Town’s Glazed Duck Steak Is ‘Whacked’Geoffrey Zakarian, at both Town and Country, remains one of city’s most eclectic haute-cuisine chefs, as evidenced by Town’s globalist roast duck breast. “I wanted to make a very slight nod to duck l’orange meeting Peking duck,” says the chef, “but with Middle Eastern flavor elements as well,” including a buckwheat pilaf close to the ethnically Armenian chef’s heart. As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Eighty One’s Off-the-Bone Osso Buco Requires Grits to Clean It UpChef Ed Brown’s new restaurant, Eighty One, hasn’t been open long, but, along with the recently opened Dovetail and South Gate, it’s helping to lead a mini-renaissance of ambitious fine-dining restaurants in New York. One of the most popular dishes on the opening menu, according to Brown, is a “homey and rustic dish, brought up to the restaurant level”: deboned osso buco for one. As always, mouse over the different parts of the dish to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Adour’s Elegant Fish-and-Shellfish Double-deckerAdour, Alain Ducasse’s much-discussed “wine bar,” has opened, and as our profile last month suggested, it’s not so much a bar as a more casual version of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, the chef’s buttoned-up former venture. Today, we break down one of Adour’s debut dishes, striped bass and shellfish in a vin jaune d’Arbois sauce — a variation on a Ducasse classic created by his New York chef, Tony Esnault. As always, mouse over the different elements to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Merkato 55’s Most Popular Dish: Doro WatMerkato 55, Marcus Samuelsson’s tribute to the pan-African cookery, has only been open a few weeks, but already one dish has begun to break out — and oddly, it’s the most traditional thing on the menu. Doro wat, chef Andrea Berquist tells us, is essentially the national dish of Ethiopia, “so there was a lot of pressure to do it well. But I’m happy with it. It’s definitely our most popular dish. I did 50 orders just last night!”
The Annotated Dish
Dovetail’s Deconstructed Muffuletta Is a Trojan Horse for Lamb’s TongueDovetail, John Fraser’s new Upper West Side restaurant, is enjoying a critical reception not seen in some time. Adam Platt’s three-star review highlighted the deconstructed muffuletta sandwich with fried lamb’s tongue. Fraser says the dish came to him in a dream but also has a more practical explanation: “Lamb’s tongue is not the easiest thing to sell, so you have to pair it with something really interesting.” As always, mouse over the different elements to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Chop Suey’s Short-Rib-and-Marrow Gilded LilyChop Suey’s Korean-inflected take on Asian food has been a surprise hit among the city’s foodies and critics, who were prepared to hate the place, thanks to its dopey name and consulting chef Zak Pelaccio’s multiple gigs. From the beginning, the grilled short ribs with bone marrow have been the restaurant’s most popular dish. Executive chef Anthony Paris, who prepares it every night and conceived it with Pelaccio, talked to us about the dish. As always, mouse over the different elements to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Annisa’s Skate Duo Runs Hot and ColdAnita Lo’s work at Annisa has produced what Adam Platt calls “some of the most consistently interesting food in the city.” Her “skate with avocado and radishes, Korean flavors” exemplifies this: Three elements on the same plate are presented in both hot and cold combinations. As always, scroll over the different elements of the dish to hear it described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
The Roasted Lobster at Gotham Is Still Standing TallAlfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill is one of the pioneers of what used to be called the New American cooking. His style, a combination of dramatic vertical presentations, French technique, and urban pizzazz, perfectly encapsulated the energy of the movement in the eighties and nineties. All these years later, Portale is still at Gotham, and still turning out some of the city’s best food, minus the towering drama of old. “As for all that verticality, once it became very trendy and talked about, that’s when I began to back away from it,” Portale says. “My style has changed and evolved.” At least one dish still reaches for the stars: Portale’s roasted lobster, a constant on Gotham’s menu. Scroll over the different parts of the dish to see it described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
It’s Winter, So That Means Savoy’s Cassoulet“Cassoulet,” wrote Julia Child, “is everyday fare for a peasant but ambrosia for a gastronome, though its ideal consumer is a 300-pound blocking back who has been splitting firewood nonstop for the last twelve hours on a subzero day in Manitoba.” The serving of the classic French bean-and-meat casserole, a pillar of French cookery, is a yearly event at Savoy, Peter Hoffman’s Haute Barnyard restaurant in Soho. The cassoulet is served in individual cast-iron Dutch ovens that cook in the restaurant’s two fireplaces. They’re in demand, though, and if you want one, you would do well to mention it when you make your reservation. Mouse over the different elements of the dish to hear chef de cuisine Ryan Tate describe this mixture of beans, bacon, sausage, lamb, and bread crumbs.
