT ROUGE TOMATE

As of late, the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate has become one of my favorite (reasonably priced) restaurants in the city. In short, it’s great food and service in a sleek, modern setting, and I can definitely see myself dining there again and again.

Executive Chef Jeremy Bearman serves up contemporary American cuisine, constructing healthy dishes from local and sustainable ingredients. Additionally, the wine list includes quite a few organic and biodynamically- grown wines as well as an extensive list of half bottles (yay!).

Trio of Amuse

But on to the gluttony…. the six-course seasonal tasting menu is, in a word, awesome. The first course was a Trio of Amuse, which included a Local Oyster as well as Cauliflower Panna Cotta topped with American Sturgeon Caviar. The third amuse was the best, though—a Farm Egg (served in its shell) with wild mushroom, sunchoke, and black truffle—it was oh-my-gosh good!

Next up was the second course, Hawaiian Walu with a slight jalapeno kick—it was absolutely divine. The dish that stood out most, however, was the Celeriac and Roasted Chestnut Soup that followed with its creamy buttermilk-and celery-root broth poured over a sphere of truffled, black cocoa-dusted Hudson Valley fois gras. (Yes, you read that right! Try not to drool.) The server recommended that we stir the fois gras into the soup, and the savory explosion that resulted was simply to die for.

Celeriac & Roasted Chestnut Soup

The Nantucket Bay Scallops that came next reintroduced some of the earlier ingredients—celery root-buttermilk puree, chestnuts, and trumpet royale mushrooms—and were subtly sweetened with pink lady apples. The main course, Millbrook Venison, was cooked to perfection and well-complemented by the tender Oxtail “Alsatian Dumpling’ and rutabaga-apple puree. The Citrus Quartet for dessert was, unfortunately, my least favorite of the dishes, because although delicious sounding, the items were underwhelming. Thankfully I was pretty full by that point, so no harm, no foul!

The bottom line about Rouge Tomate –  it’s delicious, it’s beautiful, GO THERE!

OVERALL RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

#tastingmenus  #rougetomate  #michelinguide  #tastingnewyork