Terrific Takeout: Flinders Lane Summer 2016 in Manhattan of course - PLUS CONNECTICUT YOU SHOULD BE GETTING EXCITED FOR THEIR STAMFORD OPENING SOON! Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Owner Chris McPherson and Peachy Deegan
Fresh Origins is America’s leading producer of Microgreens and Edible Flowers. Combining the benefits of an ideal climate with a deep passion for quality and innovation, Fresh Origins products are sought after by the finest restaurants and top chefs. The farm is located in the picturesque rolling hills of San Diego County, where the near perfect weather allows for production and harvest all year. Fresh Origins produces almost 400 Microgreens, Petitegreens, Edible Flowers, Shoots, Tiny Veggies™ and related items. Many are not available anywhere else, with new introductions nearly every month. Fresh Origins products are on top of the finest cuisine in the world! Fresh Origins supplies distributors of specialty produce who serve fine dining restaurants and resorts nationwide. There are also a few online sources of their products available to private chefs and home cooks. Read our first Culinary Queen interview with Kelly Sasuga:
For more information about Fresh Origins, visit their website at
Lachlan McPherson, this one's for you!
We can't wait to work with you too someday and by the time you can read this we think we'll see you here.
We have yet to visit Australia, but feel like we must be there every time we visit Flinders Lane, a bastion of excellence all the way east in Manhattan on Avenue A, definitely the best venue in its neighborhood and more than worth the trip from any other neighborhood. Our first visit in early 2015 was highly promising and the fantastic news is that Flinders Lane is no one-hit wonder. They are in it to win it and they are going to be winning even bigger once they open in the great State of Connecticut.
Every hedge fund in Fairfield County is going to be clamoring to get their attention at lunchtime for catering.
We bet there has never been an Australian restaurant in Connecticut before this and we hope we are the first to tell you about it. Sometimes the Best of Connecticut comes to Manhattan but in this case it is vice versa! (But technically speaking you know Chris and Chris are the Best of Melbourne, Australia.)
Peachy Picked Flinders Lane in the fall of 2015:
We first visited over a year ago:
and they also were featured in early 2016:
This time we were delighted to work with Owner Chris McPherson and Owner Chris Rendell, who is the Executive Chef-we look forward to seeing you again next time.
If you know Peachy well, you know she often carries a Lilly Pulitzer bag with pink elephants on it and it is pink and green of course. Lilly, like Peachy, was a Miss Porter's Graduate (Farmington, Connecticut; i.e. an Ancient) and since Lilly was a "9" and Peachy is a "4" they used to see each other at reunions (Lilly has since passed - say a prayer for her please.) Flinders Lane this season has had the brilliance to bring the pink and green of Lilly Pulitzer to your plate with the Montauk Fluke Sashimi, which is purely gorgeous. This must be a subconscious Connecticut thought...and w
hen Virgin Atlantic says "Hello Gorgeous" we think they must be talking to this plate.
The Montauk Fluke is finely sliced and superbly refreshing.
The serrano chili (green) is finely sliced as well as its companion radish (pink), and we even trust Flinders Lane with the Salad Dressing and we like the Lemon Dressing which boasts an amazing kick. What a brilliant appetizer!
Also note that the ambiance of Flinders Lane is upbeat and festive without being overbearing and the music selection we heard from The Supremes to A-ha's Take on Me and We Built this City on Rock n Roll confirms that it is not only your appetite that will be rocked; your ears experience a virtual jukebox to be adored.
So, movie and television producers, we're talking to you with scenery selection: pick this for a great scene (and maybe put the Chris team in it to secure a good review!). PBS-why would you have Indian Summer when you can have AUSTRALIAN SUMMER! That should be next.
We have been lucky to experience some truly phenomenal salads this summer, but this one is the best: meet the Grilled Peach and Ricotta Salad which endeavors to party in pistachios, baby greens and drumroll please, BLACK TRUFFLES! The genius combination has flavor and texture that has been unparalleled in our experience and from the succulent grilled peaches to the creamy ricotta to the nutritious greens to the ultimate triumph: black truffles! - every aspect on this team is cast from an All-Star lineup.
This is the salad to beat in Manhattan right now.
For your tastebuds, the experience of eating this salad and enjoying the taste it exudes is like swinging from the most gorgeous chandelier in Manhattan and not getting in trouble for it.
Obviously peaches speak to us and they said basking in the brilliance of black truffles makes them the happiest!
We applaud Flinders Lane for their healthy menu: they also have a wonderful Heirloom Tomato Salad with Olives, Pickled Red onion and Basil Oil. Green, yellow and red tomatoes sing a song of summer that also have a lovely color contrast that's stunning. They are fresh and spectacular and this is a prime example of why less is more. This is the Chanel LBD (little black dress) of salads at Flinders Lane.
We love that Flinders Lane is so detail-oriented that they have glasses with their name etched on them with precision and we must say Chris McPherson has exquisite taste in wines and though we are not big believers in pairings because everyone has a different palate to start with, we agree with every combination he's come up with.
Now we would like to hear from the vineyard owners of these fine Australian wines!
Now we would like to hear from the vineyard owners of these fine Australian wines!
Every steakhouse in Manhattan should cower in a corner when they compare their steaks to the truly phenomenal Grilled Hanger Steak of Flinders Lane which is pure, juicy perfection. It arrived at a perfect medium rare and is hand cut with precision (close to its liver) and you will revel in all of its Black Angus glory which exhibits a laudable iodine, earthy character. It's also grass fed and Flinders Lane sources its steak from both Baldor and DeBragga, both of which we hold in high esteem. It has sidekicks of succulent sauteed mushrooms, shallot jus and fat chips which is the Australian way of saying steak fries.
Carnivores, rejoice!
Just when you thought "How could this review get even better?" amazing creamy Tiramisu arrived in style with PEACHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We can't remember the last time we used an exclamation point so liberally but the fourth time's a charm and we cannot WAIT to brag about these guys in Connecticut.
We have every confidence they are going to blow everyone away.
Yes of course Flinders Lane is Terrific Takeout and it continues to be Highly Recommended!
Stamford, Connecticut you'd better get excited because the Australians are going to take the Nutmeg State!
184 Summer Street, Stamford, Connecticut!
BE THERE!
We'll let you know when it opens....
