The NoMad

The town is abuzz about the NoMad.  The hotel is around the corner from the hopping Ace Hotel that has basically transformed a neighborhood.  No doubt that two years from now many of the importer/exporters that consume the shops on 25-29 between Broadway and Sixth will cease to exist and hip new stores will appear. 

The NoMad hotel is chic, swanky and very cool.  It is for the hipster with a little more money to spend.  I'd be curious to take a peek at the rooms.  The restaurant has a bunch of different rooms, each with a little different from vibe to lighting to seating...but all very cool. 

We sat in the "bar".  The restaurant is the second for Daniel Humm and Will Guidara who now the proud owners of 11 Madison.  The food is not as precious as the presentations at 11 Madison but it is absolutely delicious.  We began with the radishes.  We split all the appetizers and just shared for our mains.

In the summer I love serving local radishes with a little bit of salt and whipped butter on the side.  Here they took the radish and coated it thinly with a sweet butter and a little salt on the side.  Brilliant.  A total wow.

The bread is not just a few slices each but a flat loaf with caramelized onions on top for all of us to share.  Light, tasty and a nice touch.

Asparagus with a creamy mustard sauce with small pieces of mustard seed and a slow poached egg over the top.  The combination of flavors mixed with the egg was divine.

I ordered the carrots from the entree section for us to split as an appetizer.  Oven roasted carrots infused with  cumin and wheatberries mixed into the dish and just to add a little punch crispy duck skin too.  Delicious.  The carrots were so sweet and the wheatberries were the perfect compliment of crunch to the duck skin.

Tagliatelle with big chunks of crab meat, meyer lemon, black pepper and more than likely a touch of cream.  Nice to see a pasta on the menu to mix it up. 

The mains were a dog fight so we all ended up just eating off each others plates.  I went with the duck.  A few pieces of perfectly roasted duck accompanied with roasted apples, dandelion greens and I think some type of mashed root vegetable.  The spice here was vadouvan which is like an Indian curry that met the French along the way.  Perfectly balanced.

Suckling pig.  A fave.  Crispy pieces of skin cut in squares over a pork confit mixed with dried apricots and wild onions.  Another winner.

Ok the coup de grace is the chicken.  Here is what it looks like before they serve it.  Don't you just want to dig in?

Then they bring two people a plate with the breast and the dark meat is cut up and mixed with some small pieces of brioche and put in a side dish.  The chicken is stuffed with foie gras, black truffles and broiche.  Out of this world. 

Dessert...bring it on.  Milk & Honey.  Small pieces of shortbread and honey brittle choped up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream over the top. 

Peanut butter filled chocolate bar with tiny pieces of caramel popcorn on the side.  You truly can not go wrong here.

Lemon custard topped with tiny pieces of salt with an almond shortbread and whipped ricotta.  Seriously lemony and tart.  I loved it.

What a great place.  Wonderful service, delicious food, and a very cool vibe.  We roamed the rooms after dinner.  Definitely going back.  Thumbs up!