Le Pavillon · New York
Goddess of the Delicious
In this edition of The Weekend Edit, we visit Daniel Boulud’s Le Pavillon, an oasis in Manhattan’s gleaming One Vanderbilt building; meditate on one of L.A.’s cult-favorite dishes, Chi Spacca’s focaccia di recco; and obsess over ceramicist Erin Hupp’s textural plateware for the Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters in San Francisco. Plus: Miami’s beloved Fratesi Pizza pops up at Tâm Tâm, and special NYE menus at Principe, 9 Jones, and Wally’s.
Cheers!
Dec 22, 2023
Three Dishes: Le Pavillon
New York City is constantly referencing itself—a fact laid bare by the many restaurants that pay tribute to its essence. Cue Daniel Boulud, the renowned French chef and fixture of Manhattan’s dining scene for more than 40 years. For his latest venture in the splashy One Vanderbilt tower, Boulud chose the name Le Pavillon, resurrecting a vestige of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
An iconic locale, the original Le Pavillon went on to define French cuisine in the city. Boulud pays homage to that legacy, fusing the classic and the contemporary. Designed by Isay Weinfeld, the soaring windows, sculptural glass chandelier, and 20-foot olive trees are nothing short of transportive. The menu includes charred octopus with Bang Island mussels and squid in saffron with cherry tomatoes and kimchi; Kaluga caviar–studded Norwegian salmon; and butter-poached Maine lobster with tonka bean chestnut puree.
Below, three more standout dishes to try.
Huitre (Oysters) “Vanderbilt”
John's River oyster gratinées, hazelnut, parsley-seaweed crust.Alba White Truffles
Acquerello risotto topped with 60-month parmigiano-reggiano and Piedmont hazelnuts.
Alba White Truffles
Acquerello risotto topped with 60-month parmigiano-reggiano and Piedmont hazelnuts.
Canard (Duck) Prune
Roasted Long Island duck breast served with beach plum, badger flame beets, pak choi, sauce civet.
Love Letter: Chi Spacca’s Focaccia di Recco
If the best thin-crust white pizza imaginable spawned a love child with traditional focaccia, it would taste something like Chef Nancy Silverton’s focaccia di recco. The pride of her Michelin-Green-Starred L.A. restaurant, Chi Spacca, the crunchy, cheese-oozing revelation is the culmination of two years of toothsome research by Silverton and Chef Chad Colby. It was well worth the toil.
Unlike the thick, bready-style focaccia from Italy’s Liguria region, Silverton’s take draws inspiration from Recco, a hilltop town in Genoa—a crispier version as whisper-thin as matzo flatbread. The dish went through hundreds of iterations before it was deemed worthy of its place on the menu.
The unleavened wonder is lavished with olive oil and filled with a salted, fermented mozzarella reminiscent of the creamy, aged stracchino typical of Recco. It’s cooked to perfection in a scorching deck oven atop heavy-gage baking steel. (After tasting the transcendent focaccia at Recco’s old-school tavern, Manuelina, Silverton ordered the restaurant’s Piedmont-crafted pans for Chi Spacca.)
That all tracks for L.A.’s ‘Goddess of the Delicious’, the bearer of titles such as James Beard Outstanding Chef and Food & Wine’s Best New Chef collected over the course of a heralded career filled with prestigious nods. Perhaps the highest honor? Local foodies will tell you this focaccia di recco is one of the top tastes in the City of Angels.
Meet The Makers: Erin Hupp
The Oakland-based ceramicist imbues plateware with organic and sensorial qualities for restaurants such as Pasta Bar and Hilda and Jesse. Here, she tells us about her minimalist collections for San Francisco’s Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters.
Design inspiration:
I use textured surfaces and glazes that invite guests to touch my ceramics and interact with the plate or bowl holding their meal. My inspiration is texture: natural oak bark, colorful eucalyptus tree trunks, and caked mud on my hikes in the Redwoods, and food like tuile or frothed cream.
Piece you wish you could take home:
My latest collection for the restaurant includes Alabaster ribbed broth cups and an accompanying ribbed pourer. I was so fond of how they turned out that I made a separate set for my home. At the restaurant, Chef Harrison presents them tableside atop handmade wooden trays made by local maker Morlock Woodworks for a special welcome drink.
Word of Mouth: Holiday Edition
Dorsia World happenings.
Ella Funt Presents: Christmas Eve
Join the theatrical neo-bistro’s convivial Xmas Eve celebration with a special five-course tasting menu crafted by Ella Funt’s culinary team. Highlights include the fan-favorite raviolo and filet mignon with black garlic bordelaise sauce.
Members-Only Menu at Principe
Still looking for NYE plans? The artful raw bar in SoHo is offering up a seafood and pasta-driven tasting menu exclusively for Dorsia members.
Newsstand
This week’s roundup of food-world headlines.
🍗 Simon Kim and Gracious Hospitality Management’s new fried chicken concept, COQODAQ, opens in New York next month.
📈 Girl dinner, Grimace shakes, and BORGs—Bon Appetit publishes a timeline of the internet’s favorite food trends of 2023.
💁♂️ Rich Torrisi dons the cover of Haute Living.
🍧 The metal coupe glass is all the rage at restaurants, ice cream shops, and on aesthetically minded Instagram tablescapes.
🏙️ Air Mail takes readers inside New York City private members club Casa Cruz.
🍴The Michelin Guide catalogs some of the most anticipated restaurant openings for 2024.
New on Dorsia
Book a reservation at these fresh arrivals.
West Village, New York
9 Jones
Swanky British-inspired supper club.
Hampstead, London
INÉ by Taku
Japanese mastery meets French elegance
East Village, New York
Momofuku Noodle Bar East Village
Chef David Chang’s trailblazing ramen shop
Lower East Side, New York
Sake No Hana
Japanese classics, New York point of view
Lower East Side, New York
Silver Lining Lounge
Stylish lounge with nightly live performances
Buena Vista, Miami
Walrus Rodeo
Wood-fired whimsy from the Boia De team
Fun Fact
Feast of the Seven Fishes
Los Angeles
The meatless Italian tradition on Christmas Eve commemorates the birth of baby Jesus.
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