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A CITY A WEEK...BEAVER CREEK, COLORADO With Guest Blogger JESSIE BRINKLEY

Today we hear from guest blogger Jessie Brinkley who's not long back from skiing Beaver Creek. It's a bit of luck that even though this post was scheduled weeks ago, it feels just right on this bitterly cold 'snow day' in North Carolina. 

Vicarious thrills for those of us who won't be making it to the slopes anytime soon...

...and we have more to celebrate than just this great post coming

along with the first regional snow of the winter.  

Today mark's the 52nd post for Studio Traveler's 'A CITY A WEEK...'

so one full year of weekly shout outs on cities large and small...

Now that we have our sea legs, we are ready to tweak things up a bit.  

Beginning next week we'll have a new look 

and we'll begin to roll out of some new guest bloggers.  

Good things ahead...beginning with today's post--

Last fall, 2 friends and I scrambled to find a few winter days to head out to Beaver Creek for a ski in/ski out vacation. My friend, Suzanne, has a brother with a beautiful house right on the slopes of Bachelor Gulch and Bachelor Gulch sits right next to Beaver Creek-- 25 minutes from Vail. The house is in a resort community of lodge-style houses which rim the ski slopes with a Ritz-Carlton Hotel placed comfortably at the base. It is truly picturesque.

Early January was the only time that worked for all of us and our fear was that it would be really COLD. It turns out this is the perfect time to go on a ski vacation in Colorado. The temperature was a balmy 30 degrees, the lift lines were non-existent and there was fresh powder.

Our first day we worked on getting our ski legs back as fat snowflakes fell most of the day. We enjoyed lunch at the top of the lift at Mamie’s Mountain Grill. Mamie’s unique menu features “grill your own” options of Colorado lamb or chicken and burgers, homemade signature soups and European style hot dogs. The grill is peacefully nestled among an outcropping of birch trees.

The lifts close at around 3:30 which seems early but the sun sinks low way before 5. This is a great excuse to head back to the house for some rest, drinks and a few snacks by the fire before dinner.

And speaking of dinner, one of the highlights of our stay was dinner at Spago at The Ritz-Carlton. I was skeptical. Could the name live up to the hype? It was already clear that in Beaver Creek it's especially easy to spend a large amount of money on only a pretty good dinner. Spago certainly lived up to it’s reputation. We started with 2 appetizers; short rib ravioli topped with fried Parmesan curls, sun-dried tomatoes and beautiful baby swiss chard. The flavor of the filling was subtle but rich -- it melted in your mouth. Even tastier were the 3 crispy sesame cones of sashimi grade tuna with roe, ginger and some type of nori confetti bursting out of the top. Also as delicious was a signature wood fired pizza topped with wild mushrooms, butternut squash, grilled radicchio and ricotta salata.

Grouse Mountain Grill at The Pines Lodge also served up some especially good food. It is described as New American fine dining but the menu featured heavily on wild game including elk, rabbit and bison. First came house made pickles and crispy brussels sprouts. We raved about the brussels sprouts which had a maple gastrique and were soon rewarded with a copy of the recipe.

The most interesting starter we shared was the Carrot Tasting. This dish contained roasted baby carrots, crispy quinoa, locally made yogurt, carrot emulsion and ras el hanout which, it turns out, is a Moroccan spice mix, much like Garam Masala in Indian cuisine.

Suzanne tried the rabbit which was actually a bacon wrapped sausage of rabbit with sweet potato tortellini, chestnut puree, apples and rabbit jus. She refused to share so I’m assuming it was a hit.

The only dark cloud in an otherwise perfect ski vacation was a trip to the urgent care after our last ski run. Coming down a small hill leading to the house, I fell and cut my leg. As the nurse was prepping me for stitches, she ran down her list of mandatory questions about visiting Africa and whether I had done any drugs in the past year. I asked her clarify whether she meant legal or illegal drugs -- we were in Colorado, after all. It was just a joke but we did read in a local magazine that an occasional issue restaurants are having is that a diner will fall face first into their meal. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t considered when legalization was being discussed.

A CITY A WEEK...THE BRONX By Guest Blogger NANCY BEAVER

This week's post deserves a bit of framing--and not because The Bronx may strike some as an odd choice.  There's a whole lot more to that borough than one might think. Take for but a very few examples, the tony neighborhood of Riverdale, the gorgeous Fordham University campus, the fabulous Bronx Zoo (the largest zoo in North America) or today's focus--Arthur Avenue.  The list could go on and on.  I have to admit though that highlighting this diversity was not the original prompt for today's post. 

