Country and the Café at Country

[flinflon28]

http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/04/new_co...ml#comment-list

Finally the official announcement that Willis Loughhhead has taken over at Country for Doug.

He's been there since the end of last year.

I worked with him at the Bar Room at the Modern and wish him the best. Great Chef!

I leave it up to the higher-ups to determine if perhaps a new thread is in order?

[oakapple]

He proclaims on Grub Street, "We've changed everything." Based on the last meal we had there (Valentine's Day), I really wouldn't say that.

[flinflon28]

He proclaims on Grub Street, "We've changed everything." Based on the last meal we had there (Valentine's Day), I really wouldn't say that.

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That was almost two months ago. He'd also mentioned to me that he would probably revamp the Cafe menu first and gradually tackle the fine dining side second.

I will say I still haven't eaten there under either chef just visited the bar for drinks.

[flinflon28]

Nice write up on some of the new charcuterie program at Country:

http://gothamist.com/2008/05/11/willis_loughhea.php

I had the pleasure of being invited in by Willis this weekend to take what he called the "Charcuterie Challenge" in the cafe as I had been to Benoit recently and wanted to compare.

There is some EXCELLENT charcuterie being made in NYC these days and Country's is near the top. Most of the samplings were better than dishes I've had at Bar Boulud and as good as the platter currently at Benoit.

While I ended up having 3 courses of charcuterie at Country on Saturday I left feeling full but not ill as they are taking particular care to make excellent, rich dishes that aren't overpowering in their fattiness. Great balance.

Standouts were anything with lamb, the liverwurst, and some of the smoked hams.

[oakapple]

Nice write up on some of the new charcuterie program at Country:

http://gothamist.com/2008/05/11/willis_loughhea.php

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Unfortunately, Loughhead's nose-to-tail program hasn't made it upstairs, where we dined on Saturday night (review here). Appetizers were great, but entrées were snoozers, and not very well prepared at that. Edited May 13, 2008 by oakapple (log)

[Fat Guy]

I didn't pay much attention to Willis Loughhead when he was at the Bar Room at the Modern, even though it was -- from its opening until around the time he left -- one of my favorite restaurants in New York. While he was there, I just operated under the assumption that he was a sous chef overseeing Gabriel Kreuther's menu in the Bar Room kitchen. It wasn't until after Willis's departure, when I started noticing slippage at the Bar Room, that I realized he might have been more than just a sous chef. My subsequent discussions with people I trust have indicated that Willis was responsible for a significant share of the Bar Room's magic.

Still, you will find no mention of Willis in the three-star review of the Bar Room that ran in the New York Times in January of 2007. This is in part because Willis left before the review ran (though I presume the meals Frank Bruni based the review on were largely on Willis's watch) and in part because Kreuther, as the executive chef of the whole operation, gets credit and blame for whatever happens in the restaurant. Nonetheless, when you take into account the totality of the circumstances, you basically have a chef who earned three New York Times stars without ever having his name mentioned. So I'd have to say that earns Willis Loughhead the title of "Best Chef You've Never Heard Of."

The Bar Room may very well be back up to par, but I have no opinion on the matter. I haven't been back lately. But I did have the chance to visit with Willis today at Country as part of his low-key blogger-directed charm offensive. I don't think the restaurant really wants to push PR to print media, because it already holds three stars from the New York Times so a re-review has far more downside than upside potential.

I was there during the day so, after a tour of both kitchens and some discussion with Willis, I only sampled Cafe items. I tried five dishes, selected (and paid for, thanks) by Willis. Enough to get an idea of what's going on at Country. Enough to want to go back.

Anyway, here's what I tried:

That's the assortment of house-made sausages from the charcuterie section of the menu (called the "butcher block"): the light-colored fat one is pork sausage with raclette (cheese), the skinny ones are merguez (lamb) and the dark fat one is morcilla (aka blood sausage). All three were superb, and the morcilla and pork-with-raclette were the best examples of their kind I've had. There's also an arugula salad with pickled vegetables and a schmear of mustard on the plate, which is a swell looking Staub cast-iron tray. It's a lot of food, very high quality, and the retail on it is $21. One of Willis's goals is to give good value at the Cafe and, while Country will never be a cheap restaurant, I do think these dishes are very fairly priced all things considered.

