[Pigging by Wilfrid: October 10, 2011]
Long time readers will remember how I went crazy for Allegretti in 2008, with two rave reviews. Not so much crazy for Alain Allegretti himself, Eater's "Sexiest Chef," but for his lovely restaurant.
A comfortable room, professional service, beautifully plated food which also tasted great, confidently rooted in a coherent cooking tradition. Wonderful fish cooking, intriguing pastas, a well-priced wine-lists. Of course, some derided it as stuffy or over-fussy or even too expensive, and it didn't last. Well, he's back.
After a detour as corporate chef for La Petite Maison in midtown, he holds the reins again at La Promenade des Anglais in Chelsea. The original promenade is a sort of Nice equivalent of a malecón, an appealing seaside walkway. This promenade is appealing to enter too. At the far end of one Chelsea's more massive apartment buildings, it's illuminated canopy beckons through the twilight.
The ambience is much more hard-edged than Allegretti, but it's not exactly modern. I'd say it's a kind of modern take on art-deco. Or maybe Del Posto scaled down. There are dramatic floor-lamps, black tables with tablemats rather than tablecloths. A bar to your left, an inviting line of booths to your right; more dining space at the very rear, up a few stairs. It's loud. I know, a lot of people like it that way. Unfortunately, on my first visit, the room was so loud that our server simply couldn't hear us, not us her. I visited again, on a Friday evening, and it didn't seem as bad.
It's loud because it's successful. There is a buzz and there seems to be no problem filling seats. With the closure of Klee, there's demand here for a good bistro, an alternative to Red Cat. Promenade is an excellent bistro.
The menu is long, with sub-sections devoted to soups and salads and snacks "for the table." Some of the chef's greatest hits are happily present: dark, meaty Perigina sausages with peppers and onions, rouget "in brick," Provençale fish soup. I'll be looking out for the oxtail ravioli when the winter sets in.
I got a spoonful of the soup, dark and rich with croutons served alongside. For myself, I couldn't wait to order the rouget.
The filets are cooking with precision and served over a peperonata. The skin seems crispier than even very expertly cooked skin should be. Then you remember the "brick" part and recognize the translucent sheet of pastry which just shatters as you bite into the flesh. Lovely dish.
To my surprise, I discovered on my second visit that you could do almost as well as the rouget by ordering, of all things, croquettes from the "for the table" list. Just croquettes? Well, wow, these are some of the nicest things I've put in my mouth all year. Clam and prosciutto croquettes, and the prosciutto wasn't even very noticeable.
At first I thought -- no dipping sauce? Not necessarily. Inside the crisp perimeter, a dreamily creamy filling with (non-rubbery) pieces of clam. It's almost like a thick and very good clam chowder; the overall effect is what a clam chowder soup dumpling would be if the soup was turning into a mousse and the coating was super crisp. Am I making sense. Just go and sit at the bar and order these.
Allegretti is highly competent with pasta as well as fish, but I haven't tried the pasta proper at Promenade yet, because I was waylaid by the risotto. I do like cuttlefish, and I trust this kitchen not to leave it tough. With cuttlefish, an almond pesto, and a golden coating of Sicilian olive oil. Sold. Truthfully, the rice was a littl chalky; we all know it's hard to turn risotto out in a busy kitchen (indeed, on my second visit, the kitchen was truly in the weeds, and confessing as much -- delays were not unbearable, but it seemed unprepared for its success).
I don't recall frog legs at Allegretti, but I've been wrong before.
Thigh meat only, no little drumsticks here. Meaty nuggets of frog flesh in crisp breadcrumbs. Remember Vongerichten's young garlic soup with frog legs? Here there's a creamy garlic purée to ground the frogs' richness and another drizzle of olive oil.
I tried two fish entrées. Arctic char, presented with spaetzle and sweetcorn, was predictably good, but it's a mistake to order it to follow the rouget. Too much the same trick, not matter how well done. I was more taken with my companion's order of monkfish with bacon - predicatble - and a splendidly sweet and unctuous garnish of fig and bone marrow. Unfortunately, the fish was wrapped in a fig leaf, so in the photos it looks like... well, a cigar would be polite. Better eaten than contemplated.
I do remember some excellent veal at Allegretti, but it's fair to say that appetizers, pasta and fish were the stars of the menu there, and here too. The lamb chops were good, but in a way less striking than other dishes I tried. The crust was constructed from smashed fava beans and parmesan, the cheese certainly adding savor. There was a touch of tarragon in the blessedly light jus. I knew I'd be happy with polenta and hen-of-the-woods, and I was.
Medium-rare as requested. A little bit like a number of other lamb chop dishes around town (by the way, Promenade is making vitello tonnato with sweetbreads, as is Lincoln).
First time around, I couldn't get near dessert. By skipping pasta and rice, I made room on my second visit.
Delicately flavored lavendar panna cotta, a bold fennel confit on top, and a pomegranate sauce which was nice, but didn't benefit from the seeds. Maybe that's just me; the seeds kind of annoy me.
Promenade is carefully mid-priced, appetizers in the teens and entrées in the twenties, but of course you can enhance the check by adding courses; the menu accommodates and encourages that. The wine-list emphasizes the Mediterranean, which means there are reasonably priced bottles; the practice of serving by the quartino rather than glass means you get some very healthy pours of house wines from $9 up.
A great start for a talented guy. Let's hope this one's a keeper. The Website is under construction, but ah there's a Facebook page.
Full disclosure. I met Alain at Allegretti more than once after my initial reviews on the Pink Pig. He came and greeted me at the end of my second dinner at Promenade, but said he hadn't noticed me the first time I was in. A glass of dessert wine comped at the end of the second meal.
Thanks for looking in, Robert. I confess, I've never been to Nice.
Posted by: Wilfrid | October 26, 2011 at 11:01 AM
What does the Promenade des Anglais have to do with it? There's not one restuarant of note the entire length. I didn't think Allegreti's own, previous restsaurant was anything special, but you make this one sound good and interesting.
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Your old pal Robert
Posted by: Robert Brown | October 10, 2011 at 08:55 PM