It started, rather, with an email that came in a few weeks ago.  The folks at Smartling,  a translation software company, were in touch to ask if I'd  like to be a part of their 'Dream Destination Dinner' initiative with a post about my ideal dinner in my ideal spot in the world.  I just couldn't decide on my favorite 'away' so instead decided to focus on a wonderful 'here'--a place with terrific food from 'away' but accessible state-side.  Guest blogger Nancy Beaver--now of NC but formerly of NYC--has long raved about Arthur Avenue--and suddenly I had my 'where'...so without further delay, I give you Nancy's wonderfully encyclopedic post on the 'real' Little Italy...

Borgatti's store front (Photo credit: Conde Nast)

The Italian area of Manhattan is but a pale shadow of what it once was. Encroached upon by Chinatown in the south and cool SoHo in the north, it exists now as a few “red gravy” old time restaurants and Ferrara’s Pastry, where cannolis still reign supreme. If you want a glimpse of what a true ethnic Italian neighborhood was like, you need to travel to the Belmont section of The Bronx (Metro North train).

Originally the estate of the Lorillard family, it was settled by Italian immigrants who worked on the Kensico Dam or in tobacco in the beginning of the 20th century. Now there are still individual Italian cheese, pasta and cheese shops, but also Albanian, and Salvadoran places as well. Typical of New York, immigrant groups moving in or out.

The epicenter of food is 187th Street and Arthur Avenue. Start at Borgatti’s Ravioli and Egg Noodle shop. 

Borgatti's 'Famous' Pasta Machine (Photo credit:Borgatti's)

The same machine has been cleaving sheets of pasta (narrow or wide) since the turn of the 20th century. Look around while you wait for your fresh pasta, they also have great tomato sauce and ravioli. Next, walk to Teitel Brothers on Arthur Avenue, planted on a corner since 1915. You’ll be greeted with open vats of olives, anchovies and beans, guarded by the company cat part of the charm of this crowded deli. Make sure you pick up some salted anchovies, home cured olives and some imported Italian home cured olives and some imported Italian dried pasta, really the only kind worth buying

Move on past the fish store, if they will open clams for you on the sidewalk, have them with lots of lemon. Then move on to Madonia Bakery, this is the place for bread with bits of cured pork, family sized Italian loaves, sfogliatelle and cannolis filled to order. My favorite is quaresimali or jaw breakers. They look like biscotti filled with almonds and are hard as a rock.  Dip in wine/coffee or just gnaw on them.

Cookies at Madonia's Bakery (Photo credit: youropi)

Don’t stay too long because your next stop is the Arthur Avenue Retail Market created by Mayor Laguardia in the 30’s to get push carts off the streets. Still flourishing, you’ll find men rolling cigars when you enter. It’s amazing to watch them work, and they will roll to order. Moving along you’ll find two meat counters one selling offal, liver, kidneys, sweetbreads and other inner bits. The next counter is filled with huge pork chops, flattened scallopinis, aged steaks and rolled, stuffed veal roasts. Recipes and cooking opinions are free. On to Mike’s Deli, food adventurers make sure you accept a taste of aged prosciutto from the deli man who will slice a piece for you. Sample the home cured olives and definitely buy a large chunk of imported, aged Parmesan Reggiano. You can also get a giant sub made with mortadella and sopressata, amazing. But I like to move past the vegetable stand in the back to the opposite corner where you can get pizza like flatbreads with tomato, spinach, mushroom or cheese toppings. They also have freshly made entrees for the day. Get in line with the doctors and nurses from St. Barnabas and take your lunch to one of the tables covered with checked oil cloth. You’ll be eating in the middle of the market so you’ll be able to pick out aged balsamic from the stall across from you to take home. Just a note, this market is not to be confused with the over-the-top emporium Eataly, Mario Batali's food emporium (a wonder in itself) in theFlatiron section of Manhattan. It’s a local neighborhood supplier of food, gossip and sense of place.

Provolone at Calandra's (Photo credit uncredited Yelp review)

On to Calandra’s (back on Arthur Avenue) where they make their own ricotta, not that awful paste you find in tubs. The provolone hangs from the ceiling, and especially interesting is the provola, stuffed with butter. Make this cheese cake with the fresh ricotta your buy. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sicilian-ricotta-cheesecake/

Make sure you stop at Calabria Pork Store for dried mild or hot dried sausage. 

