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the buzz

“South Gate”

The name Kerry Heffernan should ring a bell. He was the opening chef at the acclaimed Eleven Madison Park where he earned two stars from the New York Times. While his own act is a tough one to follow, he’s making an impressive run at it with South Gate. This luxurious new sky-lit restaurant designed by Tony Chi is located in a brand new restaurant space in the Essex House and will serve breakfast (in a patisserie), lunch and dinner, as well as terrific cocktails by Nick Mautone, at the bar.

Chi designed the restaurant as a high-end urban tavern and built a fifteen-foot high glass box vestibule on the 59th Street side of the restaurant for a hotel-free restaurant entrance. He used red travertine for the flooring and bar, ageless white oak from the waters of the US and Canada for millwork cabinetry and flooring, and cubist fractured mirror glass and white lacquer finish on the walls and ceiling. To temper the hard surfaces, he (smartly) added leather to the tabletops, fabric-upholstery to the walls and custom hand-woven carpet over the wood and stone floor under the skylight in the dining room.

Heffernan’s menu will trace the seasons with dishes like flash-seared calamari with cauliflower custard, pea shots and lobster coriander sauce ($14), buttercup flan with pan roasted brussels sprouts, black trumpet mushrooms and prosciutto ($13), and a wild mushroom martini with spinach fondue, poached egg and crisp pancetta ($15).

Entrees are divided between Seafood and Vegetables like spice roasted cod with mustard greens, linguicia and manilla clams ($29), and cannelloni of Kabocha squash with ricotta, hen of the wood mushrooms and sage ($24), and Meat like Snake River Farms glazed pork belly with Chinese leeks and kohlrabi puree ($31), and Gianonne chicken with celery root, paprika and spinach ($29).

If you’re not really up for a full-fledged dinner, South Gate has a fun little bar menu that includes a wild mushroom pizettte ($9), a tart flambé ($9), a grilled chicken sourdough sandwich (with St. André and Applewood smoked bacon and a side of beet-stained potato chips, $14), as well as farmstead cheeses (5 for $14), and oysters on the half shell ($14). The menu pairs up nicely with Nick Mautone’s (pricey) cocktail list. The Whiskey and Ginger Muddle has my name on it—Makers muddled with ginger, apricot, fresh lime juice and topped off with a slash of ginger beer ($14)—but you might like the Ruby Red—Partida tequila with Patron Citronage and fresh muddled ruby red grapefruits ($16), or the Pear Poire—Grey Goose and La Poire with diced pears, sweet spices and sparkling moscato ($14). In case wine is more your thing, a wine gallery and tasting table separates the area between the dining room and kitchen, and the wine case stores 2100 bottles in a floor-to-ceiling glass unit visible from the dining room. Happy drinking (and eating).

South Gate is located in the Essex House at 154 Central Park South, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212.484.5120.

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Posted: February 12, 2008 - 2:33 pm

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