Aquavit

»Aquavit Redux

So it hasn't been that long since my last visit to Aquavit (review at http://www.chow.com/topics/810271 FWIW), but it's becoming a surprisingly regular part of the rotation - surprising mainly because getting me to set foot North of, say, Madison Square Park is notoriously difficult. (Used to be North of 14th St, but ABC Kitchen and Eataly have extended my boundaries...)

But my brother, his...+READ So it hasn't been that long since my last visit to Aquavit (review at http://www.chow.com/topics/810271 FWIW), but it's becoming a surprisingly regular part of the rotation - surprising mainly because getting me to set foot North of, say, Madison Square Park is notoriously difficult. (Used to be North of 14th St, but ABC Kitchen and Eataly have extended my boundaries...)

But my brother, his wife and my nephew were in town, and they don't have so much refined dining where they live, so we thought it'd be nice to take them for a fancy night out. And they needed to stay closer to Midtown. And my nephew is only two, so I needed a place that had a.) high chairs and b.) an early seating. And Aquavit met all our needs. Not that I had any complaint about going back, since our last meal there was so good - but sometimes you want to break things up a bit. It wound up being a great call.

First, the new dining room: much better than the old one. It feels more intimate AND more open, if that's possible. About half the size of the old one, but (thank god) it has windows now. The old dining room always felt a bit claustrophobic on account of that. Even though the view isn't of much (55th Street, not much to look at) it makes a huge difference. The lighting is also little darker than it used to be, which is nice. (Though it's also the reason there are no photographs in this review - I don't do flash photos in restaurants...)

Also, because it's smaller, it feels more festive - the old room, which was cavernous, could feel a little stifling, almost temple-like, especially as half the tables might be empty. One felt they needed to speak in hushed tones. Here, the crowd was boisterous once it started filling up.

But the food, yes, on to the food roundup...

Amuse 1: Truffled goat cheese lollipops rolled in pumpernickel crumbs. Simple but effective - what's not to like?

Amuse 2: Vasterbotten custard: topped with salmon, dill, mustard seeds, and bleak roe, served in a sealed mason filled with smoke. Intoxicating aroma. Very rich and intense, great for spreading on the house rye bread. Like eating "Sweden in a jar" as my girlfriend put it.

Appetizers (round 1):

Glassblower Herring w/ bleak roe, vasterbotten, and potatoes - a regular on the menu. Chef Jernmark was pretty excited over his new bleak roe supplier. There's a nice, light, kind of hops-like bitterness to bleak roe that I find quite refreshing. An ingredient you don't see too often. What was interesting was that while it shared two ingredients with one of the amuses, it didn't feel one bit like a repeat.

Nantucket Bay Scallops: with uni, trout roe, and black bread. Another (seemingly) simple but effective dish, just popping with fresh marine flavors. Like biting into the ocean. Only more pleasant.

Appetizers (round 2):

Montauk Fluke: this was a variation on the hay-smoked cod dish I had last time with a similar pairing of soft-scrambled egg, celery root puree, and black truffle - an emulsion along the bottom of the plate plus fresh shavings over the top. The presentation was a bit different but the flavors were just as spot-on. Black truffle & celeriac is one of those magical combinations that just speaks of the season, and I think it worked even better with the fluke than the smoked cod - the fluke was beautifully flaky, and stood well enough on its own without the smoke.

Gravlax: much like there's always a herring option, there's always a gravlax option as well, and it's always good. Presented simply with some baby spinch and a "Hovmastar" sauce (a sweet mustard-dill emulsion)

Juniper-smoked Sweetbreads: with roasted royal trumpets, milk-poached garlic foam, and cider-juniper jus. At first, tasting the garlic foam on its own I thought it might be a bit too strong, but it wound up working in context with the other flavors. This was the boldest, most aggressively seasoned of the apps, and the cider jus gave a nice "pickled" quality to the mushrooms. Smoke flavor was subdued. Sweetbreads & mushrooms are another one of those great pairings - as anyone who's had the sweetbread & maitake tacos at Empellon will attest. My only complaint is I wish there were more on the plate.

