Thursday, September 29, 2005
Harvest in the Square, New York's version of the Country Fair
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
On this, sweetest of days in the balmiest of Septembers in many years, some 1200 New Yorkers gathered in the white tent that sprang up overnight in the Union Square's Greenmarket plaza, to celebrate the 10th Annual Harvest in the Square, our cityites’ version of the County Fair. In an urban style, it is our expression of thanks for the bounties of the season, not forgetting its perils - remembering that Hurricanes Floyd and Isabel, smaller cousins of Katrina and Rita now torturing our southern states, caused the postponement of our Harvests on the Square in 1999 and 2003.
The host of the event, the Union Square Partnership, has dedicated the proceeds to the improvement of the park and other neighborhood initiatives. If you find this jarring, in an era of nature’s and man-made destruction, let’s keep in mind that the parents of the Partnership were the original bootstrap organizations that also sprung out of disaster. Residents and businesses of 14th Street and Union Square area, starting in 1976, pulled out of the doldrums a disaster zone of shuttered storefronts, abandoned buildings, drug dealers and dens of iniquities. The names of 14th Street/Union Square Business Improvement District and Local Development Corporation gained national and local prominence, inspiring other neighborhoods to follow suit. No neighborhood is doomed when dedicated people take a hand.
The providers of the harvest were some 45 local restaurants, paired with an equal number of wineries, to give us generous sample tastings of seasonal fare, their finest.
Upon arrival, the visitors were greeted with offers of Laurent-Perrier champagne and Vente chardonnay (or pinot noir), and canapés from Chipotle Mexican Grill (about to open its 12th Manhattan location), grilled hunks of T-bone with black truffle vinaigrette from Knickerbocker Bar and Grill, and miniature goat cheese tarts and smoked salmon aux ficelle from Ora. The guests then crowded into the big tent, with tables along the walls, food alternating with paired wines, and three huge islands with more of the same. While the more leisurely eaters took their first selections to the tables outside, along the 17th street side (noted was a group of 15 faithfuls from P.C Richards, celebrating their 95th) anniversary, with patriarch CEO Gary in charge), others just wandered from one stand to the next, cheerfully chatting and matching selections.
The offerings were enthusiastically received, as proven by our own informal annual survey. Top favorites were Malaysian style lobster profiteroles with lemon-grass glaze from Blue Water Grill, involtini di pesce spada Salmoriglio (swordfish, a protected species, tsk, tsk) from Union Square Café, and Todd English’s Olives NY pastrami baby back ribs (his black cherry ice cream float may even have been more popular).
Fleur de Sel’s gaufrettes au chocolat, which received at least two “to die for” nominations, and the chocolate caramel tart from Eleven Madison were other top deserts. Beppe’s Tuscan seven bean salad, National Arts Club’s chili, Republic’s noodle salad with a fried wonton ball. Sous-chefs crowded The Coffee Shop’s lamb carnitas and soft shell tortillas stand, interested in its poblano mola, a chocolate coffee sauce.
Soups and vegetable dishes were plentiful. Candela offered yellow bell pepper soup with basil, Devi had cauliflower pinwheel samosas with their masala soup, Sushisamba stepped forward with coups of lobster moqueca (like bouillabaisse). Enjoyable seasonal salads, many corn-based, were everywhere. Arezzo had a three-squash salad, Pure Food and Wine offered spicy Thai lettuce wraps, Galaxy Global Eatery splurged with Japanese chameh melon wheel and vegan kale cream and roe, Union Square ballroom served a Swiss chard phyllo with goat cheese and a premium, candied lady apples, while Whole Foods Market offered a wild mushroom ragout over thyme-scented pastry.
Seafood lovers had a feast, tasting Black Duck’s shrimp ceviche with plantain chips, chorizo with pickled peppers and marinated calamari from Casa Mono y Bar Jamon, City Crab’s Mid-Atlantic blue crab and corncake with tomato relish, perch-pike quenelles with crayfish coulis (sauce) from L’Express and lump crabcake mini-balls from Metrocafe & Wine Bar. All seafood items came in for special mention from satisfied customers.
