February 23, 2015 It used to be that a seat at the chef’s table was exclusively a white-tablecloth and tuxedo’d-server affair, with a brow-raising pricetag in line with the formality. Sometimes, the experience lived up to the price—think restaurants like The Inn at Little Washington and 42 Grams—but in recent years great chef tables of all types have popped up across the country. James Beard winning chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette, for example, serve up family-style platters of Spanish favorites at their NYC outpost of Toro, while chef David Rosner takes guests on a farmer’s market tour through Santa Barbara before cooking their discoveries back at the Wine Cask’s chef’s counter. Want to learn a new technique? Consider a demonstration dinner at Philly’s groundbreaking COOK, an open kitchen-meets-classroom concept where every seat promises a chef’s table experience. For the full list of got-to-gos, read on. 1 of 17Yoni Nimrod for COOK COOK in PhiladelphiaWhen a standard dinner reservation won’t do, book a table at COOK, a restaurant-classroom where book signings, knife skills, canning classes, and restaurant previews are the norm. The brainchild of chef Audrey Claire, Philadelphia Magazine, and Foobooz, this intimate (there’s only 16 seats) concept brings in top culinary talent from around the city, allowing diners to learn from the chefs, watch them in action, and nosh on the results. The average dinner is five courses and runs 170 a person. Advertisement 2 of 17Drew Kent Wittler 42 Grams in ChicagoWith just two seatings a night, the eight-seat chef’s counter is akin to attending a private dinner party at a friend’s house—if that friend happened to be a two-star Michelin chef. The 18-seat restaurant, ran by chef-owner Jake Bickelhaupt and his wife Alexa, is anchored around its open kitchen, which dishes out Asian-influenced plates like peekytoe crab with blood orange and Japanese A5 wagyu with bone marrow. The prix-fixe menu runs 243 a person, including tax and tip. 3 of 17Shelter Studios Pearl Dive Oyster Palace in Washington D.C.D.C. restaurateur Jeff Black’s Pearl Dive Oyster Palace is notorious for its extra-long wait times (it only takes reservations before 7 p.m.), which makes its reservations-only chef table, a.k.a. a hush-hush way to avoid the queue, even more valuable. There’s no stuffy prix fixe here, just bites of bacon-wrapped oysters and crawfish etouffee in between chats with the chefs. Bonus: exclusive amuse-bouches and intermezzos. Advertisement 4 of 17Angie Mosier Umi in AtlantaUmi’s 23-foot white oak sushi bar is easily the best seat in the house. Celebrity elbow-rubbing is likely, though the real perk is Tokyo-born chef-co-owner Fuyuhiko Ito’s omakase menu (meaning chef’s-choice). There are three versions, but the top-tier edition, dubbed Ito-Kase, is only available at the counter. Expect six-ish courses, with dishes like scored avocado with wasabi vinaigrette and buttery black cod glazed in miso. Also: sashimi and nigiri platters bursting with live scallop, sea urchin and otoro tuna, often spiked with truffled-soy and caviar. Sushi this fresh—shipments from Japan’s legendary Tsukiji Market are flown in daily—usually requires a transpacific flight. The Ito-Kase menu is market priced, but expect to shell out roughly 175 a person.
Zahav in PhiladelphiaSavvy Philadelphians know the cure for a midweek slump awaits at the kitchen counter of chef Michael Solomonov’s Israeli hotspot, Zahav. The four-seat chef’s table is only available on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., but the 10-course tasting menu, which is constantly evolving and usually runs 180 for two, is worth the queue. On offer: seasonal, flavor-packed bites like hummus tahina with romanesco masabacha and braised lamb shanks with carrot pilaf. Counter diners are sent home with paper cranes courtesy of the chef, who also hand-delivers each dish. Advertisement 6 of 17Noah Fecks Toro in New York CityAt the chef’s table of Spanish favorite Toro, James Beard Award-winning chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette serve up family-style platters hot from the neighboring plancha—which you have a supreme view of thanks to the raised siting of the 25-seat communal table. The menu, priced at 85, 100, and 125 a person with a minimum of eight people, includes jamon iberico (sliced tableside, of course) and sandwiches of sea urchin, miso butter, and pickled mustard seeds. Expect 11 courses, plus, with the pricier menu options, a mammoth platter of paella and/or dry-aged rib eye.