Sausages at Calabria Pork Store (Photo credit: The Infatuation)

They are all hung from the ceiling to dry and often have tags with special order clients names on them. They are wonderful sliced with wine. This is also the place for cotechino and other Italian deli meats like the pate-like N’duja. Get a chunk of guanciale to fry in dices to flavor tomato sauce. I hope you’ve noticed the many meat stores on the street with freshly killed (still fur covered) goats, rabbits and lamb. They sell regular meats as well, cut to order.  Although this area is all about food, dip into The Belmont Library and Enrico Fermi Cultural Center. One of four cultural centers in the NYC library system, this one highlights the Italian culture of Belmont.

We have only just explored the tip of this mozzarella. There are many wonderful shops and we didn’t even hit restaurants (see annotated list below). Please add this to your trip to New York, especially when you are visiting the Bronx Zoo or Bronx Botanical Gardens near by.

Restaurants:

Dominick's - Old time “red sauce”, checked tablecloth and no menu. Just tell them what you like to eat.

Roberto’s - A really wonderful contemporary take on traditional food. If they have rabbit, order it.

Zero Otto Nove - A quite new and lovely restaurant with a surprising, enclosed back “garden”.

Umberto’s Clam House - Eat this here: linguine with white clam sauce.

Edigio’s Pastry Shop - Arrange your shopping bags around you, take a deep breath and order an espresso and something with pignoli nuts on it.

Cookbooks to inspire you: 

The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan

Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

NYC FINE/DINING...BAMONTE'S...With Guest Blogger CAMILLE COGSWELL

February is a good month for comfort of sorts but most especially for comfort food.
Warm, nourishing and the more traditional the better.  So right now seems
 like the ideal time to head over to Bamonte's in Brooklyn. Bamonte's may be 
celebrating its 115th year but it is brand spanking new to me--

or was until Camille introduced me to it in this week's post.  

Now I'm hooked.  Think you will be, too...

Every year hundreds of new restaurants open in New York City. It's exciting to get swept up in the tide of eating at hot new spots, making sure to keep up on current trends, techniques, and chef shuffling. But the majority of new restaurants don't make it more than five years in this tough and demanding city. Restaurants with the staying power to stand firm through all the years and hurtles have succeeded for a reason. And I'm equally, if not more, intrigued by these institutions as the hip American gastropub that just opened around the corner.

Lovers of red sauce classics pack the Bamonte's dining room.

Bamonte's is one of these venerated institutions. It opened in 1900, incidentally the same year as Ralph's in Philadelphia, which is credited for being the oldest Italian restaurant in the U.S. Bamonte's is now owned by the 3^rd and 4^th generations of the family, and not much has changed in those 115 years. Not the waiters, the menu, the clientele. They haven't even bothered to make a website since the creation of computers and the internet. It's been the neighborhood joint ever since that area of Williamsburg, Brooklyn was a largely Italian-concentrated community. And Bamonte's extudes that sense of community. Families, friends, regulars gather over platters of cheese-stuffed agnolotti, pork chops smothered in hot and sweet vinegar peppers, and chicken rollatini. They come to celebrate birthdays, weddings, promotions, holidays, or just a Sunday.

An ancient cash register sits behind the bar.

Behind the white tablecloths, the walls, ceiling, carpet, and velvet drapes are all a deep maroon. The dark wood paneling of the front bar area wanders through the arched wooden entrance into the dining room where it ends up covered in framed memorabilia. Plaques commemorate the 50^th and 100^th anniversaries of the restaurant, among others. Most of them are signed “From The Boys,” making you wonder if the rumors about this being an old mob hangout are true. Signed pictures of James Gandolfini and Joe DiMaggio hang in the bar. The datedness of the décor is so obvious and endearing. If nothing else gives it away, the phone booths and cigarette dispenser in the bar definitely will.

The most obvious change that took place during the latest renovations in the 1950s is the shiny, brightly lit kitchen in the back of the restaurant behind a wall of glass. It's a stark backdrop to an otherwise rich atmosphere, but one look at the gravy coming out of that kitchen in the arms of the tuxedoed waiters and there's no doubt that it fits the bill.

Veal Parmigiana comes with potatoes and green beans. 

Sauteed escarole and linguine with clams are served in generous helpings.

