A new American Small Plate Cuisine

WHILE walking along busy Queen’s Boulevard in Sunnyside, where my daughter Patricia lives, Salt & Fat Restaurant captured our attention. Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Queens connecting Midtown Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge. On the look out for an interesting place to dine in the Sunnyside neighborhood, our curiosity found us inside the small but impressive restaurant. The name Salt & Fat at first glance evokes concern for health buffs because these are deemed to be unhealthy stuff. Nevertheless, these very words enticed us to check out the cuisine it offers. As soon as we took our seats, amuse bouche of popcorn flavored with bacon fat in brown paper bags, instead of the usual bread basket, welcomed us. The one-page menu started from the lightest to the heaviest, from salads to appetizers that were as good as entrees to the main courses. The name Salt & Fat, according to the young Korean Chef David Yi just took his fancy. Chef Yi has been cooking out of necessity as a child growing up in Sunnyside with both his parents working full time. He discovered he loved cooking and enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan where he also honed his cooking skills by working with highly accomplished chefs. His Korean roots, somehow enhance the flavor of what is known as the globally influenced New American Small Plate Cuisine.

My daughter Patricia, with Kids Silvian and Sabrina in tow, was impressed with the menu. Patricia has become a connoisseur with her culinary exposure to one of the world’s great chefs Daniel Boulud. After all, she has been in his employ for the last six years. Our friend Marivir and I browsed through the menu. The beverage included Boylan sodas, American gourmet soft drink that uses cane sugar in lieu of the high fructose corn syrup. (Somehow it removes part of the guilt from drinking soda.) They came in fruity flavors like black cherry, ginger, crème, orange crème and several more. Dinner was actually a treat for Marivir Auxilio, who recently celebrated her birthday. We happily agreed to share our choices, which started with Scallops with roasted carrot puree, truffled corn salsa and capers. The scallops were huge, plump and juicy. A signature dish, Oxtail Terrine, which looked like a meat brownie, sat on a roasted oyster and honshimeji mushrooms and caramel onion puree. A laborious dish, the oxtail is braised in umami broth, pulling meat from bones, pressed into blocks overnight and seared before serving. It was crisp outside and meaty inside. It was gloriously delicious! For Sabrina, Patricia chose the Pappardale Pasta with asparagus, mushrooms, English peas and slow cooked egg. The Grilled Cuttlefish with Tasso Ham broth, beans and roasted peppers followed. A thin crosswise slice of lotus root fried to a crisp garnished the succulent cuttlefish. Tasso ham is a spicy, peppery ham considered a specialty in South Louisiana. By this time, we were all raving about the cuisine, which was neither salty nor fatty at all! The Striped Bass with plum sake soy, Chinese broccoli and silky tofu added more expletives to our satisfied palates. The heaviest dish came at the last–Pork Chop that lay on a bed of pea shoots and chicken skin jus. The slice was so thick; it must have taken a while to cook this. The delay caused our appetites to shut down so we ended up taking the pork chops home. We all enjoyed this new American Cuisine on small plates. And true to the Michelin 2012 Bib Gourmand Rating, Salt & Fat, has the best hidden culinary value the city has to offer.