Meat and poultry fanciers were not less vocal, praising Angelo & Maxie’s filet mignon sandwich with sautéed onions, Blue Smoke’s herb-marinated hanger steak corn cake and corn-cherry tomato salad included, Dos Caminos’ chipotle (smoked jalapeno) barbecued Niman (famous West Coast ranch) ribs with pickled cabbage; also sliced magret (breast) of duck with smoked peach chutney at Steak Frites, short ribs with tomato and corn salad from Strip House, and chicken tikka masala from Tamarind. Daphne Mahoney’s Blue Mahoe, formerly Bamboo, had her Jamaican jerk chicken skewers, a specialty; Gramercy Tavern featured a braised rabbit with roasted shallots, garlic sausage, vinegar and salsa verde, Duke’s served up some slo’ cooked Carolina pulled pork, corn bread and chipotle sour cream, Kitchen 22 had soy-glazed duck’s breast, soba noodles and ponzu sauce, and Lucy’s Latin Kitchen offered lamb burger pan de bono (Columbian cheese bread) with foie gras terrine.
Local coffee houses and brewers, 71 Irving Place, had rugelach for instant use and house blend coffees for home consumption, TSalon offered cups of Sunrise in Tibet and Ocean Breeze for immediate relief, ditto the famed Heartland Brewery with its pumpkin ale and root beer. Bottles of Brooklyn Brewery’s Oktoberfest, Stella Artois, Gus Soda, Izze Sparkling Juice and Fiji Water (drawn from a mid-Pacific aquifer) were there for the taking, as was espresso coffee, full-strength and decaf, from Dallis Coffee.
Now to the wines, everybody’s interest. Union Square Wines and Spirits, a Harvest stalwart, had a number of offshore varietals to offer, complementing the products of vintners and distributors paired with the restaurants. This was a year for the Rieslings, sweet to dry, with seven wineries from the Germany to the Finger Lakes, with Long Island a major player. Richter Estate, from Mosel (green bottles), the birthplace of the Riesling grape, represented the fruity, sweet Kabinett product, the Long Island (Martha Clara, Peconic Bay, and Finger Lakes (Dr Konstantin Frank, a classic, Heron Hill, Ravines Wine Cellar, a favorite) and upstate (Anthony Road, a Greenmarket familiar) represented degrees of dryness, flavorsome to thin.
Chardonnays and their relatives were around, Corey Creek, Sherwood House, Lenz Winery LI, an Italian pinot grigio from Candoni, another, a viognier from Circus (Languedoc) and a vouvray from Remy Pannier (Loire Valley), Lieb Family Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blancs form Osprey’s Dominion, Jamesport and Raphael Vineyards on LI. Ironstone Symphony, a curious California creation.
Red and pink wines were more plentiful – chianti classicos from Ruffino and Viticio, a rioja from Marquis de Riscal: red zinfandel from Francis Coppola and a pink one from Gnarly Head, all California; Long Island merlots from Paumanok, Shinn Estate and Raphael Vineyards and Peconic Bay Winery, shiraz from Razor’s Edge and a pink cabernet franc from Jamesport, LI
Some more long travelers: Nando Fragolino, an Italian sparkler; Sanchez Romate sherry from Spain, Trapiche malbec, a dry red from Argentina, a fruity white, Sella & Mosca Vermentino di Sardegna, and Momkava saki.
Thanks are due to the Partnership’s chair Eugene McGrath, and Karen Shaw, Christina Brown, Henry Choi and Joseph Tango, the Honorary Chairs Danny Meyer and Eric Petterson, Restaurant Chair Michael Romano, Wine Chair Garry Tornberg, the young professionals from New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and Joyce Appelman of Bear Dallis Associates.