That classic tomato sauce bubbles on top of veal parmigiana and under gooey mozzarella, douses the mussels marinara, layers the chicken and spinach lasagna, and adorns spaghetti and meatballs. It's thinly laid below the clams cassino too, succulent and saucy, each capped with perfectly chewy, crunchy bacon and fresh parsley. The hearty soup pasta e fagioli with penne and white beans is simple and delicious. Rigatoni a la vodka, linguini with clams, and tortellini with bolognese are all hits on this vast menu that runs the gamut of comforting Italian-American classics. Order an entree if only for the incredibly tender and well-seasoned hunks of potatoes that come with it, and it's accompanying vegetable of the day. In our case this was green beans, with the same healthy amount of garlic as most items on their menu.

Soft bread soaks up hearty tomato sauce from Clams Cassino and Pasta e Fagioli.

As you can imagine, the dessert selection includes fluffy tiramisu, cannolis with dense, sweet ricotta filling, chocolate mousse, and spumoni ice cream. We also tried the tortoni, a dome of sweet cream ice cream topped with a good ol' maraschino cherry that completely appealed to my inner kid.

Tiramisu, Cannoli, and Tortoni give an excuse to stick around.

Wine and beer are only sold by the bottle here, none by the glass. But if you aren't up for a whole bottle of wine there are a couple of choices of half bottles. There is also a full bar, however stick to the basics. Any expectations of a fancy cocktail program with grapefruit flavored bitters and bacon infused bourbon should be left at the door with all other trends.

A comforting constant in an ever-changing neighborhood and city.

Bamonte's is dedicated to tried and true classics. And that's why people go there, that's what makes and keeps regular customers. It's about comfort, tradition, family, and food. We all sometimes succumb to nostalgia, and even if you aren't a regular, Bamonte's will welcome you as one for the night.

Bamonte's

32 Withers St.

Brooklyn, NY

(718) 384-8831

Mon, Wed, Thurs: 12-10pm

Fri, Sat: 12-11pm

Sun: 1-10pm

Mon, Wed, Thurs: 12-10pm

Fri, Sat: 12-11pm

Sun: 1-10pm

Appetizers: $5.50-12.95

Pastas: $13.95-15.50

Entrees: $10.75-25.95

A CITY A WEEK...HELSINKI, FINLAND

[A for those of you who got this week's email alert--make that 'City', I'm not the best proof reader...]

Helsinki has been much on my mind lately and in a way that is not unlike time spent wondering what an old flame’s up to these days. It’s a city that has lived in my imagination for a very long time--long enough, in fact, to have its own little rotating carousel of mental images.  Merrimekko’s crazy, crayon-red poppies.  Alvar Aalto’s Savoy vase. Iittala’s Teema dishware. Gravlax on rye with a sprig of dill.  Cloudberry cakes.  Saunas.  Summer solstice parties. Blond and gorgeous wood.  Blond and gorgeous people. The midnight sun.  And a particularly lovely image mentioned by a friend whose mother was Finnish--candles placed in the snow at 3:00 p.m. on an already dark Christmas Day. This one has stuck with me for a very long time now with its power to make the darkness of mid-winter sound as warm and magical as that of those endless Finnish summer days.

Both traditional and modern, invitingly cozy and yet earthily elegant in their simplicity, all these images have that certain something so often to be found in the Finnish aesthetic…natural materials, sleekly simple forms, a relationship to the out of doors…

Lately though Helsinki has begun to strike me as being more contemporary than traditional and/or modern.

Guggenheim Helsinki Finalist: GH-121371443. (Submissions were submitted and remain anonymous) (Photo credit: Malcolm Reading Consultants)

The Helsinki Guggenheim project may be the most obvious—some might say flashy and still others might say suspect—evidence of a city determined to join the international cultural conversation in a new and bold way.  This on again/off again project is not without controversy but for now at least it is on again.  In December 2014,  the 6 competition finalists for the building design were announced.  The ultimate winner of the architectural competition is to be announced in June, 2015.  There is a chance even then that the building will not be built.  The Helsinki City Council has reserved its final decision over its portion of the funding until after the competition winner is chosen.  Even if there are never bricks and mortar, though, the ambition that has fueled this six-year battle to bring the Guggenheim to Helsinki is impressive and seems to indicate a city interested in re-positioning itself as cultural hub. 