Hen-Of-The-Woods Mushrooms: with hazelnuts and vasterbotten buerre blanc. Didn't get to taste this one myself, but it got good reviews all around the table from those that did.

Entrees:

"Nordic Seafood" - just what the title says, a big bowl of delicious ocean fare. Cod and shrimp were the stars, the shrimp particularly succulent (butter-poached, I think? Didn't ask...) with a watercress vinaigrette to cut through the richness. Awesome

Short Rib "Kalops" - with baby beets (could have been maroon carrots, didn't get to taste those) and smoked potato puree. The bite I had of the meat & potato was wonderful. Braised short ribs on chilly night, can't go wrong.

Lamb two ways: with foie gras and sweet potato puree. Absolutely delicious. A fork-tender "stew" (shoulder I'm guessing) and a couple pieces of loin with a light mustard glaze.

Dessert:

Salmonberry Trio: I've never had salmonberries before, but they were quite good. The name isn't on account of the color (though they are red) but because they're traditionally paired with salmon. A relative of raspberries, only a bit tarter. Came with a sour cream panna cotta (infused with more salmonberry) and a bit of macadamia "snow" - excellent.

Molton Chocolate Cake: I normally don't do the ubiquitous molten chocolate cake, but I'm glad I did this time. The cake itself, fantastic, moist, everything you would want from this all-too-common item. What really brought it to another level was the rosemary ice cream - the piney, herbal notes complemented the dark chocolate amazingly. An apple panna cotta rounded it all out - this was a take on the MCC that would have been worthy of Alex Stupak from his days at WD-50.

"Arctic Bird's Nest" - this one was comped. It's part of their usual dessert rotation, but it wasn't in the options last night - only as part of the tasting menu. I think someone overheard me lamenting that it wasn't in the prix fixe choices and the kitchen sent one out. As good as it always is, and one of the more stunning presentations around. And edible "nest" (not sure what it's made of) with an "egg" of goat cheese parfait inside a molecule-thin sugar shell, with balls of intense blueberry sorbet and yogurt "snow" (they're big on snow right now, I guess) - one of the better desserts in town, for my money.

As we finished instead of the usual take-home treats (meringues last time we went) they gave us spice sachets, for making Glögg at home! A fun little twist.

I really can't find anything bad to say about the food - if there was a minus I noticed, it was in some of the portion sizes. Now, mind you, we all left quite full. We could barely pick at the cheese board and mignardaises that showed up after our desserts. But it seemed that a couple times, within the context of one course, the dishes would be quite differently sized. The entrees, for example: the seafood was a feast in a bowl, while the lamb and beef were noticeably smaller. Now, granted, they're richer, heavier dishes - not to mention that lamb is simply more expensive than cod to begin with - but it leaves one feeling they have to eat slower to keep pace with the person who got a king's portion of fish. Not that they should skimp on the fish, mind you. But even adding a bit more veg to the land protein plates would have evened things out fine.

The service was good - they seem to be getting better on that front, an area where they've always received a bit of criticism (including from myself) in the past. While the waitstaff aren't quite as engaging as you'll find in, say, a Danny Meyer restaurant, they're quite nice, and professional without being stuffy. I should also say they were also very accommodating of my two-year-old nephew, even brought him a plate of Swedish Meatballs (which the adults wound up eating half of... some damn fine meatballs, what can I say?)

Chef Jernmark came out a couple times - once to introduce the new amuse (#2) and again during dessert to just check on how the meal was, and he was very friendly while I chewed his ear for a bit (until my girlfriend goosed me that I was probably taking up too much of his time, as I was yammering about a little Nordic specialty shop I'd found out in Bay Ridge that had homemade Norwegian head cheese, and my own kitchen experiments making purple-potato sorbet that he probably had no interest in hearing about...)

