Loring Place

Loring Place is a great addition to the village.  Dan Kluger, chef, owner and born and bred New Yorker, has one hell of a resume from his first stop at Union Square Cafe over 20 years ago to Tabla under Floyd Cardoz to The Core Club under Tom Colicchio and most recently at ABC Kitchen with Jean-Georges where Dan won countless awards.  Now all those dots were connecting for him to be the chef at his own restaurant.

The restaurant is really beautiful.  A variety of rooms and one super long bar and a semi-concealed kitchen. Noise level is a bit loud and that is always a tough balance between a happening vibe and a place to hear the people around the table.  The menu is creative and changes monthly although my guess is there will always be some constants.

I went with Josh to try out the wares.  We had way too many things thanks to the chef but certainly got a good taste of a lot of things.  We started off with the raw vegetables with a carrot-ginger puree.  Excellent crudite to start.  The veggies are straight from the farmers market with a flavorful dip that is usually found on a Japanese salad.

The one thing that rang through the entire meal is the combination of flavors and the zings of spice.  Baked ricotta with roasted Kabocha with grilled sourdough.  You can lather this on anything.

We loved this dish.  Roasted beets with vivace cheese, membrillo (quince cheese), cashews and quinoa granola.  The combo of the beets with the saltiness of the cheese and sweet of the granola is delicious.

Butternut squash fries with a lemon-parmesan dressing.  This might become a signature.  Really good and perfect for sharing at the table or at the bar.

Wood grilled broccoli salad with oranges, kohlrabi and a pistachio mint dressing.  This is where we started having tiny bites.  The mint worked really well here.

Leeks and pears with walnuts, yogurt and sherry vinaigrette.  A nice winter side.

Brussels with pieces of apple, avocado and a honey mustard vinaigrette.

There is a variety of pastas and pizzas.  There is a wood burning grill and a wood burning oven in the kitchen.  We opted fro the portobello mushroom pizza with ricotta, mozzarella and spicy cherry peppers and oregano.  His take on the white pizza.  Excellent crust!

Pekin Duck with sauteed kale, almonds and poached quince.  Excellent.  The duck is perfectly cooked with a nice crispy skin.

Yes we had to have dessert.  “Blizzard” was the call.  Vanilla ice cream with pretzels, walnut toffee, chocolate cookie-fudge and meyer lemon.  You can taste a hint of cinnamon in there.

This is definitely on my list to go back to we return from the west coast….and of course there will more than likely be a new menu to try.  I can hardly wait.