New York’s Best Fall Dishes
It’s hard to get actively enthused about the appearance of kale and butternut squash in the greenmarkets, especially since it means they’ve officially replaced tomatoes and corn. But talented chefs can transform and elevate even the most uninspired items, which is why we’re excited to see what they’re cooking up this autumn…think Rutabaga Tarts at Flora Bar, stuffed Delicata squash at BKW, and Cauliflower Toast at Bergen Hill!
Paowalla
Goatoaber is celebrated throughout the city in the fall, as a way for chefs and restaurants to help raise awareness of goat meat as a viable protein source, being that it’s highly sustainable, healthy, and seasonal (baby goats are ready for market in autumn). And Floyd Cardoz’s Paowalla has jumped on the bandwagon with a Hyderabadi Goat Roast, served with tomato and cucumber salad.
Read MoreFlora Bar
The impenetrable, waxy-skinned rutabaga doesn’t generally get a whole lot of love, which is why it’s a pleasure to discover it at the Estela team’s recently opened Flora Bar in the Met Brauer museum; fashioned into a thin, rustic tart along with rounds of nutty and melty raclette.
Read MoreBergen Hill
Ravi di Rossi’s small plates spot concentrates on seafood, which isn’t necessarily associated with the fall. But now that he’s instituted vegan menus at all of his other restaurants, you’ll find a good deal of produce gracing Bergen Hill’s roster as well, such as hearty Cauliflower Toast dotted with raisins, pine nuts, capers and fleshy grapes.
Read MorePerla Café
Gabe Stulman’s cozy trattoria, Perla, may have relocated to West 4th St. (and added “Café” to its name), but you’ll still find the same brand of simple, honest, unpretentious Italian fare, such as Squash Salad with cloumage, pumpkin seeds and brown butter vinaigrette, cabbage-stuffed Agnolotti strewn with hazelnuts, Strip Steak paired with jewel yams, and Chicken over barley and brussels sprouts, seasoned with salty guanciale.
Read MoreLe Turtle
Taavo Somer’s utterly fashionable Le Turtle has a new fall wardrobe, namely, Broccoli Salad with baby kale and pear, Roasted Carrots with oat crumble and confit egg yolk, Sasso Chicken teamed with green apples, brussels sprouts and goat cheese, and a seasonal mélange of Sweet Potato and Buttercup Squash, slicked with buttermilk and pumpkin seed mustard.
Read MoreCheeseboat
This welcoming Williamsburg newcomer is devoted to the home-style comfort fare of Georgia. Along with the eponymous Cheeseboats (canoes of khachapuri bread, filled with egg yolk and melted cheese), current offerings include Marinated Beet Salad with goat cheese, Soup Dumplings filled with beef, pork and spices, Mushrooms glazed with white wine plum sauce, and fall desserts like Churchkhela; candle shaped candies formed from nuts and fermented grapes.
Read MoreBKW
Brooklyn Winery just opened a dedicated restaurant in Crown Heights, featuring dishes that pair perfectly with their locally crafted vino. Try Cauliflower Garlic Soup with barrel-fermented Riesling, as well as Crispy Brussels Sprouts with apple cider caramel or chestnut-stuffed Delicata Squash alongside skin-fermented Chardonnay, and Hanger Steak with sweet potato chips served with a Finger Lakes-grown Cabernet Franc.
Read MoreLe Garage
Bushwick’s mother and daughter-run French bistro still manages to inject a soupcon of chic into heavy autumnal foods; try Risotto lapped around butternut squash and chives, Fish of the Day plated with beets, celery root, tarragon and star anise, and Organic Chicken for Two, with a side of parsnip puree served in a dainty carnival squash.
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