All in all, excellent once again. As I said in my last write-up, I think they've improved even in the time since Sifton's last review, and again, even since our last visit in October. I'm happy that they're pushing things forward, and not resting on their laurels like many quarter-century-old restaurants would, serving the same old warhorses. Chef Jernmark is striking a great balance between classical, rustic, and modern, but without being overtly "modernist" about it. I think they're at a peak right now, above and beyond the Samuelsson days. Admittedly, I have a particular affinity for Scandinavian flavors, but they're just as much in the local/seasonal camp nowadays.

As one of my friends said recently, Aquavit is one of those places that's been there seemingly forever, so long that you don't always think of them when you think about going out, especially among us foodie types who are always looking for the "new" - but while Aquavit may be an old name, the food is anything but. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long relationship with their current chef, who I think is redefining the place for the better.

Now, if only they'd move to the Lower East Side. The old Tonic space on Norfolk has been sitting empty for four or five years now... could use a new tenant...-COLLAPSE / REPLY (2 Replies) (by sgordon, created December 16, 2011)

the best fries ive ever had was at acquavit, from their bar menu. ordered them by accident, when trying to order the potato chips. these are not belgian fries, they are thinly and unevenly cut fries (leading me to believe freshly hand cut).

i like the breslin's style, but it's really the cumin flavoring that is the heart and soul of those fries. i almost feel like that's cheating.

try...+READ the best fries ive ever had was at acquavit, from their bar menu. ordered them by accident, when trying to order the potato chips. these are not belgian fries, they are thinly and unevenly cut fries (leading me to believe freshly hand cut).

i like the breslin's style, but it's really the cumin flavoring that is the heart and soul of those fries. i almost feel like that's cheating.

try acquavit's and tell me you dont like them. i doubt you will.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (55 Replies) (by ssl5b, created December 3, 2011)

Yeah, unfortunately the folks at Aquavit have never been particularly good at updating their website - recently they did a special tasting menu of Gotland specialties, and not a word on the website about what was actually on it, or a single picture of a single dish - just the dates it was available, and the price, and that was it.

I've been VERY fond of Aquavit lately - I think the new chef...+READ Yeah, unfortunately the folks at Aquavit have never been particularly good at updating their website - recently they did a special tasting menu of Gotland specialties, and not a word on the website about what was actually on it, or a single picture of a single dish - just the dates it was available, and the price, and that was it.

I've been VERY fond of Aquavit lately - I think the new chef has really hit a stride and is knocking out some home runs - but I'm often wary of special holiday menus. That said, this is one of the few holiday menus that is CHEAPER than the normal menu - at $65 it's probably not a bad deal, given that it's AYCE (I think - but it doesn't actually state that explicitly so you might want to call them) and includes one drink with the price. It probably won't be anything fancy like the normal menu, just traditional Swedish fare - but they do it well there. It seems that it's not terribly different than the regular Saturday Brunch smorgasbords they're offering throughout December, though - maybe there'll be a couple extra selections to warrant it being the "Grand" Julbrod, but no way to know - and it's the same price as the "regular" Julbrods.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (by sgordon, created November 29, 2011)

Did someone already say Aquavit? (No time to read the whole thread)

I hate going to a restaurant for brunch and eating food that I could make at home like pancakes or omelettes so somewhere like this is perfect for me. REPLY (69 Replies) (by t19103, created November 8, 2011)

»If I had any doubts about Aquavit deserving a Michelin star before...

...those doubts are gone. Dinner last night was fantastic.

When Marcus Jernmark took over the kitchen, there was understandably some doubt. He was young to be taking the lead role in such an institution. Marcus Samuelsson's shoes (and for that matter, Nils Noren's) were pretty big ones to fill. But rather than just doing a rehash of Samuelsson's greatest hits, Jernmark has made it his own....+READ ...those doubts are gone. Dinner last night was fantastic.

