About a month ago, I was invited to taste the new menu at Insieme, a 2010 Michelin-starred Italian restaurant that recently lost its star for 2011. A new chef, Andres Grundy, was hired around this time, presumably to help recover the lost star, which became more apparent as Chef Andres spoke with us after the meal, but more on that later.
I arrived a bit late, but luckily sat down just as the amuse bouches were brought out.
Our first amuse bouche was a pecorino sable with pear mostarda. I thought the pecorino was a bit lost in the sable, but appreciated the effort in trying to combat the crumbly driness of the cookie (nature of a sable) with a pear mostarda.
Heirloom squash soup topped with ginger yogurt foam.
Unfortunately, the soup was lost through the ginger yogurt foam on top; I’m not a huge ginger fan to begin with, but it was impossible to detect much of the squash’s sweetness through the ginger foam. I was disappointed, as I love squash of all types.
The third and final amuse of the trio was an anchovy zeppole with balsamic, which fell completely flat for me. I like anchovies just fine, but this tasted like an odd attempt at… I don’t know. The fishiness of the anchovy – which is what makes an anchovy an anchovy! – was completely masked and lost within the heavy breadiness of the zeppole.
To say I was concerned at this point is a lie. I’d asked my friends about the restaurant, knowing they’d switched chefs recently, and had unanimously heard the same thing: it used to be really good, then the quality went down, thus the loss of the Michelin star. Therefore, at this point in the meal, I was not concerned, but rather curious how the rest of the meal would play out. The menus we’d been given at our seats (first picture above) didn’t mention the amuses, and sounded really lovely, honestly, so I was still eager for the rest of the meal.
Our first course arrived: hamachi alla salamandra; broiled wild hamachi with cherry tomato compote, dahlia bulb and spigarello. Spoiler alert: this was easily my favorite dish of the lunch. The meaty fish was tender, sweet, succulent, and absolutely wonderful with the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes on top. The exterior was crisped lightly from broiling, and just… wow.
Chef Andres came out to speak with us as the course was being served, and explained that dahlia bulb is an ingredient exclusive to him. Yes, I said him; though it is the restaurant that receives them, it is through his personal relationship with several farms up in the Maine area that they are able to procure this extremely rare ingredient. I suppose ‘rare’ here doesn’t mean ‘hard to come by’ or ‘hard to find’ but rather ‘not that many people use it for cooking’ really, and it was interesting enough to consume, though hardly amazing enough for me to really adore. The fish, on the other hand, also comes through Chef Andres’ personal relationships with purveyors; apparently, only a certain number of these wild hamachi are caught each year (I believe he said 250; don’t quote me on that number, however), and sold to various restaurants. Chef Andres was able to get his hands on only one (or two?) this year, and I felt incredibly grateful that he thought to share some of it with us – and even more grateful that it was simply wonderful to taste. I would happily eat this fish for the rest of my life.
In between courses, I munched on some very tasty bread.
Tagliatelle di castagne al Madeira; chestnut tagliatelle with Madeira, duck crackling and foie gras emulsion. I’ve enjoyed chestnut pastas in the past, so I was keen on tasting this dish; the chestnut here was much more subtle than I expected, which made for a really nice change. The sauce was so rich, and the chestnut tagliatelle really warmed one to the core (though it wasn’t a freezing cold day like today, thankfully). This could have been an epic fail, but instead was executed perfectly.
Costolette di manzo; slow cooked short ribs and geoduck clam with Tuscan kale, peperonata and roasted pear. I was particularly excited for this course as a man sitting across the table, whose name completely escapes me currently, mentioned having read that Chef Andres’ specialty was the slow cooked short rib. And this dish did not disappoint: the meat fell apart with the poke of my fork, and the peperonata had the lightest of heats that played nicely with the other flavors. I didn’t find the geoduck adding nor detracting from the dish, simply just existing there, but I enjoyed the crisps, and the bit of veggie matter scattered across the dish. A definite win here.
