In
NYC, some
friends have told me they never venture north of a certain address, say north
of 59th Street.
Too
bad! These friends are missing out on one of the best nights I’ve ever had up
in Harlem on 125th Street.
During
my recent U.S. trip, we met up with old friends in NYC for an “expat dinner” in
our honor at Red Rooster, a soul
food-inspired restaurant owned by Marcus Samuelsson, former chef at Aquavit. Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden
and has been a seven-year resident of Harlem, opened the restaurant in December
2010.
When
we walked into Red Rooster at 8 p.m., the bar was two and three people deep,
and the dining room was packed. This was a Monday night. On 125th Street. In
Harlem. (My friend made the reservation nearly 2 months in advance.) The restaurant
was pulsing with energy and excitement. Members of the live blues and jazz band
were setting up with their instruments.
I
repeat, this was a Monday night!
In
the past, maybe 10 years ago or so, Harlem wasn’t necessarily a neighborhood you
would GO to in Manhattan. But in recent years, Harlem has been gentrifying with
refurbished brownstones and turning into a modern place where you DO want to go
and hang out with friends.
Red
Rooster is a part of the new, modern Harlem.
Our
group started with a round of drinks at the bar where a handsome bartender
donning a bowtie was working. I selected a sweet drink, aptly named “Yes,
chef,” that contained mint-infused vodka, ginger beer, pineapple and spices. I
think I had two more of these during dinner!
Once
we sat down at our table, we ordered three appetizers – crab cakes with a fiery
mayonnaise, smoked trout with a green goddess dressing and a smoked salmon tartare.
The smoked trout was my favorite.
The
restaurant’s famous corn bread, cut in gigantic slabs, arrived with a pat of honey
butter and a ramekin of spicy tomato jam. I could have eaten a whole plate of
this sweet corn bread!
Our
favorite entrees included the fried yard bird (chicken, in the slang of old
Harlem) served with a white gravy and a
ramekin of hot sauce and a complicated version of macaroni and cheese, featuring
orecchiette pasta and a mix of Gouda, New York Cheddar and Comté cheeses,
with a crisp arugula salad on the side. I loved my bite of my friend’s
mac-n-cheese!
I
was slightly disappointed with my jerk chicken dish because I expected it to be
spicier. One of my old roommates was from Barbados, and she made the best,
tear-inducing jerk chicken I’ve ever eaten. Another disappointment was the
restaurant’s take on dirty rice and shrimp, made with basmati rice and bourbon
maple syrup.
Oh
well, I guess it’s hit or miss with some of the food.
For
dessert, we ended with fried sweet-potato dumpling holes with cinnamon sugar and the
house mud pie served with caramelized bananas. The doughnuts were right up my
alley!
All
the while we were eating and drinking, the band played familiar-sounding blues
and jazz songs. I almost thought I had been transported to New Orleans – one of
my favorite southern cities. At one point, I wanted to get up and dance even
though there was no room to dance!
We
had a blast eating, drinking and hanging out with our good friends in Harlem.
Red
Rooster is definitely one address north of 59th Street I’d travel to
in NYC anytime!
 |
| Hanging out with old friends. Two of my girlfriends here I've known for 30 years! |
Location:
310
Lenox Avenue (at 125th Street)
New
York, NY
Take
the 2/3 subway line to 125th Street. The restaurant is just around
the corner on Lenox Avenue.
Phone: 212-792-9001
4 comments:
what fun! i love love love soul food and make it often. and i think new orleans might be my favorite city.
@Joyce, we love the food and New Orleans too! In fact, we loved NOLA so much that we got married there - a meet in the middle for both of our families. :-)
I wish I had known about this restaurant when we went to Harlem in February...
@Barbara, Well, you can always save the restaurant for the next time you are in the U.S. It's that fun, and certainly worth the trip! :-)
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