Margaux at Marlton Hotel
The latest addition to the village is the Marlton Hotel located on 8th street right off of 5th Avenue brought to you by Sean McPherson. I am pretty confident he has another hit on his hands. You can check out the photos of the place on Eater. Chefs are Michael Reardon and Jeremy Blutstein.
There are several rooms to congregate, have a drink, eat a meal or just a few bar snacks. The lighting is warm and the best part is the noise level is optimal. I realized half way through my meal that I was not shouting at my dinner date. What a total treat. The vibe is great, the service was attentive and the food (considering they just opened) was quite good. The menu is nouvelle mediterranean..and by the way a nice cocktail menu too. They started us off with a nice crispy vegetable plate.
We tried a few things. We started with the crispy sunchokes served with a rich lemon yogurt for dipping. These chips are addictive. If they brought more than the bowl I would have been happy to continue consuming them.
Bite sized lamb meatballs roasted in a red sauce topped with a saffron yogurt. Interesting subtle combination of African spices in the meatballs.
A side of brussel sprouts. Always a favorite.
Sliced marinated fennel salad with small pieces of feta, pomegranate seeds and sumac. There were a few other salads that I want to try next time that look interesting too.
Cauliflower custard topped with crispy brussel sprout leaves and small pieces of roasted acorn squash. This was excellent. I loved the texture of the custard mixed with the intensity of the roasted vegetables.
Rotisserie chicken marinated with urfa biber, a smoky rich chili pepper flake with hints of chocolate. We dug in and I forgot to grab a pic before hand. This was served over smashed sweet potatoes with a large dollop of green harissa. Perfectly cooked. Juicy and full of flavor. Winner.
Cod served with sauteed savoy cabbage, kelp and a hint of lime. This was a bit bland but could be remedied over time.
A dessert was needed. There are three dessert options and a few different flavors of gelato. We tried the quince tart. The crust had hints of cinnamon and whole wheat which was really good. Think of it as an updated apple tart.
Loved it there. Really looking forward to going back and trying a few more things on the menu and getting a Tijuana Zebra. They are open for breakfast and lunch too.
Comments (Archived):
.As usual, your pics make my mouth water.Well played.JLM.
What is the deal with brussel sprouts all of a sudden. We have been roasting them at home for years, and all of a sudden they are in every restaurant I go to. I am not complaining because I love them, but it’s certainly a strange trend.
it has been around for quite awhile in the restaurants. few years easily.
I wonder if, and how, restaurants gather intelligence on an organized (and paid basis) on what dishes are canaries in the dining coal mine.In other words is there (other than trade rags or word of mouth) a service that identifies good selling high margin dishes at restaurants (of all types) before they become main stream?Seems as if either there either is, or that it’s a good business opportunity (to identify early on the profitable crowd favorites).
Getfoodgenius.com has the data.
First thanks for that. (I see it’s in Chicago).But from their own site this appears to be targeted toward chain restaurants and food manufacturers.Are chains really the canary in the coal mine for innovation? Or are smaller non chain restaurants. Say where the waiter notices that a particular dish is very popular.My guess is that “brussel sprouts” started somewhere small.If I was designing a competitor to this product I would setup a network of wait staff that would report and gather data. (But I’m not so …)It doesn’t even have to be a super large network either. Good ideas are good ideas.
Restaurant data is its own canary.They know how many plate turns per hour, the relatonship between group size and types of food and wine bought, exactly what dishes are ordered and the margins.If there is a digital input system there is data. Lots of it.
the back end reality of how a restaurant is analyzed is very interesting. just let any business it is all about the margins. margins on alcohol, margins on the food, table turn over, rent, how many seats, what dishes are working and which ones aren’t, etc.
yup.have a restauranteur in the family and talking about wine lists and prices, about the relationship between the bottle price, customers hanging around, clogging the people supply chain and breaking the model.even loss leader dishes.great stuff.