When Marcus Jernmark took over the kitchen, there was understandably some doubt. He was young to be taking the lead role in such an institution. Marcus Samuelsson's shoes (and for that matter, Nils Noren's) were pretty big ones to fill. But rather than just doing a rehash of Samuelsson's greatest hits, Jernmark has made it his own. There are modernist touches here and there, to be sure, but that's not what it's about. It's about presenting Scandinavian flavors and techniques - many unfamiliar to us here in the states - in as refined a way as he can, and it works beautifully.

We'd been earlier this year, and while I enjoyed our meal, I felt there was just something a little off. Nothing was bad, in fact everything was quite good, but it didn't quite feel up to the price point they were charging.

Recently, the menu was revamped and changed from a three-course prix fixe to a four-course - without altering the price. That gave me the impetus to go back.

Not only was it a better value, but the food is even better than before. Chef Jernmark has found his groove, and it's a good one.

After the amuse (a lovely little seafood salad, with shavings of apples and a shmear of skyr) our first courses were all wonderful. The classic pairing of Herring and Vasterbotten cheese was accompanied by Bleak Roe, which I'd never heard of before. Bleak are, as it turns out, members of the carp/minnow family. Had an interesting (and not unpleasant) hint of bitterness which I enjoyed. An heirloom tomato salad was unexpectedly wonderful, with a celery sorbet in what may have been the only tip of the hat to Chef Samuelsson to be found, what with his incorporation of sorbets into savory courses. Or perhaps it was a nod to Brooks Headly's brilliant celery sorbet dessert at Del Posto. Either way, delicious and refreshing. We also had an amazingly rich Chanterelle Veloute, garnished with a little pile of duck rilletes and pickled mushrooms (honshemiji, I think?) that were just tart enough to cut through the decadent soup. With that simple a dish - only three components - everything has to balance perfectly, and in this case it sure did.

Our second courses were, depending how you looked at it, second apps or maybe half-entrees. I'm normally wary of pasta dishes in non-Italian retaurants, but the Wild Mushroom Tortellini were great, a real umami-fest - though flavor-wise, a bit similar to the Veloute from the previous course. The "Nordic Choucroute" was a fantastic assortment of land & sea fare (prawn, pork belly, a scallop the texture of caramel) in a very clever sauerkraut buerre blanc. The kraut cut through the richness of the buerre, brightening the dish. The big winner for me, though, was the hot-smoked cod. A stunning presentation, with a streak of black truffle emulsion. crunchy pickled celeriac, and a scrambled egg with a texture unlike any I've had before, so soft I mistook it for some kind of vegetable puree at first. The texture of the cod was great, too, meaty and tender and moist. We also had a (as you'd expect) silky gravlax, with trout caviar that divided the table (I liked the intense fishiness of it - others, not so much.)

Finally, our entrees. My mother and I had the Veal two ways - tenderloin and hay-smoked sweetbreads. This was the first time I'd had the HSS, though they've been on the menu as an appetizer before. An interesting texture - the outer shell is strikingly black, and I'd describe it more as "crunchy" than "crispy" - and the interior more meaty than one normally finds in sweetbreads. At first I wasn't sure what to think - the flavor was good, but the texture was very unexpected. But it worked as an entree, though I can see where some people would prefer a more traditional sweetbread preparation. The tenderloin was as good as it could be, though I'm not the biggest tenderloin fan to begin with - it's just one of the less interesting cuts, IMHO. This one came with more chanterelles (roasted, this time) a broccoli "scramble" for lack of a better word, and a bright green apple mustard. A really solid dish that kept growing on me the more I ate. We also had a chicken dish (forgive me for not remembering the details - it was new to the menu and not listed on the website, and I only had one bite of it) which was tender, hearty, dressed with more black truffle. Finally, an arctic char in a light, clear tomato broth, served with pickled veggies and a shrimp mousse. This was the most subtle of the three entrees we tried.

