food comas

NoMad

Chef: Daniel Humm
Cuisine: New American
Neighborhood: Gramercy
Price: Snacks $9-16; Appetizers $16-24; Mains $20-37
Phone: 212-796-1500
Address: 1170 Broadway, NY, NY 10001

The NoMad is a culinary project at the NoMad hotel brought to us by restauranteur Will Guidara and Chef Daniel Humm (of Eleven Madison Park fame). The restaurant is a combination of several dining rooms and a bar, all with a distinct personality and all serving delicious fare, innovative cocktails, and wines from around the world. I was lucky to be able to snag one of the tables at the Atrium, the central room with natural light streaming from the glass ceiling. I was also a fan of the library, which was very intricately curated to reflect the distinguished but not-too-stuffy feel of a library (one you can also eat at!). The Library serves only little bites and drinks, not the full menu, but you get to enjoy them in an ambiance of leather-bound chairs, rich mahogany, and vintage books. The bar was also very thoughtfully designed, with a central communal table around which guests can stand, but which has plenty of purse hooks and a step-up platform where it’s more comfortable to stand (might be random things to care about, but very guest-friendly).

The menu at NoMad serves up similarly-styled food as Eleven Madison Park, with a strong emphasis on presentation, flavor and variety, but it is served à la carte and thus is more affordable (although you can definitely go up the price scale if you wish). My friends and I shared several appetizers and mains: the pastas lend themselves to sharing better than some other dishes, but overall the whole menu can be consumed family style. One of my favorite details was actually the choice of dinnerware — not white like most other restaurants, but earth tones and grays, with a grainy texture that was a balance between upscale but still approachable.

Bread
A very strong start to the meal, this zucchini focaccia was warm and buttery goodness.

Fruits de Mer – le grand plateau – Beau Soleil oysters, hamachi, sea urchin panna cotta, crab, lobster, scallop ceviche
All of these little bites were fun to try, with some standouts like the sea urchin panna cotta (Jen, you’d love this) and lobster.

Tomato – marinated with nectarines, ricotta salata and almonds
I love heirloom tomato season and you can’t go wrong pairing tomatoes with a soft cheese like ricotta

Tagliatelle – king crab, meyer lemon, and black pepper

Egg – poached with ham, corn , and tarragon
I always get the poached egg dish at any restaurant I try, and while this one does not stand out, it was solid

Lobster – minestrone with fava beans, lemon verbena and garganelli
Amazing lobster dish, paired so well with the citrus flavors

Roast Chicken for Two – foie gras, black truffle, brioche
The presentation and sheer volume of food on this dish made it a highlight. To be honest though, the breast was a bit too dry and my favorite part was the mixture of the dark meat with truffles and other mushrooms.

Desserts