This here is the hamachi crudo (raw yellowtail) served over a disc of caramelized watermelon, topped with avocado, greens and elderflower vinaigrette, and garnished with totally unnecessary out-of-season cherry tomatoes. Aside from the tomatoes, though, the dish is awesome. Excellent hamachi, and the watermelon (which is cooked under a weight on the plancha) is a real surprise. You might not even guess it was watermelon, it's so deeply caramelized and transformed by the cooking process. Actual retail price $15.

Grouper with chorizo, hearts of palm, tomato and asparagus. The winning pieces of this dish are the chorizo and the fish fumet that's the basis of the sauce. I like the combination of mild white fish and chorizo -- they used it to good effect at the Modern -- but I know from experience that this won't be everybody's favorite dish. I'd call it good not great. Fairly priced at $26.

This I thought was absolutely first rate: asparagus risotto with escargots. It's a massive portion of nice, loose, al dente risotto, served with spears of asparagus, escargots, braised endive and beef jus. This dish alone could be lunch, for $18. We chatted a little bit about the various schools of thought on risotto, and like me (my view on this has evolved over the years but this is where I am now) Willis prefers a looser, soupier texture. The rice is par-cooked before service, and finished on the pickup, but it comes out really well -- and you don't have to wait half an hour for the dish.

Finally, the Country burger, on a house-baked sesame bun (all the bread is baked in house) with pepper-and-onion relish. The remarkable thing about the hamburger is the deep beefy flavor, which comes from a huge assortment of parts of the cow being used in the mix. Country is buying whole cows from a farm in Rhinebeck, NY, using the premium cuts (filet, strip, etc.) in various dishes and grinding much of the rest into hamburger. I might prefer a coarser grind, but the flavor is great, as is the composition. It also comes with really nice, and nicely presented, fries, for a total of $18 -- note that the perspective in this photo makes the burger look way smaller than it is:

Here's Willis with some of the meats he's curing in the wine room:

And here's a really bad photo I took of the bar from a table in the Cafe. The reason I'm posting it is to give an idea of the soaring space one enjoys at Country.

[oakapple]

The Cafe at Country didn't really float my boat originally, but I'm excited by the new stuff Loughhead is doing—especially the charcuterie—and it's on my list to pay a return visit.

However, we did have dinner in the main dining room a few weeks ago (report here). The menu up there was a real snoozer, with none of the excitement Loughhead is producing in the Cafe, or that he did at the Bar Room. It was also too short a menu (not enough choices), and meat entrées were over-cooked on the Saturday night we were there.

We've been to Country four times since it opened. We love the room, and the service team is first-class — almost Danny Meyer-esque. They serve two amuses-bouches and have a petits-fours cart almost as good as Ducasse had at the Essex House. Oh, and I agree with FG about the risottos. The seafood risotto we had was a knockout.

But due to the overall lack of ambition on the upstairs menu, coupled with two entrées overcooked, we wouldn't be inclined to return to the main dining room, but for the fact that we've had so many wonderful meals there in the past. So we'll give it a few more months and then try again.

[Fat Guy]

The upstairs menu I grabbed yesterday had a pretty diverse set of offerings, with 5 starters and 11 mains (or 5 mids and 6 mains, depending on how you order). Also 4 savory courses on the tasting menu that are not replicated on the main menu. So that's 20 savory dishes, which is about right for a fine-dining restaurant of that size I think. I can't speak to the quality of the food, though.

I do think there's still a transition in progress, and that it was perhaps a tactical error to keep the restaurant running straight through the transition. Even a week-long closing could have given the kitchen team the time needed to open with a full-on redesigned and vetted menu. I think the Cafe menu is also still a work in progress, but apparently farther along than the upstairs menu.

[flinflon28]

Willis has mentioned that since he's been at Country he's focused most of his attention on the Cafe side and is only recently starting to make significant changes on the fine dining side.

It sounds like a monumental task to be running such an operation. I think there might be room service involved.

[freshherbs]

fat guy, i am sure the charcuterie plate was delicious...but at least from the picture above the presentation leaves a bit to be desired. the whole draping of sausage on sausage thing doesn't quite do it for me.

overall, were the presentations well-done?

