No. 89: lamb tartare from Epernay
Chef Duy Pham, who made a name for himself as the executive chef of the long-gone Tante Louise, has always plated painterly food that equates to culinary objects of worship, and at Epernay, those technique-oriented compositions -- everything from his sushi to his miso-glazed Chilean sea bass -- personify elegance and beauty.
See also: - Chef Duy Pham returns to open Epernay, a sous-vide restaurant and raw bar - Duy Pham, along with Michael Degenhart, are behind the line at Epernay - Duy Pham has a new restaurant -- in Pueblo, of all places
His menu -- smart, focused and polished -- is executed via a kitchen that's bereft of basic equipment: there's no hood, no fryer, no grill (although Pham is a big fan of gadgets like immersion circulators and the prized Vita-Mix), all of which means that his food is imaginatively projected through the lens of a chef who creates many of his compelling dishes in the raw, including his nearly impossible to find elsewhere lamb tartare, a bewitchingly artistic canvass showcasing a river of pickle-and-caper-intensive crimson lamb paved with shards of Gouda and crowned with a yolk-spilling duck egg. Minced red onions, a mix of micro greens, small knolls of whole grain mustard, snips of fresh chives and a subtle swipe of truffle oil, infused with chives, share space on the stark white plate with toasted crostinis, and the sum of the parts results in a beautiful, modern creation that raises the bar for just about every other tartare in town.
Hungry for more? All the dishes in our 2013 countdown are linked below:
No. 100: Foie gras oysters from Sushi Sasa No. 99: Porchetta from Parisi No. 98: chocolate caramel sea salt tart from Spuntino No. 97: Nachos from the Pioneer No. 96: Fried pickles from TAG Burger Bar No. 95: Breakfast burrito from Jalapeños Mexican restaurant No. 94: Jajangmyeon from Yong Gung Dragon Palace Chinese Restaurant No 93: French fries from Jonesy's EatBar No. 92: Fried rice from Benihana No. 91: Lobster macaroni and cheese from Mizuna No. 90: Schezuan beef in numbing chile oil from Chef Liu's Authentic Chinese Cuisine
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