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the buzz

“Eighty One”

A few weeks ago a long poster tube arrived in the mail. It was from a very respected PR firm and I knew it was about a restaurant. After mumbling about why publicists continue to send me wasteful paper releases (email is really just fine), I opened it up and found an oversized sheet of paper with “Eighty-One” across the top and printed below, a ledger-like list of 81 ingredients and the fisherman, farmers, and growers who will source them for this new Upper West Side restaurant. It was sort of like the list of credits you might read on screen after a movie, but it was being used to introduce chef Ed Brown’s new ingredient-driven eatery, Eighty One.

As a follow up to the poster, a press release was sent (via email, thank you) which indicated that Brown’s modern American menu would feature “artisanal varieties of vegetables, meats, and seafood, custom-grown lettuces, heirloom legumes, exotic white soy sauce and hand-selected peppercorns.” Exotic white soy? Come again? And hand-selected peppercorns? Are you kidding me? (I pity the soul assigned that job.)

In any case, it seems the twin hallmarks of Brown’s new restaurant are a passion for ingredients and a meticulous approach to their sourcing. This translates to starters like fennel and parsley soup with crisp Florida frog legs ($15), baby Montauk calamari a la plancha with pimenton de la vera, potato sauce, garlic chips and parsley leaves ($14), and a poached hen egg with milk-fed Vermont sweetbreads and trotters with toasted brioche ($15). Main courses include a dry-aged sirloin with short rib and olive marmalade, confit potatoes and a wedge of Caesar salad ($37), Chatham cod with black bean and sake broth, orange lentils and cous cous with crispy shallots ($29), and Label Rouge chicken (a poached breast and crispy thigh) with farro, cauliflower, romanesco, and lobster coral emulsion ($35).

At the bar, you’ll find a cool cocktail list created by operations consultant and Gramercy Tavern ex-pat Nick Mautone that includes the Honey Deuce—Grey Goose Vodka, Licor 43, rosemary syrup, fresh lemon juice, Chambord and frozen melon balls, the Mid Winter Highball—Rhum Clement, mint, Chartreuse, and sparkling apple cider, and Down for the Brown—Old Potrero Rye with ginger syrup and key lime juice. I’m definitely down for one or two of these.

Eighty-One is located at 45 West 81st Street, 212-873-8181.

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Posted: February 19, 2008 - 2:36 pm

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