[Pigging by Wilfrid: November 2, 2007]
Not only a casual meal, lazy Sunday evening.
But a casual report too, not a review.
Why would Hearth need a review? We've been eating there, haven't we, since it opened in 2003 , chef Marco Canora fresh from three triumphant years as Colicchio's chef de cuisine at Craft.
Marco and wine-wag Paul Grieco have been putting their weight behind their midtown debutante Insieme this year, leaving Hearth set on its steady course, feeding a regularly full house of happy repeat customers. Seeing friends from the old country, I wanted a place which they'd enjoy, which would have some New York buzz (they were first-timers), but which also felt like a comfortable old shoe. Because I wanted to relax and talk, not analyse the food.
A torchon of foie gras - and it is a torchon, too, unlike Ssam Bar's tasty but misnamed pig's head rissole. A sprinkle of crunchy salt. Liked the quince paste, less so the shaved fennel. Brioche toast.
This is the year for scallops with a sharp/sweet accent and a strong green vegetable. The version at Maze with a fierce raisin reduction and cauliflower is one of my dishes of the year. How about with Black Mission figs and braised cabbage?
My favorite fish here, I guess, the skate, its wing just caramelised, with bits of sunchoke, some kind of beet presence too (I didn't taste everything). Skate is everywhere too these days, and a good thing too; a fish which tastes of something.
The monkfish wasn't quite ready for its close-up, but we did our best. Big hunks of it, with speck as the bacony element. Nice beans too. Rancho Gordo beans? I am sure someone will tell me.
This is where Hearth gets its reputation for classy comfort-food. Here's the lamb, roast loin and tender braised rib. Carrots, parsnips, and big juicy golden raisins.
And the dish I usually end up ordering if I go to the carte. A coil of supremely fatty veal breast - as if pork belly is the only meat! Some sweetbread too, little mushrooms.
Desserts were a mêlée for the table. Ice creams, which in fact melted a bit too fast. A chocolate tart which pretty much passed me by. Better, a pumpkin tart, which I fought for.
Someone mentioned Sauvignon Blanc, but we drank Clos Salon's 2006 Carte Blanche, where the Viognier and Charonnay team up to outnumber the Sauvignon. Floral and mineral. Then a 2004 Mas de Daumas Gassac did its famous impersonation of a young claret.
Don't expect a summary and a recommendation. Hearth doesn't need approval any more. Could it be different, could some things be better, could it change its style? Surely, and menu could rotate more frequently. But approval is simply eating there.
Find Hearth on the web here.