I've eaten at the fabulous Red Rooster six times since it opened in December and I came up with 13 reasons for you to go check it out. Since I like top 10 lists, I crammed some of the reasons together to make it a neat 10.
1. Go for the warmth. What do I mean by warmth? Red Rooster is packed nightly, so there's a literal sense of warmth from the number of people crowded around the bar and seated in the main dining room. And if you go at night, you'' notice a kind of caramel glow that the copper pendants give off. The lighting complements the space and the amazing collection of art work on the walls made by artists such as Lorna Simpson and the wonderful Ming Smith. But it's not just a visual warmth the space emits; the feeling comes in the form of sounds too: Conversations and some of the best music, which leads me to the second reason to go to Red Rooster.
2. The music. I don't write much about music but I pay close attention to the tunes around me and feel strongly that good music can contribute immeasurably to a dining experience while lame sounds can throw a monkey wrench into an otherwise nice vibe. Music at Red Rooster is so good that on a few occasions I've wanted to ask my dining partners to be silent so I could fully listen to the rest of a song. I can't remember all the playlists I've listened to at the Rooster, but I've heard one of my favorite songs ever by Omar, "There's Nothing Like This" and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" and the deliciously moody "Sometimes" by Bilal and at least two classics by Joao Gilberto.
3. The food. Of course, technically, the food is the number one reason to go to Red Rooster, but in writing this list I'm thinking of the senses and what you're likely to experience when you first walk in the doors at 310 Lenox Avenue. The warmth is what you'll notice first, followed by the music and then once you're seated at the bar or in the main dining room, you will have a chance to be comforted by the delicious food that Marcus Samuelsson, Andrea Luz Berquist and the entire kitchen team produce.
4. The salmon. If you're a fish lover like me, you'll want the salmon which is light, served in a broth over mashed potatoes and a few vegetables. The first night I ate at Red Rooster I had been pigging out all week and wanted to be less of a glutton and order something sensible. The salmon was a good size, smaller than the size of my fist and delicious.
5. The collard greens. That same night, I ordered the collard greens to go with the fish and they were yummy also. These greens were different from any collards I can recollect. For starters, there was no ham hock and I could have sworn I tasted a hint of cardamom.
6. The cornbread. The cornbread is so good it's insane. It comes with two tiny cups filled with honey butter and tomato jam to spread on the bread. My favorite addition to use as a spread is another dish, the foie gras. It's actually a foie gras ganache and it is ridiculously delicious on its own and out of this world spread on the cornbread. Be warned though, if you get the cornbread and a main course and a side you probably won't have any room for dessert. You could easily make a meal out of the corn bread, foie gras, a salad and a glass of wine.
7. The chicken. There are two great chicken dishes that I have tried at Red Rooster and another that I need to eat. The lemon chicken is a treat on a cold night - a classic really, served on top of a flavorful cous cous and good to share too as the portion is large. The Mac and Greens are a take on macaroni and cheese with the addition of collards, this is a great dish to share. So far, I've been faithful to one dessert at Red Rooster, the sweet potato doughnuts. These little balls of sugar coated fried dough look like munchkins but they're 1000% better than anything Dunkin' Donuts could ever hope to produce. They're filled with a sweet potato puree and come with a tiny cup of whipped cream, perfect for dipping them into, and a cup of lemon sorbet which is an ideal palate cleanser.
8. The Chef. Restaurants open because someone has the vision and wherewithal to launch them. We have Marcus Samuelsson to thank for his foresight to bring a sophisticated, warm, cosmopolitan eatery like Red Rooster to Harlem. As the restaurant's website points out, Red Rooster honors the legendary eponymous speakeasy that existed in the early 1900s. Aside from its location, Red Rooster also pays tribute to Harlem in its employment - 80 jobs were created in the restaurant and 50 of them are filled by Harlem residents. That's called walking the talk.
9. The people watching. New Yorkers are a pretty fun bunch to look at in general, but at Red Rooster there is a really good cross-section of the city, it's eclectic and there are a lot of attractive and interesting people to look at and you might catch an occasional bold face name too. Bryant Gumbel, Charlie Rose, Thelma Golden, and the architect David Adjaye were there on the first night I ate there.
10. The water. I know this is really random, who really cares about the water in a restaurant as long as there's nothing floating in it, right? Wrong. Usually I don't even drink much or any water with my meals at a restaurant. Years ago I read that you should drink water 15 minutes before or 15 minutes after a meal but not during as supposedly it interferes with your digestive enzymes. Anyway, I also usually avoid restaurant water because it's tap water and I don't often want to spend extra for bottled water. I usually prefer to focus on the company, the meal and whatever wine I order. My curiosity about restaurant water was piqued however when I read this post about the water filtering system installed at Red Rooster. It's called Nordaq Fresh and it makes the water magnificent. The other night I ate dinner with friends at Red Rooster and insisted we order a bottle of the filtered water, they said it reminded them of water from a mountain spring.
Red Rooster Harlem 310 Lenox Avenue between 125th Street and 126th Street telephone 212-792-9001
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