Our first dessert course, ricotta di capra e miele; goat’s milk ricotta and acacia honey with rosemary gelato and bee pollen. I show here two pictures, this one above so you can see the gelee they laid at a diagonal on the bottom of the glass – see it on the lower right hand side? – tasted kind of like jello, very interesting…
The bee pollen lent a somewhat crunchy texture to the small cup. I think I would have preferred the honey be in normal form, as the jello texture threw me off, but I appreciated the point here: a playful take on the traditional cheese and honey plate that might appear towards the end of a meal. It was a nice palate cleanser, though I had trouble finishing it if only because I don’t always find goat’s milk cheeses appealing to my palate.
For our second and final dessert: “tartufo” al cioccolato amaro; bitter chocolate “tartufo” with passion fruit, roasted banana and cocoa nibs. I believe that’s an espresso granita which was icy cold and, though I liked its taste, seemed a bit contradictory to the textures of creaminess in the rest of the dish, as the rest was creamy and cold, and this gave me more the feeling of ‘water’ than cream. Aside from that one misstep, the rest of the dessert was lovely and I especially appreciated just how bitter that chocolate tartufo was, almost enough to make my mouth scrunch. Yum.
After the meal, Chef Andres came out to sit with us for a few minutes and answer any questions we had. I was at the far end of the table, thankfully, having drank as much of each course’s wine pairing as possible, and did not wind up asking him any questions. Instead, I listened with much respect as he described how he came to be involved with the restaurant industry; a Queens native who entered into a program where chefs from around the city worked with inner city kids (whose name escapes me right now, though it sounds awesome!), he said while his classmates were cutting classes, he was cutting vegetables. Okay, I only wished he’d said that, but he said that while his classmates were cutting classes to hang out, he was cutting classes to spend more time in the kitchens of some extremely well-regarded restaurants. At only 30, he is definitely one of the younger/youngest executive chefs out there, though Insieme emphasized to us that they were confident in his abilities in running the restaurant in every aspect. I definitely got the impression he was very well versed and capable, and, given his resume, that he was chosen in large part to help them recoup their lost Michelin star (which was not mentioned at all during the meal).
Chef Andres, however, is not Italian nor does he have much background if any in Italian cuisine. His specialties lie in Spanish and French cuisine, marrying the two via methods and/or ingredients. It’s clear, from the meal served to us, that he is comfortable around the kitchen, around new ingredients and willing to learn what he needs in order to succeed. At this early juncture, though, the meal screamed his name and his signature touches, but bore very little Italian influence, minus a few brief nods to the cuisine here and there, such as including a pasta dish.
I emphasize that the food was incredibly well-executed, thought out and delicious, and I would have absolutely no problem enjoying such a meal regardless of what cuisine it is described to be. Somehow, though I can’t claim to be an expert on Michelin guidelines whatsoever, I don’t think the Michelin experts will agree that this is OK – if you are going to call yourself Italian, you should have Italian food. It’s a shame if they don’t reclaim their lost star; the space is gorgeous, the service flawless, and the food is quite delicious.
Yvo says: Its location almost directly in the heart of Times Square makes this excellent for pre-theater dining; the space is open, modern and quite bright. A nice business lunch here would suit well, and the private room we occupied downstairs would make for excellent dinner parties. Coupled with its connection to the hotel in which it resides, a banquet even given by Chef Andres would be amazing. But the real draw is what he does with the food: if you ever see hamachi on the menu there, you simply must get it, as well as his signature short ribs. He has a way with his dishes, though you shouldn’t go in expecting Italian food… just yet. Time will tell what Chef Andres comes up with, and I for one am eager to see where he takes Insieme. Good luck!
recommended
Please note this meal was courtesy of Insieme and its PR team (thanks for having me!). I was not compensated for this post in any manner, nor obligated to post my opinion, whether positive or negative, and do so freely.
TT says
hmmm, hamachi is traditionally served raw. i hope cooking such a “rare” one didn’t waste the natural flavor.
beef and clam in the same dish? interesting.
that sounds like a great program the Chef got involved in as a kid. I laughed at the “cutting vegetables” comment.
T.C. says
Will a star be reborn? Best wishes to them.
The riccota-gelato-bee pollen dessert looks very interesting.