This $11 Scallop Is Your Next Vital Summer Snack
An early review of the (excellent) Bar Contra, plus notes on the $10 garlic waffles at Sukh
Paid subscribers can scroll down for a review of Bar Contra and a quick take on Sukh!
One thing to eat today: Avra’s barbounia
Once upon a time, I would pick a random week in July and snag a cheap seat on the redeye to Nice. Just to chill out on the Cote D’Azur.
I know what you’re thinking. This is a slice of France that makes the Hamptons seem humble, thanks to all the Russian oligarchs, the yacht parties, the film festival, and an ex-Vanity Fair editor with a penchant for throwing star-studded soirées.
My own approach to the South of France was more laid back.
I’d gorge on oysters at Cafe de Turin, before getting lost in the alleyways of Vieux Nice. I’d scald my tongue on greasy shards of hot socca — chickpea pancakes cut up with the precision of torn handkerchiefs. And I’d push through the crowds at Fenocchio, for gelato flavored with rose, orange flower, and lavender — all the luxe perfumes of the Mediterranean, melting down in a cheap plastic cup.
It’s been a while since I’ve made that trip — gotta save up those Kool-Aid points — but recently I indulged in something that brought me back to the Riviera: red mullet. It’s a European fish so unnaturally rouge it’s as if the species spent millennia feeding on Skittles.
The Ancient Romans loved them so much they reportedly bred them in ponds.
Where does one get this wonder of the sea? Well, If you’re playing baccarat in Monaco this August, maybe with François Toulour, you can try a nice appetizer of rouget at Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV for, lol, €135. And that’s the thing. Red mullet generally don’t make its way onto too many Manhattan French menus; I’ve not encountered it at Le Bernardin or Brooklyn Fare, though Essential by Christophe serves it with a bouillabaisse reduction as part of a prix-fixe ($165). Not bad.
Fancy Greek spots, however, offer red mullet — or barbounia — fairly reliably. In fact, I sampled some fairly priced specimens at the sprawling Avra in Rockefeller Center just this week (the place is big enough for a German rave).
My buddy and I snagged a few seats at the (packed) bar. And about an hour later, a waiter dropped by with four small fish. A layer of crisp batter sat atop the red skin. And underneath was soft, white flesh. And bones. Lots of bones.
Trust me, the work is worth it.
Red mullet, as a rule, is gently sweet — a whisper closer to a prawn than a run-of-the-mill seabass. And the aroma can faintly recall a charred lobster shell. Now, did I really get all of those layered nuances here at Avra? No, these barbounia were more neutral in flavor. But every now and then, I detected a subtle mineral punch of the Mediterranean. And at $40 for four fish, they served as a not-too-expansive dose of nostalgia for my low-key trips to the French Riviera. I gotta get back!
How hot is it?
It’s Saturday, 3 August 2023, and New York’s weather is doing its darnedest to mimic a damp sweatshirt pulling the overnight shift in an Equinox locker. Now is the time to cool off with cold shellfish, cold noodles, and small steaks.
If you’re looking for a big opening this week, head on over to Bar Contra, a cocktail joint and small plates place by Wildair’s Jeremiah Stone and Fabián Von Hauske Valtierra. Joining the team is Dave Arnold, the science-based cocktail guru who once ran Booker & Dax. My early report: Bar Contra’s $11 fried scallop easily ranks as one of the city’s top summer snacks. It is supremely crunchy and scallop-y, with a super rich walnut sauce for dunking. The drinks are great too (duh!).
Scroll down for my review.
Pete Wells files his last restaurant review
Pete Wells took over the New York Times restaurant critic job in late 2011. He’s been working the gig ever since, filing memorable takes on Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen and Bar, Peter Luger, Per Se, The Four Seasons, La Piraña, and others. I’ll have more to say about his (inspiring) tenure at some point this year. But for now, let me leave you with the final paragraph of his final review, of Yemenat in Bay Ridge. It’s a venue whose address was once home to an Egyptian seafood spot, and before than, a brisket shop. Voila:
“You might think about the forces that pushed the Jewish brisket makers out of Europe, and the Egyptian seafood cooks out of Egypt, and the Yemeni haneeth roasters out of Yemen. You might think about the city that gave them all a fresh start, this place of noise and pressure and chaos that was still less chaotic than the places they came from.”
Bravo.
César is taking reservations
César Ramirez ran the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare. Until he didn’t. Lawsuits ensued. But now, he’s back at it at his own restaurant: the eponymous César in Tribeca. Patrons can expect the chef’s signature blend of French and Japanese sensibilities over a 13-course menu.
Reservations are available on Tock for $365 per person. Curiously, Brooklyn Fare recently dropped its own price down to $345 per person, a move that suggests a bit of…competitive posturing. Michelin watchers will have to wait and see if this venue can nab a coveted three star rating, which Brooklyn Fare once held until Ramirez’s departure. Check out Eater’s full opening report from a few weeks back, a column that also noticed the uncanny price similarity.
Behind the Paywall: An Early Review of Bar Contra, and...
The summertime snack of the week: Sukh’s garlic waffles