The Annotated Dish
Suba’s Spanish LambapaloozaSpanish fine dining has been a hard sell in New York, but insofar as anyone has been able to make a go of it, it’s Seamus Mullen. Suba, Mullen’s chicly dungeon-like space on the Lower East Side, produces some of the city’s most intense and inventive Spanish-inspired food, and the Silla de Cordero, or saddle of lamb, is a perfect example. Three separate parts constitute the saddle, and Mullen puts them all together on plate, a tribute to the Spanish love of lamb: “the whole dish is about lamb, soup to nuts” he says, “lamb tenderloin, lamb belly, lamb loin, sheep’s milk cheese, sheep’s milk yogurt, and a nice lamby vinaigrette. We love it.” As always, mouse over the different parts of the dish to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Stanton Social’s Reinvented Chicken and WafflesThough the menu at Stanton Social is immense, there are always a few dominant dishes Lower East Side patrons order again and again. Recently it was the crab corn dogs, which Starchefs had chef Chris Santos prepare for the Rising Star Chef gala. Now it’s a postmodern “Chicken and Waffles” created by Santos and his soon-to-depart chef de cuisine Ryan Angulo. We spoke to Angulo about the dish. As always, mouse over the different elements to hear it described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Gilt’s ‘Gossip Girl’ Grilled CheeseGilt’s ultra-luxe opulence, known previously mostly to gastronomes and jet-setting bons vivants, entered the national consciousness via Gossip Girl ’s slimiest character, the monstrous Chuck Bass, who lives in his father’s hotel, the New York Palace. Though never named, Gilt is frequently shown as a hangout for the show’s telegenic young plutocrats, and in the pilot episode Chuck ordered a truffled grilled cheese sandwich from Gilt chef Chris Lee. Of course, the sandwich was for the drunk and beautiful Serena van der Woodsen, who Chuck later tried to rape. The sandwich went from TV to reality, and it’s now a popular menu item at Gilt, for the low price of $50 a shot. As always, mouse over the different parts of the dish to hear it described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Pamplona’s Supersoft Poached Salmon (and Ultracrispy Skin)Alex Ureña made his name as one of the city’s few modern Spanish cooks, but like most so-called “molecular gastronomists” he found little favor with the city’s tastemakers. His recently reconceived restaurant skews more populist, and a popular dish at Pamplona is this poached salmon with blood sausages. “With Spanish food,” Ureña says, “you sometimes have to think whether it’s going to work here or not.” This one does. As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Allen & Delancey’s Not So Healthy Beef, Cabbage, and OnionNeil Ferguson of Allen & Delancey has been a big hit with downtown gourmands, applying the kind of precise classical cookery he did for Gordon Ramsay to more outré dishes, like this “beef, cabbage, and onion” special that has quickly become a signature dish for the restaurant. “I wanted to do something that felt like the Lower East Side,” he explains. “I thought of Katz’s brisket sandwich and Gus’s Pickles. I wanted an earthy-sounding dish that I could take to the next level.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
A Quartet of High-End Bar Treats at GrayzGray Kunz is one of the giants of New York gastronomy; his pioneering work in fusing global flavors made Lespinasse one of the world’s great restaurants. Today, Café Gray carries his flag in New York. His newest venture, Grayz, is a bar and lounge with a finger-food menu that emulates its Time Warner cousin in some dishes and goes its own way with others. Here are four dishes from the Grayz menu: As always, mouse over the anchor arrows to see the dish described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
BLT Market’s Five-Spice Glazed DuckLaurent Tourondel’s empire was built of single theme restaurants: BLT Steak, BLT Fish, BLT Burger, etc. But BLT Market has been a critical success because of its loose format. One need look no further than one of the highlights of its fall menu, duck breast with a five-spice glaze. “They’re very forward flavors,” Tourondel says. “They go together well, and while it’s not completely original — people in China were glazing ducks a long time before me! — I do think this is a more modern kind of dish.” As always, mouse over the different elements to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
