Restaurant reviews: Betony, NYC
Soaring ceilings and a very lively spot
Open just over a year, Betony is in a swish location in New York City, on West 57th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenue. It has an equally swish pedigree. Chef Bryce Shuman and general manager Eamon Rockey, colleagues at the famed Eleven Madison Park, teamed up to create this new eatery and the style is reminiscent of that restaurant’s previous approach to food, before it moved to purely a tasting menu.
As is the case with many a hip new restaurant in this amazing city, it’s not easy to get a table. Desperate to write her own restaurant review, Greedy Girl was happy to take what she could get and we were required to be seated early. The sun was still blazing outside but the interior of Betony is dark, atmospheric and glamorous. The restaurant used to be called Cafe Pushkin and while the Russian owner is still involved, only the velvet banquette seats remain from the original fitout. It’s worth a trip to the bar just to see the amazing pressed ceiling.
Settling in with a bottle of L’ouverture Champagne Savart, a 100 per cent pinot noir, we were taken through the menu options by our delightful Argentine waiter Henry. Essentially there are four columns on the menu – snacks, appetisers, entrees and desserts. You create your own menu by making a choice in each column. The hard thing was making a choice.
Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband were recommended to visit Betony by another Eleven Madison Park alumnus, our friend Rob who is now back in his native London as general manager of Avenue, St James. Rob was our sommelier at EMP both times we visited in 2011. He said Betony was so good, he ate there twice in a week. Not that we’re trying to trump that, but we ended up going there two nights in a row. It was just that good.
But Greedy Girl is getting ahead of herself. On our first visit we started with a dish she had salivated over, just from the description – foie gras bonbons with cashews and black pepper. The original version of this blog had Greedy Girl’s own photography but she sent out an SOS to the restaurant after deciding they just weren’t doing the food any justice. The dining room was just too dark. Anyway, back to the food. These bonbons are a serious yum. Beautiful little balls of soft foie gras are rolled in crushed cashews. One merely dips them into the rock salt and the black pepper on the plate and pops them into the mouth. So good, it was hard for Greedy Girl to share.
The amazing foie gras and cashew nut bonbons
Gluttonous husband chose the lobster roll with creme fraiche. These crispy little rolled parcels were utterly delightful. They cracked in the mouth and oozed forth their light, smooth filling. Another amazing starter.
Lobster roll with creme fraiche
A little amuse bouche/palate cleanser of a mushroom jelly with some edible flowers was offered before our appetisers. Next up for gluttonous husband was seared foie gras. This was, again, soft perfection. While gluttonous husband is happy to eat foie gras in whatever form, there’s no doubt that a slight crust from being seared in a hot pan adds to its lusciousness. The slightly crunchy kale garnish was a lovely counterpoint and gluttonous husband mopped up every skerrick of the sauce – a consomme of pork hock.
Greedy Girl took the ham hock tagliatelle with hen’s egg. This was beautifully presented; the poached egg was split open at the table to ooze its vivid yolk throughout the dish. If Greedy Girl had the slightest quibble, she didn’t feel there was quite enough of the ham hock, having left gluttonous husband just a tiny taste. It was certainly the most glamorous ‘carbonara’ Greedy Girl has ever tasted.
And so to ‘main courses’. Greedy Girl chose the beef short rib with artichokes and lovage. This was a generous serving of soft beef with the braised short rib on the side. The beef was cooked rare and was perfectly tender and delicious, but the short rib was the star of the show. Apparently it’s cooked sous vide for two days before being finished on a charcoal grill – which gives it that amazing dark coating. Yum.
Beef short rib with artichokes and lovage
Gluttonous husband chose the black bass with saffron and fennel. This was an amazing dish. The skin was not crispy but it just melted into the sauce. It had been poached for a long time and the texture was incredible. Gluttonous husband commented he thought the fennel went extremely well with the fish.
And so it was time for dessert. We shared the chocolate with bergamot and olive oil. Not outrageously chocolatey but a very lovely dessert that was not too sweet.