Fish, stick and rock, the New Nordic brings new meaning to 'locally sourced' (Photo Credit: The Washington Post)

 While the fate of Helsinki's Guggenheim project remains uncertain, the city is already very much a major player on another contemporary front--the New Nordic food movement.  Sadly the 2 Michelin starred Chez Dominique has now closed—for the very simple reason that the chef/owner Hans Välimäki said he was ready for something new--but the food scene is still crowded with excellence and innovation.  There are currently six restaurants with one Michelin star: Ask, Demo, Luomo, Olo, Pompier and The Chef and The Sommelier; each with their own unique take on the New Nordic.

Kamppi Chapel (Photo credit: The Inspirationalist)

While a bit harder to define, Helsinki’s collaborative approach to civic life feels just as 'of the moment'.  Take, for example, the sensitive fusion to be found in the Kamppi Chapel, a joint project between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Social Services Department of the City of Helsinki.  It functions both as an ecumenical and a secular space with representatives of the church and the city in attendance and 'available for conversation' as it says on the chapel's website. This could have gone so wrong but instead it is considered a rousing success by any measure including the fact that it recently had its 500,000th visitor a scant two years after completion.

Even in this moment of change however there still one constant to be found in Helsinki, providing the city with a throughline running from traditional to modern to contemporary and that constant continues to be visual design. No doubt the depth of this aesthetic tradition informs and directs not only the present but what lies ahead in the future for this most appealing of cities. As the New York Times recently noted of Helsinki--
'Aesthetics fuel a new cool' ...
Seems to me the NYT got it just about right.

BTW, for 2 interesting and contrasting views on the value of
Guggenheim Helsinki project check out these links

Richard Armstrong Interview in De Zeen
and
Michael Sorkin Interview in ArchDaily

A CITY A WEEK...CAPE LOOKOUT, NORTH CAROLINA

Image credit:WikiImages

Cape Lookout may strike seasoned readers of ‘A CITY A WEEK…’ as a mistaken choice since, at least in terms of this blog’s framing device, there is simply no there there.  There’s no city, no town, not even a village.  In fact, if you don’t count raccoons, river otters and shore birds, there’s nobody there, at least nobody permanent.  A few odd 

souls do rotate through on National Park Service duties or NC State’s marine biology program, but otherwise there are no human inhabitants. Mostly it’s just an empty sandy spit at the tip of a chain of islands. 

I usually manage to resist the urge to write about anything other than cities out of that ever-helpful notion of the disciplined approach--to be about everything is to risk being about nothing--however, I can’t quit thinking about a recent trip to Cape Lookout and so have decided to indulge in this ever so slight variation in theme—and it is, ultimately, ever so slight. Cape Lookout has the allure to be found in all great destinations—whether empty and wild or crowded with built things--and that is it cannot be imagined up out of other experiences. It is only truly available at first hand…

The easiest way to introduce Cape Lookout is to envision the map of the coast of North Carolina.  It’s that hook out in the ocean just before the Outer Banks takes their sharp turn westward towards the mainland.  This whole long line of an island is most properly known as South Core Banks.  The Cape Lookout portion begins at the 1859 lighthouse and extends south--all the way to that hook.

The island is an absolute stunner year round.  Great fun for an outing and, in fact, in the summer it is usually jammed packed with folks there for the day.  Its unique allure is most strongly felt, however, in the winter with its miles and miles and miles of beach littered with shells, gorgeous and intact, there for the taking.  There are also other, more mysterious remains such as the ancient and still unidentified shipwreck that is now on the beach—its sudden appearance as mysterious as its origins. 
It takes about an hour—maybe an hour and half—to walk from the lighthouse down to the island’s tip.  The surf keeps up a constant roar.  There’s the sea haze even on bright days.  No company but your companions. It is really truly like a walk out to the end of the world—or perhaps it is more accurate to say to the end of a world, one that is more pristine, less ravaged than our own.  I can’t say I begrudge the modern world even with its burdens but it is nice to take a break from it every so often and feel the profound freshness of a new experience. That is the rare and valuable thing to be found on a winter's day on Cape Lookout.

If you’d like to see for yourself--and don’t happen to own a boat--then there are at least two easy options.  One point of departure is in the coastal village of Beaufort and the other is on the more isolated but equally appealing Harkers Island.  Both ferries are operated by same local concern and schedules can be found by clicking here:
Island Express Ferry Service.

