Empellon

I was in New York recently where I embarked on an eating expedition with my intrepid friend, the fabulous Daisy Bow. Together we ate a number of delicious things that I will write about later. Right now, I want to talk about a restaurant I visited on my own: Empellon, in midtown Manhattan. 

Empellon is one of five Mexican-inspired restaurants by former pastry chef Alex Stupak. I dined at Stupak's 4th Street Taqueria in 2015, and had been pretty pleased with the food. In reading back over that post, I discovered that I had tasted one of today's dishes in the past. Was it as good as it was 7 years ago? Read on, friends, read on.

After eating mostly inexpensive comestibles over my last few trips to NY, I thought I might treat myself to something pricier. Several of the most memorable meals I've eaten in New York were at high end restaurants--Babbo in 2004, A Voce in 2012, The Bar Room at The Modern in 2011, and Le Bernardin in 2014. In each case, while the food was very good (excellent at times), the service was exceptional. And that was truly what made each meal magical. Rather than magical, my meal at Empellon was meh.

The $42 3-course prix fixe menu sounded good to me, and I started with the "lobster salad with chilled masa savarin." The salad incurred an upcharge of $4 but this was a splurge so I splurged. I'm not sure if there was a mistake on the menu, or if the kitchen doesn't know what a "savarin" is, but what I received was not a ring-shaped, booze-soaked, yeasted cake. It had more of a custard-like texture. Perhaps it was actually a sabayon, firmed up with gelatin (in which case it was no longer a sabayon)? Or a type of savory flan? In any case, it was ring-shaped, and it was flavored with masa. The center of the ring contained a spicy sauce of unknown origin. And around the mysterious custard-like object were corn kernels, slices of not particularly spicy capsicums, raw onion, and nuggets of lobster. On the whole, it was a tasty dish, though it was a tad overseasoned.

On the opposite end of the spectrum were the pastrami tacos with sauerkraut and mustard seed salsa. Back in 2015, I bartered one of my brussels sprout tacos for one of my husband's pastrami-filled ones and was delighted by the flavors. This time, not so much. The beef was tough and underseasoned, the sauerkraut was barely tangy, much less sour, and the mustard seed salsa provided nothing but texture. The meat in the second taco had a bit of fat, which made it more palatable, but the dish was pretty bland overall. Where was the peppercorn-and-coriander hit from the meat? Why was soggy cabbage considered sauerkraut? Why was this dish more sad than clever?

And here I must ding the service at Empellon. Generally, at a restaurant with these prices where food is not served family-style, I expect courses to arrive serially. However, I was about 2/3 of the way through my lobster salad when a runner appeared with my tacos. This put me in the position of having to decide between finishing my lobster dish before starting my tacos, as god intended, or to start on the tacos so they wouldn't get cold. But that might signal the wait staff to attempt to wrest my unfinished lobster away, which would earn them a literal slap on the wrist. Meanwhile, my waiter or captain or whatever one calls them these days (they do not serve, they merely take orders), was standing off to the side, gazing upon the dining room as might an overlord. Did he notice that my entree course was fired too soon? Did he care? I know he knew I wasn't dining on an expense account and may well have been...a tourist! (horrors!) but I think he could have been more solicitous. 

For dessert, which came at the proper time, I had the sour cherry flan with chicory caramel and a cup of decaf. The flan was fine. Not as good as my friend Melinda's flan, but then nobody's is. I enjoyed the sour cherry topping, but couldn't really pick out the chicory in the sauce. But it was fine. 

When he presented the check, I noticed that Mon Capitaine did not charge me for the coffee. He nodded when I pointed out his omission, rather than thank me. Which would have been below his station. 

Positives about the meal: the dining room was full of natural light and the seating was comfortable. The portion size was just right for someone not planning to eat again for the rest of the day (like me), but I imagine the 3-course lunch might be a bit much for someone going back to the office. The lobster was perfectly cooked, the tortillas were sturdy and didn't disintegrate under the weight of the generous portion of meat, and the cherry flavor of the flan was quite nice. But still--a solid meh.

It's less-than-perfect meals like these, however, that really allow me to appreciate an exemplary one. Or even just a good one. 

