Openings

Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Menu Takes Shape

Photo: Gourmet Live

Gourmet Live uses Red Rooster’s opening in a few weeks as an excuse to contemplate Harlem’s changing restaurant scene and reveal some of Marcus Samuelsson’s possible menu items. To the ones that were mentioned in Fall Preview (beef patties, Helga’s meatballs, and jerk catfish sandwiches) and the ones Tracy Reese loved (watermelon salad with mint and vegetables, a fruit tart, and grilled shrimp on a bed of cous cous or some such) you can now add a sandwich of lamb and pickliz (a spicy Haitin vinegar), fried chicken marinated in coconut milk and lemongrass, meatballs with apple and parsnip mash, smoked collard greens, red snapper with sour tomato broth and sesame glaze, and (though the restaurant is still looking for a mixologist) tobacco-infused bourbon, à la Tailor. A couple of days ago, Steve Cuozzo said Samuelsson’s spot was one to root for, though it will have to prove “that downtown and uptown will go really uptown to share the place with neighborhood regulars — a goal that’s eluded other brave Harlem restaurateurs.” Count us in, anyway.

Marcus Samuelsson [Gourmet Live]

Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Menu Takes Shape