A CITY A WEEK...SALTA, ARGENTINA

Salta, Argentina

 Catedral Basilica de Salta (Photo credit: New York Times)

I first fell in love with Salta--albeit from afar--when I stumbled across a New York Times 36 HOURS IN SALTA article a year or two ago.  I was intrigued by the descriptions of this town with its perfectly preserved colonial architecture nestled in the Andean foothills, its lively cultural blend of Spanish and Gaucho traditions, its food, its  wine… 

Gauchos in Salta City (Photo credit: Neshamayin )

...right, I know, I know, all the things I usually fall for but Salta has an extra special something—it is in the extreme northwest corner of Argentina—an arduous eight hours from Buenos Aires and basically NOT NEAR ANYTHING—or rather more accurately—not near anything familiar to me--an almost irresistible lure.   
I’ve been reading up on Salta ever since this first introduction and its lists of attractions just keeps getting longer.  Here are a few--its gorgeous civic and architectural heart, Plaza 9 de Julio; its Neo-classical spiritual center, Catedral Basilica de Salta; its Museum of High Altitude Archeology with its important collection of Incan artifacts as well as actual Incans since it includes mummified Incan remains; its small but fine Museo de Arte Contemporaneo; nightly folkloric jam sessions known as penas and a truly excellent café culture where life is enjoyed at a leisurely pace and in the gloriously open air four season climate.  

 La Casona del Molino, one of many popular local penas (Photo Credit:Bridges and Balloons)

As I say, a limited list, obviously since it doesn’t even include the nearby cloud forest not to mention a thousand other things—but hopefully enough to give you a taste of this special place.

Despite my inflamed Salta passions, I haven’t yet been so for now I must rely on intel and images from those who have but later this year I’ll be doing my own reconnaissance-–and I can’t wait!  In fact, Kristin  Peterson Edwards and I are so confident of its charms, that we have added as an optional stop in Salta to our October trip to Buenos Aires.  I think its is going to be great and NOT NEAR ANYTHING--except the Andes and great food and great wine and great sites to see.  Oh, and about those arduous eight hours from Buenos Aires—that’s if you drive.   If you fly—and we will—then its just over 2 hours! Not too bad to travel a world away from all the more familiar things.  Got my name written all over it.  I hope it has yours, too...

NYC FINE/DINING...NOMAD by Guest Blogger CAMILLE COGSWELL

As I reminisce about the holidays and all of the over-indulging that I happily succumbed to, my stomach grumbles in longing nostalgia for the six-hour feast I had at The NoMad on Christmas Day. 

My family came to spend Christmas with me in NYC, my parents traveling up from North Carolina and my brother down from Maine. I was excited to host the holiday in my neck of the concrete woods and saw it as the perfect opportunity to show them the restaurant where I currently work, The NoMad. It's generally a special occasion kind of restaurant and I hadn't even had the chance to eat there yet myself, so I couldn't wait to share the experience with them. 

The NoMad is located in The NoMad Hotel, just north of Madison Square Park. The restaurant is the second for Will Guidara and Chef Daniel Humm, the same dynamic duo behind the world-renown Eleven Madison Park just down the street. The NoMad has generated a good deal of buzz itself since it opened in 2012, earning one Michelin Star and three stars from Pete Wells in the New York Times. 

The relationship between the two restaurants can be summed up in the analogy Guidara and Humm created for inspiration: Miles Davis is to EMP as The Rolling Stones are to The NoMad. In both kitchens hang huge black and white photographs of their respective muses. They also have a posted list of eleven words that Guidara and Humm thought embodied the artists and would serve as guidance in the experience and food they want to provide at each. Words such as cool, inspired, endless reinvention, and spontaneous embody Miles Davis and EMP, whereas words like loose, alive, genuine, enduring, and glamorous represent The Rolling Stones and The NoMad. 

The Atrium, one of the main dining rooms. (Photo credit: New York Times)

You can loosen your tie at The NoMad, or just not wear one. It's fine dining, but with boisterous character that's anything but stuffy. The hip, busy crowd and the eclectic Rock music make you feel vibrant, energetic, and comfortable. In the city that never sleeps, The NoMad never sleeps. Since it's a hotel restaurant, the kitchen is open for room service orders at all hours and offers breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner to both hotel guests and the general public. Even some of the menu items at The NoMad are inspired by techniques and dishes from EMP, but are made less fussy and more accessible to fit The NoMad's character. 