A Voce’s Roasted Woodcock Shows Love of the GameGame season has started, but there’s only a handful of places in New York that make an effort to prepare wild animals the way the meat deserves. One such is A Voce, where Andrew Carmellini is cooking woodcock, a small woodland bird, for all it’s worth. “It’s not as gamey as grouse,” the chef says, “but it has a special wild taste that really needs to be experienced.” As always, mouse over the different elements to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Chanto’s Sophisticated KimcheeWith nearly 50 locations in Japan, Chanto is one of the world’s most established restaurants, but to date does not have a significant New York profile. Whatever the reason, it’s not the food, which is eclectic, inventive, and very, very delicious. One of Chanto’s signature items in Japan is the “King of Kimchee,” a marriage of pickled vegetables and sashimi that is much more than the sum of its parts. As always, mouse over the different elements to hear the dish described in Chef Kiyotaka Shinoki’s words.
The Annotated Dish
Alto Marries Marrow, Sardines, Beef, and BrasatoSince taking over from Scott Conant at Alto, Michael White has instilled the menu with oversize flavors and resourceful techniques. This dish, sirloin with marrow bones and brasato reduction, fulfills both criteria. As always, mouse over the different parts of the image to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
A ‘Clean, Elegant’ Lamb Trio at Le CirqueChristophe Bellanca, the new chef at Le Cirque, is a veteran of a number of Michelin-starred kitchens in France, and his work at the venerable restaurant shows off classical French technique in spades. Everything is pared down to its most basic essence, and even dishes like this lamb trio seem elemental in a very purified, austere way. “I wanted something that was interesting, clean, and elegant,” the chef says, and he got it. As always, mouse over the different sections of the image to hear it described in Bellanca’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Trabocchi Reinvents Porchetta at FiammaFabio Trabocchi gained fame, and a James Beard award, for his modern Italian food at Maestro in Virginia. Now, he’s Michael White’s replacement at Fiamma, and his contemporary take on porchetta, the most intensely rural and down-market of dishes, is a fair example of Trabocchi’s style: “In Italy, porchetta is a pig on a spit with wild fennel. It’s either boned and stuffed in a meat-loaf shape or opened up, like a book, on a spit. It’s something we tried to reinvent with a modern version without losing the original flavors.” As always, mouse over the different elements to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Lure Fishbar’s Scallop Appetizer Makes the End of Summer EdibleLure Fishbar is rarely on anyone’s list of the city’s top seafood restaurants, and we always wondered why not. Chef Josh Capon’s end-of-summer appetizer of scallops and slab bacon just reinforces Lure’s strengths. “Even at the worst catering event in the world, scallops and bacon are good. To me they’re just good eating,” the salty chef says. “Our version is nothing too froufrou. But it’s a good plate, with a little bit of everything, and you should try to see if you can get it all in one bite.” Done and done. As always, mouse over the different elements to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Toloache Experiments With Haute TacosMexican food hovers close to the ground in New York, but with the opening of Toloache and Rayuela, it’s beginning to take its place among the city’s great restaurant cuisines. Considering how vital Mexican line cooks are to the city’s restaurants, this respect is long overdue. At Toloache, Julian Medina’s menu is both huge and modern, highlighted by a dozen different tacos drawing on his youth in Mexico City. “I’m a taco fanatic,” the chef says. “Now is a perfect opportunity for me to put them on my menu and show what they can be.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the image to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Strawberry Dessert Quartet at Jean GeorgesJohnny Iuzzini of Jean Georges is one of the leading figures in the modern Dessert Revolution and arguably the most influential dessert chef working today. Typically, any meal at Jean Georges ends with one of four dessert tastings — four dishes united by a single theme. While summer strawberries last (likely another two or three weeks), this strawberry tasting will be available for both lunch and dinner. “The idea is to show how versatile strawberries are,” Iuzzini says. “There are so many ways to manipulate it and yet still maintain its integrity.” As always, mouse over the different desserts to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
There Once Was a Cod From Nantucket…Doug Psaltis at Country is a native of New England with a predictable seafood bent. In his case, however, it’s taken to an extreme: With this dish of cod braised in its own ocean water with local seaweed, he’s done everything except put a raincoat on the diners and blow an angry nor’easter in their face. After the jump, mouse over the different elements of the dish to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
