You say tomato, I say . . . you gotta be kidding me.
Meet the sticker-shock $24 tomato at zany new restaurant HaSalon — maybe the priciest piece of produce ever. Twenty-four dollars. For one tomato.
The hydroponic specimen is grown not in soil, but in nutrients-infused liquid at Underwood Greenhouse in upstate Shushan, a process that supposedly eliminates the need to wait for the late-summer growing season.
The medium-size fruit I tried from Israeli celebrity chef Eyal Shani was no jumbo. It would fit in the palm of my hand. It was skinned, cut into eight segments (or $3 per knuckle-size morsel) and drizzled with olive oil and crunchy sea salt.
Its red/green/brown hues and sea of swirling seeds thrilled my eyes. Its deep, nutty-and-sweet, late-August, just-picked flavor pleased my palate. Its appearance on the menu offended my wallet.
And where was the cool-looking black rock underneath shown in the photo? Ours came on a plain old white plate.
It was tasty, sure, but this was far from the best tomato I’ve ever had — and I’ve known and loved them since my family grew them in our Long Island backyard in the 1950s.
Shani says, “We spared no expense and journeyed for a month to find these tomatoes and finally found them” at the Union Square Greenmarket. But I’ll wait for August, when Whole Foods offers the out-of-the-ground variety for a buck or two.
The tomato with the terrifying tab is one of many crazy-priced dishes at HaSalon (735 10th Ave. at 49th Street), a self-described “party” where customers dance on table-tops to ear-shattering Israeli and American pop and disco after 10 p.m. (There’s a more “tranquil” 6:45 p.m. seating).
Many of the Mediterranean menu’s scandalously priced stinkers were just meh.
“Octopus sausage?” The single, 7-inch tentacle was near-flavorless, despite being simmered in kombu seaweed — for a mind-boggling $59.
A smallish serving of tagliatelle-like noodles made with fresh egg yolk and served with thin-sliced, raw porcini mushrooms would be fine at $25 — but it was $43. And striped bass for $149? Call the cops!
Yes, some dishes were wonderful and almost reasonably priced. A juicy, $79 “dinosaur” of on-the-bone short rib, steeped in olive oil and peppercorn-crusted, was my favorite beef cut this year and large enough for two.
“Asperge blanc very personal” — an obscene-looking, thick shaft of white asparagus crowned with oozy horseradish cream — isn’t for those squeamish about the male anatomy, but it’s a treat at $9.
HaSalon translates as “the salon” or, as applied to this venue, “the living room.” But it might as well mean, Ha, suckers! The joke’s on us.
https://nypost.com/2019/07/02/prices-at-new-hells-kitchen-eatery-are-not-garden-variety/
2019-07-03 02:03:00Z
CAIiEBRnzQqJN_CqWhwFTwzLcP0qGAgEKg8IACoHCAowhK-LAjD4ySww-9S0BQ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Prices at new Hell's Kitchen eatery are not garden variety - New York Post "
Post a Comment