Last week Frank Bruni had a typically wry piece on Romera, the new ultra luxurious Manhattan restaurant. Several clichés seem to apply to this place: “highly anticipated”, “the new in-spot”, “tough reservation”, etc. But, as Bruni wrote, pretentious is the most apt description. Or, if you must, “over-the-top”.
Rather than pairing wines to food, apparently-and this is part of the restaurants “philosophy”, if you will-Romera pairs infused waters. While I’m mildly curious to taste leek water, or whatever, I doubt it’s worth the $250 check. Pretentious, yes, novel, no. Chefs have been playing with chemistry for quite a while now, inverting peas, reversing eggs, deconstructing chocolate, and so on. Michel Richard transforms pasta into tiny black droplets, packs them into a tin and calls it caviar. Others-and this is apparently common-spoon mango puree in the center of a white emulsion and call it a fried egg.
A chef who engages in this sort of trickery needs to step out of the kitchen. Uniformly, the best chefs say they cook what they like to eat. While it may be fun to play with, I doubt these guys like to kick back with a plate of transglutaminase and various forms of calcium.
It is, on the other hand, kind of nice (and endearingly honest) to play with the labels, as long as the intent is not fanciful recreation. Beet tartare is a tasty and appropriately playful take on the classic steak version. While you’d never mistake minced beets for ground filet, and the mix-ins are wholly different, the result is strikingly attractive, delicious, and playful.
Beets are also a hell of a lot cheaper than filet, and certainly less expensive than a night at Romera. It doesn’t involve test tubes and leeky water, just old-fashioned cooking with a pleasantly modern twist.
(NOTE: you’ll see we don’t call for tossing the beets with the herbs and crème fraiche, which is the point. It’s a “steak” tartare, as in mix it yourself.)
Beet Tartare
Serves 4 as an appetizer
1 bunch large beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
handful (1/2 cup) of mixed fresh herbs such as tarragon, dill, and parsley, chopped
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Coat beets in oil, wrap tightly in foil and roast till tender. Don’t overcook-it’s a salad. About 1 hour or more.
- Remove. When cool, peel using a paring knife and cut in small (1/8 inch) dice. Chill in fridge for at least an hour.
- Season the cold beets with salt and pepper. To serve, divide in small bowls or plates, top each with the herbs and shallots and follow with a spoonful of crème fraiche in the center.
