Website: public-nyc.com
Last Visited: August 2006
I fell in love with food in New York City. It was late summer 2006 and a friend in Manhattan was showing me around the town. I spent a long weekend seeing the sights by day and exploring the culinary scene by night. The cocktails. The world-renowned wine cellar at
Veritas (www.veritas-nyc.com). The street food. The pizza. And my all-time favourite, Public.
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| Public's kangaroo |
Here's what I devoured:
Grilled kangaroo on a coriander falafel with lemon tahini sauce and green pepper relish
Pan-seared Tasmanian sea trout with carrot-cardamom puree and braised fennel
My inner monologue during the first course went pretty much something like this: I'm eating a kangaroo. That's pretty cruel because kangaroos adorable. This is delicious. The meat is so tender that it's melting on my tongue. Green pepper relish, that's different. The relish is really clean after the gamey meat. The three textures work well together: chewy falafel, tender rare kangaroo, delicately chopped relish. I'm eating kangaroo!
I have loved cooking since I was allowed to touch the stove. I have loved eating since I tasted my first strawberry pie at the tender age of one year old. But my blossoming love for food is about so much more than cooking and eating: it's about knowing ingredients (for example, what pairs well with kangaroo), learning and appreciating technique, watching trends in cooking and plating, and following the larger-than-life personalities of the world's best chefs.
I was expecting big things from the sea trout because I know a little something about fish. Living on the West Coast of Canada I have access to some very fresh seafood. Before the dish came to the table I had some pressure points in mind: The skin should be crispy. The fish should flake perfectly with a fork. I like trout served rare (or at most medium rare) with a nice bold pink colour inside, but the fish should not be at all gelatinous. Here are the two best things about Public's sea trout: the skin was beautifully crispy (can you say butter?) while the carrot-cardamon puree and braised fennel both added an exotic sweetness. A tartar sauce over the top of the trout fulfilled the third part of the culinary quartet: sweet, salt, acid, crunch. Executive Chef Brad Farmerie is a master at sourcing fresh ingredients, with a particular emphasis on Australia and New Zealand produce.
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| Public Restaurant |
Library lovers will enjoy the old card catalogue drawers that decorate some of Public's more intimate nooks. The restaurant accentuates its academic theme by presenting its menus in typewriter font on clipboards. There is also a 20-seat wine bar, the Monday Room, within the restaurant where dishes are paired with wine selections.
Public was awarded a Michelin star for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. With that honour comes a big drawback: everyone in Manhattan wants to eat there. The tables are so close together that you're basically going to learn all the deepest secrets of the diners next to you. Also, if you are a normal-sized person (as opposed to a supermodel) there's no way you're squeezing through the six inches of clearance between your table and the next one. Anyone wanting to sit with their back to the wall should be prepared for the hostess to drag the table out before they can be seated.
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