L’Impero’s Pork Belly Sure Bet for Cautious DinersSince taking over from Scott Conant at L’Impero in May, Michael White has made the restaurant’s menu his own. As Gael Greene says in this week’s issue, “His new menu reflects the dazzling sunniness of Southern Italy’s markets and his own unleashed exuberance.” Exhibit A is this appetizer of grilled pork belly with mission figs and arugula. “People don’t want to risk their whole entrée on a pork belly; this way they can order it knowing that they’re safe with their sea bass or whatever,” says White. As always, mouse over the different elements after the jump to hear them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Wakiya’s Only Slightly Japanese Bang Bang ChickenAlthough Wakiya, the new high-end Chinese restaurant in Ian Schrager’s Gramercy Park Hotel, is staffed almost entirely by Japanese chefs, the food is traditional Chinese, only slightly modernized. A good example is this “Bang Bang Chicken,” a classic Szechuan recipe in which, historically, a stick was used to soften the meat (hence the name). As prepared by Yuji Wakiya’s able chef de cuisine, Koji Hagihara, there are some hidden Japanese elements as well, but none that the eye can easily detect. As always, mouse over the different elements to see them described in Hagihara’s own words.
Related: We Catch Wakiya’s First Guests on the Street
The Annotated Dish
Wd-50’s Trout Dish Starts With Forbidden RiceWd-50’s kitchen, headed by chef Wylie Dufresne, is the locus of cutting-edge New York cookery. But for all their originality, the dishes are still nice to eat. This ocean trout, with fava bean, forbidden rice, and root-beer-date purée, is especially easy to love. “We started with the rice,” Dufresne tells us, “and then figured out where to go from there.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to read them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Falai’s Left-Field Trio of Foie Gras TreatsIacopo Falai impressed a lot of experienced eaters when he opened Falai, his small, eponymous restaurant on the Lower East Side, catching them off-guard with his very modern take on Italian food. This foie gras appetizer, rare enough on Italian menus, comes from out of left field. “There are more contrasting flavors and textures in this dish than any foie gras dish on the planet,” Falai boasts. “Start with the croquette and go clockwise. It’s warm and should be eaten right away. The chocolate I’d like to be last, because it gives a strong, savory end to the dish. There’s so much interaction here for the customer to discover.” As always, mouse over the different elements to read them described in Falai’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
15 East Offers a ‘Study in Seaweed’
15 East, Tocqueville’s long-planned sister restaurant, has made a lot of fans with its excellent sushi and sashimi. But owner Marco Moreira’s proudest achievement may be the “degustation of sea lettuces,” a $14 appetizer that presents New Yorkers with eleven varieties of authentic Japanese seaweed. “Seaweed is so unappreciated here,” he says. “You see seaweed salads that come in already dressed and frozen, with different seaweeds mixed together. I wanted to create a dish that showcases different seaweeds, textures, looks, and flavors.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in Moreira’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Le Bernardin’s Too Popular Surf and TurfAlthough he denies it, Eric Ripert must occasionally regret the invention of his “surf and turf,” the Kobe steak and grilled escolar he serves at Le Bernardin. As the winner (along with Masa) of one of the only five-star ratings Adam Platt has ever bestowed, “The Ripper” has created a meat dish that has threatened to upstage the fish cookery for which Le Bernardin is known. Still: “I think we’ll keep the item on the menu, for sure. It’s a strong sell,” the chef says. “Something like 50 orders a night. But we’ll see [if we keep it] in the fall.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Anthos’ ‘Most Innovative’ Sesame Dessert
One of the bigger upsets in recent food-award history came a couple of weeks ago: Bill Corbett of Anthos came out of nowhere to defeat Room 4 Dessert’s Will Goldfarb and wd-50’s Alex Stupak to win the Golden Scoop Award for Most Innovative Dessert. About his secret weapon, Sesame in Sesame, Corbett says, “I wanted to take a very simple ingredient and take it in as many directions as I could. It took me a long time to get it down, but I definitely feel like it’s one of the ones that illustrates what I want to do on a plate.” As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in the chef’s own words.
