Great Plates of Art at Graffit
New York City itself must be Chef Jesús Núñez’s culinary landscape for which he models his architecturally orchestrated dishes at the Upper West Side modernist-meets-Spanish restaurant, Graffit (soon to change its name to Gastroarte). The food is stacked, shellacked, rolled and deconstructed into oblivion until a simple egg morphs into something almost unrecognizable—and surprisingly tasty on the buds.
The “Not-Your-Average Egg” appetizer, which my eyes found immediately upon glancing at the menu, stays true to its namesake by replacing the white of the egg with pureed Sunchokes and somehow (by culinary wizardry, I surmise) keeping the yolk within the “white” intact at a perfect over-medium.
Next up was a beet salad with dollops of whipped goat cheese resembling the NYC skyline itself (the view from the Triborough Bridge to be exact). Chef Núñez plays with heights and depths using the multicolored beets to create a fun, flavorful Urban Jungle on a plate. Some of the beets have been fashioned into cylinders while others lay flat like lily pads for the goat cheese to rest upon. I almost felt guilty cutting into it…almost.
Have you ever had your rabbit cubed? I now can say I have. The three-dimensional rabbit came box-shaped and didn’t fall apart upon fork insertion. It’s held together by rabbit pate (the heart) inside a carrot and orange juice gelatin of yellow carrot and olive oil. Not for the unadventurous of heart. Fun to eat and satisfying to taste, this chef knows how to make playing with his food socially acceptable.
Núñez’s gastronomical wizardry continued to the dessert, which consisted of jasmine and sandalwood cake with nectarine soda mousse, ice-cream, incense powder and hibiscus cream. Was it just a magic potion masquerading as a cake? The jury’s still out on that one.
If you ever find yourself torn between grabbing a quick bite or heading to the MoMA, I say combine the two and head to Graffit where every dish is a painting or a sculpture, the lines are much shorter—and there’s stocked bar.
— Written by Sarah Polonsky
Photo credit: Graffit Restaurant
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