The vast dining area at The NoMad is broken up into five rooms with distinctly different décor, but all with a casually luxurious allure to them. The Parlor has red velvet armchairs and pressed, dried plants in panes lining the walls; the glass greenhouse roof in the Atrium lets you gaze up at the brick and stars; the dark and mysterious mahogany bar has carved elephants built in; a few tables sit by the fireplace that was imported from France; and the Library is lined top to bottom with books and even a spiral staircase. 

My family and I dined in the Parlor, where we had a great view of the Hearth, an area separate from the main kitchen where The NoMad's signature dish is prepared: the roast chicken for two. Perhaps the most extravagant item on the menu, the bird is filled with a brioche, foie gras, and black truffle stuffing and presented to you gloriously golden and whole. It's then carved and reappears at your table with each breast on a plate accompanied by warm lentils, sumptuous with smoked butter, studded with pickled carrots and roasted brussels sprouts. The dark meat of the chicken is turned into a salad, the creaminess of which is brightened by the acidity of citrus. 

The Roast Chicken for Two before carving. (Photo credit: New York Times)

We were enchanted first by the Fruit de Mer, stunningly tiered bowls of ice peppered with small vessels holding six different types of expertly prepared seafood and shellfish. Every bite was transporting: raw oysters with shaved champagne mignonette ice; crab salad with fennel and basil, capped with apple bavoise; uni panna cotta with caviar; hamachi tartare with olive oil and freshly grated horseradish. 

The Fruits de Mer Grand Plateau (Photo credit: Restaurant Girl)

Indulging in simplicity, the radishes, served as a snack, are dipped in clarified butter as elegantly as strawberries dipped in chocolate. The pear and daikon salad is also delightfully refreshing, both sliced thin and pickled, topped with hazelnuts and a blanket of wispy grated pecorino. And if you're looking for a spectacular entree that won't weigh you down, the arctic char is an amazing contrast of crispy skin and silky fish surrounded by shaved fennel and segments of citrus. 

Favorites in the slightly heartier realm include the delicately poached egg appetizer with roasted cauliflower, crispy kale chips, and parmesan foam. Curls of foie gras give elegant shape to the beef carpaccio, dotted with marinated mushrooms and balsamic vinegar. And the suckling pig gives a new meaning to succulence; the umami-rich and tender confit topped with crispy skin is accompanied by dates and dandelion greens. 

Dessert is my arena, so I have to tell you about my favorites. My pastry chef, Mark Welker, is known for the Milk and Honey: crunchy milk foam, honey-oat shortbread, and honey brittle sit below quenelles of milk ice that are striped with buckwheat honey. I love the Coffee, where vanilla ice cream is covered with coffee granita and dotted with espresso foam in between shards of cocoa nib brittle. Our apple cobbler is served straight from the oven in a cast iron pan, alongside cinnamon ice cream and mulled wine granita. Roasted bananas get a whimsical flourish of cardamom cremeux, banana ice cream, and soft pieces of peanut butter cookie. There is comfort rooted in Welker's desserts and familiar flavors too, but they are simultaneously incredibly unique and unlike anything I've seen before. 

Milk and Honey (Photo credit: Tabelog)

The NoMad has been recognized for having one of the best beverage programs in NYC and the NoMad Bar even won a James Beard award in 2014. It wouldn't be a stretch to say the cocktails are simply genius and there is a vast list of them. If it seems overwhelming the extremely knowledgable staff can pinpoint selections from preferences exceptionally well. The NoMad does many beverage collaborations, one of the most successful of which is Le Poulet, a brown ale by Brooklyn Brewery specifically crafted to pair with the roast chicken. 

The Elephant Bar (Photo credit: foodshootr.com)

So a question that kept popping up for me was: Is it more or less challenging to write this NYC Dining article about The NoMad, since I spend 50 or more hours of my week working there? It would have been hard to write if I was trying to sell you on something I didn't believe in. The reason it was easy is because I'm proud of the food we craft, inspired by my coworkers caring about genuine hospitality, excited by the experience we welcome guests into, and motivated by the chefs I work for. I'm excited to tell people about my job; I think it's a unique and fun place to spend your evening, which will generally be much less than six hours long... unless you enjoy yourself so much that you decide to move to the Library for an after-dinner drink... and then maybe one more by the fireplace.

Margaret, Will, Camille and Dan Cogswell

The NoMad

1170 Broadway

(347) 472-5660

Mon-Fri: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Sat-Sun: Brunch and Dinner

Snacks & Appetizers: $9 - $26

Main Courses: $22 - $37

Desserts: $15