On this, sweetest of days in the balmiest of Septembers in many years, some 1200 New Yorkers gathered in the white tent that sprang up overnight in the Union Square's Greenmarket plaza, to celebrate the 10th Annual Harvest in the Square, our cityites’ version of the County Fair. In an urban style, it is our expression of thanks for the bounties of the season, not forgetting its perils - remembering that Hurricanes Floyd and Isabel, smaller cousins of Katrina and Rita now torturing our southern states, caused the postponement of our Harvests on the Square in 1999 and 2003.
The host of the event, the Union Square Partnership, has dedicated the proceeds to the improvement of the park and other neighborhood initiatives. If you find this jarring, in an era of nature’s and man-made destruction, let’s keep in mind that the parents of the Partnership were the original bootstrap organizations that also sprung out of disaster. Residents and businesses of 14th Street and Union Square area, starting in 1976, pulled out of the doldrums a disaster zone of shuttered storefronts, abandoned buildings, drug dealers and dens of iniquities. The names of 14th Street/Union Square Business Improvement District and Local Development Corporation gained national and local prominence, inspiring other neighborhoods to follow suit. No neighborhood is doomed when dedicated people take a hand.
The providers of the harvest were some 45 local restaurants, paired with an equal number of wineries, to give us generous sample tastings of seasonal fare, their finest.
Upon arrival, the visitors were greeted with offers of Laurent-Perrier champagne and Vente chardonnay (or pinot noir), and canapés from Chipotle Mexican Grill (about to open its 12th Manhattan location), grilled hunks of T-bone with black truffle vinaigrette from Knickerbocker Bar and Grill, and miniature goat cheese tarts and smoked salmon aux ficelle from Ora. The guests then crowded into the big tent, with tables along the walls, food alternating with paired wines, and three huge islands with more of the same. While the more leisurely eaters took their first selections to the tables outside, along the 17th street side (noted was a group of 15 faithfuls from P.C Richards, celebrating their 95th) anniversary, with patriarch CEO Gary in charge), others just wandered from one stand to the next, cheerfully chatting and matching selections.
The offerings were enthusiastically received, as proven by our own informal annual survey. Top favorites were Malaysian style lobster profiteroles with lemon-grass glaze from Blue Water Grill, involtini di pesce spada Salmoriglio (swordfish, a protected species, tsk, tsk) from Union Square Café, and Todd English’s Olives NY pastrami baby back ribs (his black cherry ice cream float may even have been more popular).
Fleur de Sel’s gaufrettes au chocolat, which received at least two “to die for” nominations, and the chocolate caramel tart from Eleven Madison were other top deserts. Beppe’s Tuscan seven bean salad, National Arts Club’s chili, Republic’s noodle salad with a fried wonton ball. Sous-chefs crowded The Coffee Shop’s lamb carnitas and soft shell tortillas stand, interested in its poblano mola, a chocolate coffee sauce.
Soups and vegetable dishes were plentiful. Candela offered yellow bell pepper soup with basil, Devi had cauliflower pinwheel samosas with their masala soup, Sushisamba stepped forward with coups of lobster moqueca (like bouillabaisse). Enjoyable seasonal salads, many corn-based, were everywhere. Arezzo had a three-squash salad, Pure Food and Wine offered spicy Thai lettuce wraps, Galaxy Global Eatery splurged with Japanese chameh melon wheel and vegan kale cream and roe, Union Square ballroom served a Swiss chard phyllo with goat cheese and a premium, candied lady apples, while Whole Foods Market offered a wild mushroom ragout over thyme-scented pastry.
Seafood lovers had a feast, tasting Black Duck’s shrimp ceviche with plantain chips, chorizo with pickled peppers and marinated calamari from Casa Mono y Bar Jamon, City Crab’s Mid-Atlantic blue crab and corncake with tomato relish, perch-pike quenelles with crayfish coulis (sauce) from L’Express and lump crabcake mini-balls from Metrocafe & Wine Bar. All seafood items came in for special mention from satisfied customers.