Having already secured our table for the following night, we said we wouldn’t take the petits fours, but our lovely Henry would have none of that, bringing over a complimentary selection as well as some beautiful Japanese green tea. From right to left on the petits fours board, there was a rosewater and frozen pistachio cream macaron, strawberry and black pepper taffy and a sour cherry and coconut truffle. As well as two lovely pieces of an amazingly light honeycomb.
Groaning, we headed out the door but in no time at all, we were back. This time, Henry recommended a bottle of Pierre Gimonnet et Fils Brut, regarded as one of the greatest of the chardonnay champagnes. It was truly delightful. We promised to not repeat dishes, but Greedy Girl just had to take the foie gras bonbons again. Her unshakeable conviction though, that this was the best dish on the entire menu was about to be shaken. Gluttonous husband chose chicken mousse served on ‘crackling’. The lightest, whipped chicken liver mousse was combined with sweet onions, atop the thinnest piece of crackling you could ever hope for. Greedy Girl was torn; could this dish be even better than the bonbons? It was a line ball. Both are worth the price of admission alone.
Greedy Girl was determined not to have an appetiser on her second sojourn. Hah. Henry suggested she try the monkfish and she folded faster than Superman on laundry day. The fish has been brined in beet juice before poaching; this is served with beet ‘raisins’ – dehydrated beets, basically, interspersed with beef short rib, which has also been dehydrated. Greedy Girl usually despises beetroot but this was a mellow dish.
Gluttonous husband was in heaven; his next dish was pig’s head terrine. This is arguably one of the most tasty, luscious terrines we’ve ever tasted. It was paired with mustard and a salsa verde. So rich, so good.
Before our mains came out, dear Henry offered us another treat. Greedy Girl had said she wasn’t a fan of fava beans (Australians and others may refer to these as broad beans). He suggested the salad would change her mind. The leaves concealed a bed of fava beans and strawberries and were topped with dehydrated milk (the white, crispy elements) which just melted in the mouth. It was fresh, vibrant and made the tastebuds zing.
Next up for Greedy Girl was the poached lobster. This was just heavenly. Underneath a little salad featuring asparagus, was a lobster tail poached to perfection. Lobster meat is exceedingly rich but this managed to make the dish taste almost light. Almost.
Gluttonous husband had the skate with green curry sauce. This was served with a cucumber salad on top of the fish and gluttonous husband pronounced it a very good dish. Greedy Girl, who tries to limit her exposure to coconut milk, tried the dish and thought it very tasty but was glad she didn’t try to consume such a large portion on her own.
We asked Henry for a recommendation on dessert. He said the two standout desserts were the apricot with goats cheese and cardamom and the butterscotch. We thought the apricot would be lighter, so plumped for that. The apricot was absolutely delicious and the goats cheese set off the flavours very well; gluttonous husband could discern the cardamom but Greedy Girl’s palate may have gone into overload by that point. Especially as …
Henry could tell we were undernourished, so he sent out the butterscotch dessert as well, which featured a wonderful hazelnut crunch and a sauce made from a shot of Islay scotch. This was an utter revelation for Greedy Girl who is not fond of butterscotch and doesn’t drink whisky. She could have done a gluttonous husband and hoovered the lot.
It was almost time for us to go and we bid a sad farewell to the team who all came by to introduce themselves, including the chef himself and the head sommelier who had been wine tasting in Melbourne’s Yarra Valley and enjoyed a night out at Easy Tiger in Collingwood! Small world. It was a delightful treat.
Chef Bryce Shuman
With this level of cooking and such exceptional service, there’s no doubt Betony will soon go the way of its alma mater, Eleven Madison Park, and prove extremely hard to get a booking at. Get in while you can.
With thanks to Betony for providing the pictures used in this blog, including the food shots by Signe Birck and the interior at the top of this blog by Francesco Tonelli.
Betony
41 W57th Street, New York City
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