"What a quaint, old time general store," you think, waltzing into the new BLT Market, admiring the cute bottles of $10 vinegar, $14 dollar mustard, and bright red and yellow fresh heirloom tomatoes neatly arranged on spotless blond wood shelves. Then you notice the well-dressed, affluent looking crowd chatting in the airy dining room connected to an open-air terrace overlooking Central Park, and you realize you're in the latest restaurant in Laurent Tourondel's successful BLT franchise.
You will be quick to sense Tourondel's focus is on fresh, seasonal ingredients, especially wild and locally grown items. Though every five-star chef in the city has his or her favorite local specialty purveyors, BLT Market concretely expresses this theme via the Disneyland-esque, country store décor and casual, relaxed ambiance. BLT Market's menu rotates monthly, and blackboard specials are updated weekly with first-of-the-season produce.
As you are shown to your table, you will note the tiny pot of blooming rosemary in place of the more traditional flowers, and a quaint clothespin attached to your prettily designed paper menu. A clothespin! Perhaps it's simply a prop to underscore the reality you are not in yet another slick, Manhattan restaurant space. You are in the country, the clothespin seems to say, where everything is farm fresh. These folksy touches continue with the chef's "home style" amuse bouche of upscale "pigs in a blanket," in which the bread is filled with a mix of pork and beef instead of the traditional hot dog.
Garlic bread, brought to you piping hot in its own baguette bag, sets the tone of excellent service and appetizing cuisine. Raw and confit big-eyed tuna with avocado and fresh heart of palm ($18 appetizer) was served like a composed, plated salad, beautiful to look at, quite fresh and tasty, and gone in two bites. Slightly more substantial was the basil crusted halibut with heirloom tomato water ($32) served in a very large, deep pot. By contrast, the enormous seven-pepper crusted grass fed NY strip steak ($39) was so large three people could easily make a meal of it.
Article comments
1 - Chuck Jordan
Ate here yesterday. Overpriced, disorganized and mediocre food to boot. Very disappointing at a $100, pre-tip, which believe me didn't add much to the bill) 2-person breakfast.