Profile

Given their talent for replicating dining trends, it was only a matter of time before Tourondel and his team set their sights on the most prevalent trend of all. BLT Market, is an homage to the cult of the artisanal, the farm-raised, and the locally grown. Its venue is the Ritz-Carlton, on 59th Street, a name long associated with what the French once called “haute cuisine.” But that style has passed from the scene, and at Tourondel’s restaurant, you will find all of the totems of the new orthodoxy on display. The walls are hung with photos of the restaurant’s purveyors cuddling dirty truffles and barnyard ducks. An old plow stands by the entrance, and jars of local products (honey, lemon curd, pickled dilly beans) can be purchased at the front desk. Water is served not in carafes but in milk bottles, waiters are dressed not in tuxedos but in kitchen aprons, and on a hot day, the invigorating barnyard smell of horse dung even wafts through the room from the carriages lining Central Park, across the street. In accordance with the doctrine established by seminal Slow Food establishments like Blue Hill and Craft, Tourondel’s menu is stripped-down and seasonal, with the focus not on flowery recipes but on ingredients. To help the uninitiated navigate this newly posh Greenmarket world, “peak season” items are listed on one side of the menu. A few of these even find their way into comical specialty cocktails, like the weirdly bracing Jackrabbit (a carrot-ginger Tom Collins) and the basil-cucumber mojito. Traditionalists will be happy to know that the timeless appetizer-entrée-dessert structure of the old haute cuisine meal remains intact at BLT Market. But instead of carefully wrought foie gras canapés, diners receive a bowl of pickled vegetables before their dinner, along with an ornate version of pigs in a blanket (sprinkled with what I’m guessing is artisanal sauerkraut) and a baguette of fresh garlic bread in a paper bag, delivered to the table with a flourish by a waiter wielding silver tongs. — Adam Platt

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (10/15/07)

Featured In

• Adam Platt's Where to Eat 2009 (1/5/09)
• Where to Eat 2008 (1/7/08)
• Where to Eat 2008: Best New Restaurants of the Year (1/7/08)
• Shop Like a Chef (Preferably in His Own Store) (10/1/07)
• Restaurant Openings: Crave Ceviche Bar, Accademia di Vino, BLT Market, and Little Piggy (Market) (8/20/07)

Recipes at BLT Market

• Braised Savoy Cabbage (2008)
• Gâteau Aux Pommes With Calvados-Caramel Sauce (2007)
• Chestnut Stuffing (2007)
• Chestnut-Stuffed Guineau Hens With Rosemary-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Celery Root (2007)
• Braised Swiss Chard (2007)