Untitled at The Whitney Museum
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A glass enclosed dining room with large mushroom cap shaped hanging lights lends a modern, fresh feel to Untitled.
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Take a look below at photos from a recent meal I shared with my family at Untitled, a modern, glass-walled restaurant on the ground floor of the Whitney Museum, a place where "pictures" are certainly worth a thousand words (and more)!! The museum and restaurant, designed by Renzo Piano, is located at 99 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District. From the photos you will see why Danny Meyer's restaurant is still going strong one year out. Helmed by chef Michael Anthony from Gramercy Tavern and chef de cuisine Suzanne Cupps, the menu changes frequently, allowing for the most seasonal and freshest of ingredients to be used. The dinner menu is divided into four sections: Snacks, Raw, Vegetables and Mains and we ordered several dishes from each to share amongst us. Visually, each dish was popping with bright colors from the fresh produce. On the palate, the food was bursting with bright, clean, multi-layered flavors and textures which contrasted and combined perfectly. Including desserts, we ordered a total of 14 dishes of which only two I would not order again, the country ribs and the green tea cake. Not that these two dishes were bad, they just weren't as outstanding at the other 12! Now for your pictorial journey.....
The multigrain bread arrived warm to the table with sweet butter and was so delicious!
Lobster cucumber salad with avocado puree and sweet potato chips. This dish was bursting with the sweet lobster flavor.
Asparagus with egg salad and trout roe was a winning combination! So fresh!
Mussels in a light romesco sauce with very crisp croutons. The sauce had a wonderful creamy texture and a little bit of spiciness. The mussels were incredibly juicy and tender.
Corn pancakes topped with grilled shrimp, green beans and tomato. Yummy!
The octopus had a fruity flavor from the red wine and meyer lemon glaze. My daughter said the dish tasted like a popsicle! It wasnt too sweet though. It had a really good balance of tart, sweet and bitter flavors.
Perfectly cooked sea bass with yellow eye beans, fennel and preserved tomatoes.
The sunlight hitting the roasted and fried chicken didn't allow for a great photo on my iPhone but I couldn't not include this dish! The chicken was moist and had a very subtle smokiness, all covered by a crispy skin. The accompanying polenta was coarse grained and so delicious. It also came with swiss chard that was excellent, still crisp and crunchy like it had just been picked.
Although the wine list had many interesting, predominantly French, smaller produced choices, we had brought along a rose and this 2006 Italian Erbaluna Barolo which had the scent of both fresh earth and flowers and was drinking well now (corkage fee $30). The sommelier that evening, Vanessa Rea, was lovely. She decanted the barolo right when we sat down and later in the evening she stopped by to chat about the wines and the food.
A classic pairing.....chocolate chip cookies and milk! The cookies were soft, warm and chewy. In a word, fantastic!!
The fabulous lemon meringue dessert was a great counterpoint to the chocolate chip cookies.
One more dish not to miss at Untitled is the fluke aguachile, raw fluke with crushed cashews in a bright sauce of tomatoes, cilantro and lime. The photo I took didn't do it justice but it sure tasted fantastic!!
Bon Appétit!
