Grub Street

After six years of developing personal relationships with farmers and serving their products nightly at the "farmhouse chic"Mas (farmhouse) in the West Village, Galen Zamarra was looking for a way to focus on the quality of ingredients in an even more stripped-down way. The answer, it seemed, was sizzling on the grill. "I realized I wanted to cook everything over radiant heat of coals and not open flames."

As such, the coals are now properly stoked at Mas (la grillade) and the West Village should be, too: Vegetables, fish, fowl, and even desserts are "paired" with local hardwoods and grilled. Zamarra says he's using mostly oak and apple, but with apricot wood for smoking, quince, and even dismantled old wine barrels to fuel the large open pit in the center of the kitchen. A medieval-torture-chamber-worthy array of pits, spits, and grills line the kitchen, including some 4,000-pound behemoths custom built by the Mesquite, Texas–based J&R Manufacturing. Expect Padgett Farms' grass-fed and aged tenderloin, essentially unadorned, or artichokes charred on a chapa and served with lobster mushrooms and hazelnut mayonnaise. The restaurant has 80 seats total, including bar seats and a few stools in the front that look out over Seventh Avenue South. A chimney made from Pennsylvania fieldstone is at the center of the bi-level dining room, and the white oak around behind the bar has torched with flame. Take a look at the space and the menu.

Mas (la grillade), 28 Seventh Ave. South, nr. Leroy St.; 212-255-1795

MENU
Appetizers

House Smoked and Spiced Organic Pecans $4

Wild American Hackleback Caviar $42 oz.

Whole Pit Roasted Rocambole Garlic $5

Grilled Tartines $5 each
smoked tomato and ricotta
eggplant caviar
grilled figs and goat cheese

Grilled Whole Portuguese Sardines $12

House Cured and Smoked Duck Breast
salad of grilled peaches, pickled shallots and mizuna $18

Seared Rare Tuna Nicoise Style with Marinated Anchovies $18

Charred Corn Soup, with Hen of the Woods Mushrooms
shishito peppers, lovage oil and lemon thyme $15

Wood Fired Oysters, Shiso Butter $18 1/2 doz

Vegetables Baked in the Coals
baby beets, eggplant, radicchio, peppers marinated with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar $12

Marvesta Farms Shrimp Cooked in the Coals $12

Whole Spit Roasted Quail $16

House Made Lamb Merquez Sausage (for two) $18

Charred Artichokes and Lobster Mushrooms
with hazelnut mayonnaise $14

Main Courses

Wild Striped Bass Wrapped in Zucchini
alphonso olive dressing, grilled onion leaves $26

Wild Alaskan King Salmon Smoked over Apricot Wood $28

Spit Roasted Whole Hudson Valley Squab $24

Smoke Roasted Half Violet Hill Farm Chicken $26

Pit Roasted Bodhitree Farm Acorn Squash
stuffed with pumpkin seeds, mustard greens, hen of the woods and celery root $22

Whole Rack of Lamb (for two) $48

Grilled Lobster with Drawn Butter $12 half, $24 whole

Whole Stuffed Max Creek Trout $31

Grilled Whole Fish with a Salt and Herb Rub $38 for 2, $48 for 4

Padgett Farms Grass-Fed Aged Beef
Tenderloin $45
Porterhouse $58
Ribeye $42

Grilled Flying Pigs Farm Pork Loin $28

Wood-Fired Cassoulet (for two)
White beans stewed with duck confit, smoked sausage and bacon $38

Sides

Corn on the Cob $4
Potato Baked in the Coals $6
Hen of the Woods Mushrooms $8
Brussels Sprouts a la chapa with lamb bacon $6
Smoked Potato Puree $6
Baby Fennel and Pears $5
Spaghetti Squash, chili flakes, thyme and maple $6

Desserts

Grilled Figs Marinated with Lemon Balm
chocolate financier, ricotta ice cream $14

Charred Plums Macerated with Hibiscus
brown sugar tuile, ice cream $12

Whole Baked Winsap Apple (for two)
stuffed with walnuts & figs, smoked cinnamon ice cream $18

Grilled Pear Tarte Tatin with Smoked Ice Cream $12

Selection of Local Cheeses
With house made accoutrement $12 for 3, $24 for 6

S'mores $8

House Made Ice Cream and Sorbets $4 each

Grillade Fruit Plate $12

Charred Peach Dressed with Vanilla, Creme Chantilly $10