Meat and poultry fanciers were not less vocal, praising Angelo & Maxie’s filet mignon sandwich with sautéed onions, Blue Smoke’s herb-marinated hanger steak corn cake and corn-cherry tomato salad included, Dos Caminos’ chipotle (smoked jalapeno) barbecued Niman (famous West Coast ranch) ribs with pickled cabbage; also sliced magret (breast) of duck with smoked peach chutney at Steak Frites, short ribs with tomato and corn salad from Strip House, and chicken tikka masala from Tamarind. Daphne Mahoney’s Blue Mahoe, formerly Bamboo, had her Jamaican jerk chicken skewers, a specialty; Gramercy Tavern featured a braised rabbit with roasted shallots, garlic sausage, vinegar and salsa verde, Duke’s served up some slo’ cooked Carolina pulled pork, corn bread and chipotle sour cream, Kitchen 22 had soy-glazed duck’s breast, soba noodles and ponzu sauce, and Lucy’s Latin Kitchen offered lamb burger pan de bono (Columbian cheese bread) with foie gras terrine.
Local coffee houses and brewers, 71 Irving Place, had rugelach for instant use and house blend coffees for home consumption, TSalon offered cups of Sunrise in Tibet and Ocean Breeze for immediate relief, ditto the famed Heartland Brewery with its pumpkin ale and root beer. Bottles of Brooklyn Brewery’s Oktoberfest, Stella Artois, Gus Soda, Izze Sparkling Juice and Fiji Water (drawn from a mid-Pacific aquifer) were there for the taking, as was espresso coffee, full-strength and decaf, from Dallis Coffee.
Now to the wines, everybody’s interest. Union Square Wines and Spirits, a Harvest stalwart, had a number of offshore varietals to offer, complementing the products of vintners and distributors paired with the restaurants. This was a year for the Rieslings, sweet to dry, with seven wineries from the Germany to the Finger Lakes, with Long Island a major player. Richter Estate, from Mosel (green bottles), the birthplace of the Riesling grape, represented the fruity, sweet Kabinett product, the Long Island (Martha Clara, Peconic Bay, and Finger Lakes (Dr Konstantin Frank, a classic, Heron Hill, Ravines Wine Cellar, a favorite) and upstate (Anthony Road, a Greenmarket familiar) represented degrees of dryness, flavorsome to thin.
Chardonnays and their relatives were around, Corey Creek, Sherwood House, Lenz Winery LI, an Italian pinot grigio from Candoni, another, a viognier from Circus (Languedoc) and a vouvray from Remy Pannier (Loire Valley), Lieb Family Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blancs form Osprey’s Dominion, Jamesport and Raphael Vineyards on LI. Ironstone Symphony, a curious California creation.
Red and pink wines were more plentiful – chianti classicos from Ruffino and Viticio, a rioja from Marquis de Riscal: red zinfandel from Francis Coppola and a pink one from Gnarly Head, all California; Long Island merlots from Paumanok, Shinn Estate and Raphael Vineyards and Peconic Bay Winery, shiraz from Razor’s Edge and a pink cabernet franc from Jamesport, LI
Some more long travelers: Nando Fragolino, an Italian sparkler; Sanchez Romate sherry from Spain, Trapiche malbec, a dry red from Argentina, a fruity white, Sella & Mosca Vermentino di Sardegna, and Momkava saki.
Thanks are due to the Partnership’s chair Eugene McGrath, and Karen Shaw, Christina Brown, Henry Choi and Joseph Tango, the Honorary Chairs Danny Meyer and Eric Petterson, Restaurant Chair Michael Romano, Wine Chair Garry Tornberg, the young professionals from New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and Joyce Appelman of Bear Dallis Associates.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 4:33 PM 