[Fat Guy]

I thought the sausage plate was attractive enough -- the draping didn't bother me, and I really liked the schmear of mustard against the black Staub tray -- and the other dishes I tried looked nice enough to me (I guess the photos speak for themselves one way or the other).

Willis is responsible for room service and banquets as well as the two restaurants. I believe he's the executive chef of the hotel.

[Sethro]

Yeah that sausage presentation is straight out os Saw IV or something. Horrifying.

Those are some bummy looking plates in general. Looks like French Roast or something. Yay "bistro style".

Edited May 25, 2008 by Sethro (log)

[oakapple]

Willis has mentioned that since he's been at Country he's focused most of his attention on the Cafe side and is only recently starting to make significant changes on the fine dining side.

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I read that earlier, but he has now been there in excess of three months.

[Fat Guy]

A transition period of six or more months seems to me to be typical in this sort of situation, just based on what I've observed over the years. That's why I think the better move would have been to close down for a week or two, a move that significantly compresses the timeline. It's very, very difficult to transition two functioning restaurants, a catering program, a room-service program and a hotel pastry department all while you're hiring lots of new people and otherwise coping. None of that is any excuse for anything less than excellence, but it may help explain why it's still premature to draw permanent conclusions about anything at Country.

Sethro, I think that's a bit harsh. It's supposed to be a cafe. The plates in the formal dining room are, I'm sure, more formal.

[oakapple]

Does anyone know what Geoffrey Zakarian does these days? As far as I know, he doesn't have a cable TV show or a book deal, his only two restaurants are Town & Country, and he's not at retirement age. If he's not at his restaurants, then where is he?

[oakapple]

In an earlier post, I commented on what a snoozer the menu has become upstairs. Well, now the other shoe has dropped. The upstairs dining room (as we know it) will close on or about September 1st, to be replaced by a steakhouse called "Country Steak."

Geoffrey Zakarian told Grub Stree that, I've been trying to do a steakhouse concept for a while...." Methinks he protests too much.

[Fat Guy]

Willis emailed me today to say he has resigned from Country. I believe it was also reported on Eater.

[DutchMuse]

Just amazing how fast it fell apart. Didn't it have one Michelin *? I had a number of good meals there a couple of years ago; and now THIS?

[oakapple]

Just amazing how fast it fell apart.  Didn't it have one Michelin *?  I had a number of good meals there a couple of years ago; and now THIS?

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Yes, it did have a Michelin star. As I mentioned upthread, I had a meal upstairs a few months ago, after Loughhead had already been there for several months. The menu was a snoozer, and the quality was uneven. We enjoyed several great meals at Country in the past, so we were prepared to give it another chance. A first-timer might not have been so generous. I thought that Loughhead's decision to focus first on the café was a clear blunder, and perhaps an indication that he was in over his head.

What I can't assess is how much of this was Loughhead's fault. Was the dining room's decline his responsibility, or something that was happening before he came on board. Zakarian hasn't exactly been forthcoming. After Eater put Country on deathwatch, Zakarian protested that business was booming. Country Steak was announced very shortly thereafter. It clearly must have been already in the works when Zakarian made his earlier claim that the restaurant was in great shape. His explanation for the shift wasn't really believable.

[flinflon28]

It's hard to call a decison to focus on the Cafe a "clear blunder" without being privvy to all of the details surrounding the operaion.

I'll be the first to say I've worked with Willis in the past so my take maybe biased but some of my personal observations on his tenure are that the cafe was the most broken piece of the operation, probably the most inconsistant yet the revenue center of the enterprise aside from private dining which was also probably an afterthought. Fixing them was critical to the business and most likely provided the upstairs with enough funds to stay open as long as it did.

Running the Bar Room at the Modern is not the same scope as the entire hotel operation at Country but some of Willis's other ventures in Florida and at the Ritz show he certainly has the stones for the task but may not have been aware how troubled everything may have been when he went in.

I mean it's not like the previous chef had a reputation for running the tightest ship.

Front of house operations were also falling apart around the same time...can't be sure how much the chef would have to do with that.

Edited August 26, 2008 by flinflon28 (log)