Related: Daniel and Anthos Hit Big at Dessert Awards
The Annotated Dish
P*ONG’s Elegant, Unlikely Trio of Chamomile, Scallops, and Soba
Pichet Ong first attracted notice as Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s No. 1 dessert man, and the complex, subtle, and painterly desserts he created at 66 and Spice Market helped bring him to national attention. Now he has opened up his first solo restaurant, P*ONG, and released an Asian dessert cookbook, The Sweet Spot. Still, though known as a dessert chef, Ong is stretching out with savory dishes like this one, an original pairing of scallops, soba noodles, and chamomile ice that tastes hot, cold, salty, sweet, and acidic, all at the same time and in perfect equilibrium. As always, mouse over the different elements of the dish to see them described in the chef’s own words.
The Annotated Dish
Per Se’s Super-Precise Summer Steak Salad
The menu at Per Se changes almost every night, but Jonathan Benno keeps turning out this delicate, summery Wagyu-steak salad. Though technically chef de cuisine, Benno in fact runs the kitchen; Thomas Keller has recently called it “a Jonathan Benno restaurant,” and the younger man’s mania for detail has helped make the place one of the city’s top restaurants. This carefully formulated salad, in which seemingly simple ingredients are calibrated to complement the seared beef, is pure Benno. As usual, mouse over each arrow for the chef’s description of that element.
The Annotated Dish
The Springiest of Spring Menus at Gramercy Tavern
Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony, not to be confused with Van Halen’s Michael Anthony, is one of the city’s top Haute Barnyard cooks, a veteran of Blue Hill and a natural with produce. His Spring Vegetable Medley is a centerpiece of both Gramercy’s market menu and its vegetable tasting menu. “The idea is to bring springiness to a spring menu,” he says. “I don’t know a better way to do that then with a dish that highlights the crunch and brightness of spring flavors.” Mouse over each element to read the chef’s description.
The Annotated Dish
Insieme’s Complicated Quartet of LambMarco Canora has the reputation as a chef’s chef, a guy who knows how to take great ingredients and develop their taste with a minimum of artifice or flash. He was that way as the original chef at Craft, at Hearth, and now at Insieme, his ambitious new midtown restaurant. Lamb four ways with lavender, spring garlic, peas, morels and spicy greens is a quintessential Canora dish, intense, multilayered, but somehow humble. Mouse over each element for Marco’s description.
The Annotated Dish
Boqueria’s Renowned Rectangle of Rich Suckling PigAlmost since the day it opened, tapas restaurant Boqueria has had the beau monde flocking to its rather nondescript block on 19th Street. Young Spanish-trained chef Seamus Mullen’s star dish is his suckling pig, a crisp, irresistible brick of concentrated pork goodness. As ever, mouse over the arrows for details from the cook himself.
The Annotated Dish
Morandi’s Deceptively Simple Duck Sandwich
Chef Jody Williams had made her mark as a master of Italian cuisine at Gusto when Keith McNally hired her to run the kitchen at Morandi. Like most of her cooking, this duck sandwich with quince and apple mostarda and green savoy cabbage appears simple and rustic but was created with a great deal of thought and technique. Mouse over the arrows for Jody Williams’s explanation of each ingredient.