The Catbird Seat in NashvilleAt Tennessee’s Catbird Seat, every restaurant-goer is seated at a chef’s table—12 seats are at banquettes overlooking the open kitchen, while a 20-seat bar surrounds chef Trevor Moran, a Noma alum, as he works his magic. The 15-course menu (115 per person with beverage pairings available) changes nightly, but it’s always innovative and delicious. Case in point: the whole-roasted, bone-in Turbot that’s finished with a hickory dashi. Advertisement 8 of 17Christian Seel The Aviary in ChicagoWhen you’re craving a cocktail with as much attention as that required for the tweezer food at the best fine dining in town, head to the kitchen table at The Aviary, the cocktail bar from culinary geniuses Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas (of Alinea fame). Here, at the four-person table overlooking the open cocktail kitchen, discover a 165-per-person prix-fixe tasting menu, complete with seven cocktails paired with snack-sized bites. Of course, these are not Don Draper’s cocktails; gadgets and techniques like infusion flasks, rotary evaporators, and liquid nitrogen are the norm. And that’s not even mentioning the some two-dozen varieties of ice. Advanced reservations are a must. Advertisement 9 of 17Linnea Paulina Photography Oxheart in HoustonThough all 31 seats at this tasting-menu-only spot have a prime view of the https://www.zjhyd.com/product/zh-sc-series/ electric water heater Suppliers open kitchen, you’ll get the most face time with James Beard Award-semifinalist Justin Yu if you opt for one of the 11 seats at the counter. Yu’s six-course menu, which also comes with a vegetarian option (both are 74 a person) and beverage pairings (45 additional), changes seasonally, but Texas ingredients always comingle with creative techniques. For proof, see Yu’s dish of smoked wild boar with pork thailande, fermented mustards and kohlrabi. .
Zahav in PhiladelphiaSavvy Philadelphians know the cure for a midweek slump awaits at the kitchen counter of chef Michael Solomonov’s Israeli hotspot, Zahav. The four-seat chef’s table is only available on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., but the 10-course tasting menu, which is constantly evolving and usually runs 180 for two, is worth the queue. On offer: seasonal, flavor-packed bites like hummus tahina with romanesco masabacha and braised lamb shanks with carrot pilaf. Counter diners are sent home with paper cranes courtesy of the chef, who also hand-delivers each dish. Advertisement 6 of 17Noah Fecks Toro in New York CityAt the chef’s table of Spanish favorite Toro, James Beard Award-winning chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonette serve up family-style platters hot from the neighboring plancha—which you have a supreme view of thanks to the raised siting of the 25-seat communal table. The menu, priced at 85, 100, and 125 a person with a minimum of eight people, includes jamon iberico (sliced tableside, of course) and sandwiches of sea urchin, miso butter, and pickled mustard seeds. Expect 11 courses, plus, with the pricier menu options, a mammoth platter of paella and/or dry-aged rib eye.
The Catbird Seat in NashvilleAt Tennessee’s Catbird Seat, every restaurant-goer is seated at a chef’s table—12 seats are at banquettes overlooking the open kitchen, while a 20-seat bar surrounds chef Trevor Moran, a Noma alum, as he works his magic. The 15-course menu (115 per person with beverage pairings available) changes nightly, but it’s always innovative and delicious. Case in point: the whole-roasted, bone-in Turbot that’s finished with a hickory dashi. Advertisement 8 of 17Christian Seel The Aviary in ChicagoWhen you’re craving a cocktail with as much attention as that required for the tweezer food at the best fine dining in town, head to the kitchen table at The Aviary, the cocktail bar from culinary geniuses Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas (of Alinea fame). Here, at the four-person table overlooking the open cocktail kitchen, discover a 165-per-person prix-fixe tasting menu, complete with seven cocktails paired with snack-sized bites. Of course, these are not Don Draper’s cocktails; gadgets and techniques like infusion flasks, rotary evaporators, and liquid nitrogen are the norm. And that’s not even mentioning the some two-dozen varieties of ice. Advanced reservations are a must. Advertisement 9 of 17Linnea Paulina Photography Oxheart in HoustonThough all 31 seats at this tasting-menu-only spot have a prime view of the https://www.zjhyd.com/product/zh-sc-series/ electric water heater Suppliers open kitchen, you’ll get the most face time with James Beard Award-semifinalist Justin Yu if you opt for one of the 11 seats at the counter. Yu’s six-course menu, which also comes with a vegetarian option (both are 74 a person) and beverage pairings (45 additional), changes seasonally, but Texas ingredients always comingle with creative techniques. For proof, see Yu’s dish of smoked wild boar with pork thailande, fermented mustards and kohlrabi. .
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