A couple weeks ago, my cousins, Mr. Mari and I went to The Fat Radish for lunch. It was the day after Thanksgiving so the place was pretty quiet. Abnormally quiet, I'm sure, for this über hip gastro pub. I didn't want to like the place (they cancelled a reservation on me last year) but it was only a matter of time before I had to go. I just needed to get over myself because damn it, it's a place I should love and want to frequent.
The front room is comprised of one high table with stools and a charming little flower arrangement. Keep walking and you'll soon face a large room with dark blonde farm tables and benches and a huge skylight all the way to the rear, letting some precious New York City sunlight into an otherwise incandescent and fluorescent-lit white washed, brick-walled room.
For appetizers, we ordered deviled Brussels sprouts and the Scotch egg, a favorite snack of mine. The Scotch egg was surprising with its XXL size and medium-soft boiled center. The sausage surrounding the egg was deliciously herbaceous and moist. The bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts I feel like I've eaten at a gajillion other restaurants these days but the crispy leaves that fell off were yummy, salty vegetable crisps.
What The Fat Radish does uniquely is make vegetables the star. My cousin Junet's Orecchiette with romanesco, capers and lemon juice in a cauliflower sauce was beautiful (a tad overcooked, she said) but conceptually very cool. My celery root pot pie was spot on. The puff pastry crust, sealed to its pot shattered where I forced my spoon into its layered shell. The super hot filling of chunky celery root, black garlic and Gruyere cheese was very filling, unctuous and creamy. Perhaps not the dish to order after stuffing your face full of turkey the previous day but that mistake's on me.
Mr. Mari and my cousin, Thomas, both ordered the bacon cheeseburger. Yeah, it's still pub grub but so much better than some of the pubs I've been to. The burger was tender; bun: Pillowy; pickle: Bracing; steak fries: cooked in duck fat. What's not to like? They even use Sir Kensington ketchup, which is awesome ketchup by the way.
All in all, it's great. You should go. You win, Mr. Fat Radish. You've won me over.
(Family photo taken by Junet with her iPhone)