It couldn’t be a better time for Greg Baxtrom, a chef who’s worked at Alinea, Per Se, Atera, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Ian Rothman, formerly the horticulturist at Atera, to open Olmsted. The Prospect Heights restaurant has a 25-seat backyard garden, where the two are growing produce like asparagus, wild ginger, figs, and stinging nettles.
Fittingly, Baxtrom’s cooking draws heavily from what’s seasonal, and his spring menu includes fried fiddlehead ferns, spring-onion chawanmushi with summer truffle and lovage, grilled dogfish with rhubarb and Swiss chard, and roasted guinea hen with ramps and morels. (One dessert is cheekily named “Strawberry Sorbet With More Strawberries.”) The cocktails are similarly seasonal — like lavender with Herbs de Provence–infused bourbon — and Jeff Ruiz, another Atera alum, is overseeing the wine list and the tea offerings.
As for the space, it’s a 50-seat dining room with an additional chef’s counter and 12-seat bar. The repurposed wood used in the restaurant actually comes from Baxtrom’s family home in Chicago. Take a look:
Menu [PDF]
Olmsted, 659 Vanderbilt Ave. at Park Place, 718.552.2610
