Posts Tagged ‘fish’
My Three-Course Indulgence at Hook
Chef Jonathan Seningen
Earlier this week, Y&H did something he hadn’t done in nearly a year: hit the gym. Summoning up whatever athlete’s pride I have left, this former cross country runner went 30 minutes on the elliptical without stopping, a solid 2.50 miles. (Don’t figure out the time per mile, I’ll just be embarrassed.)
I then went to Hook and downed a three-course lunch. I didn’t even feel bad about it.
How could I? Despite one glaring technical error, this was a solid lunch, top to bottom, all for $24 for those three courses. I instantly put Hook and executive chef Jonathan Seningen, former chef de cuisine at Oya, on my watch list for next year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide.
I started with the heirloom tomato gazpacho, a rather unusual take on the cold soup. Seningen’s version doesn’t try for an opaque, uniform texture. The look and texture of his gazpacho, I swear, reminded me of tomato placenta, the gelatinous interior of the summer fruit. It’s not a turn-off, I promise. It looks light, even refreshing. The orange-colored liquid is dappled with lump crab meat, corn kernels, and pine nuts, which provide a crunchy element here or a sweet hit there. The most pleasant spoonfuls, though, were those loaded down with lump meat, whose sweetness seemed to multiple by a factor of 20 when surrounded by that ever-so-acidic soup.