There were definitely flavors that repeated themselves - celeriac, black truffle, chanterelles - but I can't really complain about three of my favorite ingredients showing up in different iterations. And because they were never prepared the same way - here pickled, here roasted, or whatnot - it didn't grow old.

Desserts were quite good, though sadly the "Arctic Bird's Nest" is only available as part of the tasting menu now. Overall quite nice. A Rose Hip Soup brought the acidity, while a dish of chocolate in different textures and styles - milk, varying degrees of dark - was great, especially the dark chocolate sorbet, which had a lovely smoky finish that lingered on and on. A goat cheese cake was nice, if nothing I'm going to remember, though the port wine ice cream it came with was excellent.

My only issues would be my usual ones with Aquavit - the dining room feels a bit claustrophobic, especially with the lack of windows, and it often feels the staff are hovering around. Not because they are - I just don't think there's much "backstage" area for them to wait, so they're always all on the floor, it seems. That aside, they were lovely, and both our waiter and Chef Jernmark put up rather nicely with my mother & her friend's (both professional food critics, for what it's worth) prying questions and commentary.

Overall, a great meal though - sorry no pictures, my mother took them and hasn't emailed them to me yet. This is a kitchen deserving a second look from those who've written them off, and it provides a nice change of pace from the usual French high-end offerings. Equally refined, but brighter and lighter, not relying so much on heavy reductions and butter sauces and such to bring the flavor. In the past I've spoken very highly of Vandaag - even compared them favorably to Aquavit, especially given their lower price point. But with Chef Kirshten-Clark leaving Vandaag, Chef Jernmark upping his game, and the new four-course format, Aquavit is back on top of the Scandivian heap. Whether that appeals to all diners (pickled fish are not to everyone's taste) is up to them, but if it's been awhile, I'd say they're worth a return visit.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (11 Replies) (by sgordon, created October 2, 2011)

Yeah, we went for lunch. It was pretty good - at $28, a good deal, though not sure I'd pay $38 for it at dinner. Nice variety of herrings, though a number of them kind of blended together - too similar. The rhubarb, ramp, and rollmop herrings all pretty much tasted the same. The horseradish herring didn't have enough kick for my taste. Standout was the Matjes - a bit on the salty side, but more...+READ Yeah, we went for lunch. It was pretty good - at $28, a good deal, though not sure I'd pay $38 for it at dinner. Nice variety of herrings, though a number of them kind of blended together - too similar. The rhubarb, ramp, and rollmop herrings all pretty much tasted the same. The horseradish herring didn't have enough kick for my taste. Standout was the Matjes - a bit on the salty side, but more aggressively spiced than the others. Also there was smoked trout (excellent), gravlax (silky, delicious), meatballs (nice and moist, paired with lingonberry jam of course), Jansson's Temptation (which wasn't as good as I'd remembered it - though last time I had it there I think Samuelsson was still the chef) and a few other things. For AYCE, not bad. The desserts were pretty blah. Some strawberry cake that wouldn't have been out of place at a wedding buffet in Peoria, and a few cookies. They get you on the beverages, though - coffee was $5(!) and tea was $7(!!!)

The service was a bit brusque. Don't know if that's just the way they treat people doing the buffet (seemed like nearly everyone was doing it) but it doesn't matter, wasn't up to the standards of a place like that.

Last time we ate at Aquavit was for dinner, in the main dining room, some months ago. Service was brilliant. Food was good - some things even excellent, but after we left we couldn't really justify the price of admission. Again, add-ons were very expensive, well beyond what they were worth: $25 for an extra app, $45 for an extra entree - we went with a split app, against our better judgement given the price, but it turned out to be the best plate of the night...

Given how good Vandaag has been for a similar type of cuisine, I see no reason to go back to the dining room at Aquavit anytime soon. A meal at Vandaag costs about the same as one in the AQ bistro room, and the food is easily on the level of (and often better than) AQ's main dining room.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (6 Replies) (by sgordon, created June 18, 2011)