Empellon
510 Madison Avenue, 

New York, NY 10022 

(212) 380-1215

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Posted on Minxeats.com.

Dining in NY - Empellon Taqueria

I am kinda fascinated that a well-regarded pastry chef like Alex Stupak can suddenly decide to dump the sugarwork and start making tacos and moles. Apparently, working with fondant wasn't his true calling; in a recent tv interview, he said he was forced into the job. Today, he's got three restaurants in NY, all in a Mexican vein: Empellon Cucina, Empellon El Pastor, and the one we visited, Empellon Taqueria.  I say a Mexican "vein," because while the menu is full of tacos and such, Stupak isn't religious about authenticity. That's fine, because what he creates with the building blocks of Mexican cuisine is pretty tasty.

The menu states, in all caps, "Empellon strongly discourages the use of cell phones, unless you're posting food porn on Instagram. #Empellon." It would be much easier to post food porn had the restaurant not dimmed the lights several times during the course of our meal. So, sorry for the crappy pics. By the time we received the queso fundido, it was pretty damn dark in the restaurant.

The three of us (Mr Minx, our friend David, and I) started out with a couple of cocktails, a ¿Porque No? and a Spicy Cucumber margarita. Both are made with blanco tequila and a hint of spice; one flavored with pineapple and the other drink with cucumber. I think I preferred the spicy cucumber, and I don't ordinarily enjoy cucumber in a cocktail. Despite the jalapeno tincture, the cocktail was more herbal and refreshing than spicy.

¿Porque no? with Cimarron Blanco tequila, pineapple, cilantrom serrano tincture.  Mr Minx had the spicy cucumber margarita, made with Pueblo Viejo Blanco tequila, fresh cucumber, jalapeno tincture, and chile salt.

With our cocktails we enjoyed a bowl of chunky guacamole and chips, accompanied by two of the restaurants seven salsas--a creamy smoked cashew and a spicy puree featuring chiles de arbol. Between the three items, we had a nice palette of spicy and creamy flavors to ease our palates into the meal.

Guacamole with two salsas, smoked cashew (front) and arbol (back left)

I personally wanted to go vegetarian that night, so we started with an order of celery root with toasted peanuts. Garnished with celery leaves, the dish was a south of the border interpretation of the celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter most of us enjoyed as children. The celery root was lightly cooked to tenderness and topped with something the menu called salsa macha. Originating from Veracruz, salsa macha is commonly a thick oily sauce made with chiles and peanuts (or other nuts) vaguely reminiscent of the chile oil one finds at Chinese dim sum restaurants. The sauce in this dish seemed closer to a Thai peanut sauce, as it was lighter in color, and not particularly hot. Nevertheless, the components together made for a tasty dish.

Celery root, toasted peanuts, salsa macha

We tried three types of tacos between us. I went for the Brussels sprouts version, served with an almond sauce and toasted almonds. The small sprouts were decidedly meaty and a surprisingly good filling for a corn tortilla.

Brussels sprouts, toasted almonds, almendrado

David ordered the chicken tacos, which he said were excellent.

Chicken, black kale, crema, salsa verde 

And Mr Minx got the short rib pastrami tacos. As I said earlier, Stupak isn't all that concerned with authenticity, and if it works as well and is delicious as this, who needs it?  These tacos were like a classic pastrami sandwiches, mustard and all, but in taco form. Which leads me to wonder - what can't be served as a taco?

Shortrib pastrami, pickled cabbage, mustard seed salsa

Still feeling a bit peckish, we ordered the queso fundido topped with black trumpet mushrooms and guaje seeds (guaje is an inedible pod that produces seeds not unlike pumpkin seeds). The rich chihuahua cheese and delicate mushrooms worked equally well scooped onto tortilla chips as on the accompanying flour tortillas.

While I wasn't so crazy about the continually dimming lights and the din that escalated as more young and pretty patrons arrived, I was glad to have had the opportunity to taste Alex Stupak's Mexican stylings. Everything we tried was delicious, and I look forward to checking them out again.

Empellon Taqueria
230 West 4th Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 367-0999



Posted on Minxeats.com.