The Annotated Dish
Gilt’s Tradition-Defying Tuna WellingtonOvershadowed at first by his controversial predecessor, Paul Liebrandt, Gilt’s Christopher Lee is finally being recognized as one of the city’s most accomplished chefs. His signature dish, tuna Wellington, is characteristically inventive, intense, and well balanced. “I wanted to do a classic in a different light,” he tells us. Get his description of each painstakingly chosen ingredient by mousing over the arrows.
The Annotated Dish
Varietal’s ‘Meditation in Purple’: Need We Say More?Jordan Kahn, the pastry chef at Varietal, is “the pastry chef in New York right now,” as one of his peers recently told us. Today’s Annotated Dish, “Meditation in Purple,” was informed by the writings of the immortal French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. “Purple is the color of inspiration,” Kahn says. “I wanted to make a dessert that would inspire. And one that, if you tasted it, you could tell was purple.” Mouse over the arrows to hear about each element.
The Annotated Dish
Picholine’s ‘Oceanic’ Sea-Urchin Panna Cotta“I have a personal interest in this dish,” he says, “and I wouldn’t let it go.” That’s Picholine chef Terrance Brennan on his sea-urchin panna cotta, one of only two items from the restaurant’s previous incarnation that he continues to serve today. The dish, which the chef describes as “all about the taste of the ocean, and nothing else” is the first course of an $80 three-course prix fixe menu, and one of his signatures. As always, simply scroll over the arrows on the large image to see quotes from the chef.
The Annotated Dish
Del Posto’s Ever-So-Slightly Indulgent Chocolate-and-Rum PairingAdam Platt called the Chocolate Tasting at Del Posto one of the “Most Decadent Dishes” in New York, comparing it to “uncut cocaine.” You shouldn’t take this to mean that the dish is uncomplicated, however. Del Posto co-owner Joe Bastianich describes its elements — three different chocolates, three different rums — in this week’s Annotated Dish, where, as always, you simply scroll over the arrows on the image for the chef’s comments.
The Annotated Dish
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon’s Eel–and–Foie Gras TerrineWelcome again to the Annotated Dish, where the creator of a buzzed-about New York entrée walks you through its essential components. (Simply scroll over the arrows on the image to get quotes from the chef.) This week L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon executive chef Yosuke Suga describes a dish that we’ve been hearing about since the restaurant opened, a compact fusion of sea and land, France and Japan, sweet and savory: Le foie gras fumé en duo d’anguille caramélisée aux saveurs orientales — smoked foie gras layered with caramelized eel ($29 on the tasting menu).
The Annotated Dish
An Illustrated Guide to Lonesome Dove’s Tomahawk ChopWelcome again to the Annotated Dish, where the creator of a buzzed-about New York entrée walks you through its essential components. Simply scroll over the arrows on the image to get quotes from the chef. (We’ve got Oompa-Loompas working around the clock on a taste component, but no promises.) Today, Tim Love tells us all about his $125 Tomahawk Chop. Love’s Lonesome Dove Western Bistro has taken its knocks in New York — Adam Platt, for one, handed it the proverbial bagel (or, if you prefer, goose egg). (Read Platt’s breakdown here.) But nearly all the reviews have singled out Love’s mammoth bone-on-rib chop for praise; Platt called it “expertly chosen and well-aged.”
The Annotated Dish
An Illustrated Guide to Morimoto’s Toro TartareWelcome to the Annotated Dish, where the creator of a buzzed-about New York entrée walks you through its essential components. Simply scroll over the arrows on the image to get quotes from the chef. (We’ve got Oompa-Loompas working around the clock on a taste component, but no promises.) Generally, we’ll be choosing a dish from a new or of-the-moment restaurant, with a special eye to the creations of important or rising chefs. Today, “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto breaks down the toro tartare served at his eponymous West Side restaurant. A paragon of Japanese simplicity, the dish is served at lunch and dinner.