Peachy Picks Salinas Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
The Salinas that Inspired It All by Donald Mikula
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Normally, we don't start a dinner review with a beach since they are difficult to eat, but now that Labor Day has passed and everyone in Manhattan wants a beach of their own to retreat to, we have located a stellar one with a charming owner and terrific cuisine: Salinas. Have no fear that fall is here because a vacation is always in store at Salinas-when we asked when their back garden closed for the winter they said never-the roof just encloses it. Of course. Silly Peachy. She might move in when it starts to snow and indulge in more of the heavenly paella:post-dinner she dreamed up visions of not sugarplums but gorgeous paella dancing in her head.
Es Vedra by Donald Mikula
To know what a place is, including restaurants, you have to dig into who is behind it and the concept and we have found a great one. Extraordinary restaurants only have this kind of depth and a genuine story behind them. Donald and his wife, Mary Catherine (we look forward to meeting you Mary Catherine!), were vacationing in Spain and they came upon Salinas. Since they are people that make things happen, they decided to take it home with them-not on the plane-but as an idea. Their idea is your undiscovered culinary fortune today and you'll find it at 136 9th Avenue. Salinas was first featured in Tasty Tidbits:
& we are pleased to announce it has joined the ranks of Peachy's Picks.
& we are pleased to announce it has joined the ranks of Peachy's Picks.
Old town Ibiza by Donald Makula
Immediately when we arrived, Executive Chef Bollo promptly greeted us professionally and explained the menu. He cordially took our order and made constructive suggestions that we appreciated. As you know since we have written over 12,000 posts now, places overlap more often than not and guess what restaurant he was part of before: Ibiza in New Haven, previously featured in Peachy's Picks:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2011/08/peachys-picks-connecticut-iziba-in-new.html
S'Estanyol by Donald Mikula
"The first is of Salinas beach at sunset which is the inspiration for our restaurant Salinas. The second is of Es Vedra which is a beautiful huge rock in the middle of the ocean. The locals say it has powerful energy and they often refer to it as the 'magic rock'. You should make a wish as the sun is setting behind it and they say it will come true. The third photo is of the old town Ibiza. You can see the wall around part of it that dates back many years. This part of the old town is accessible only by walking and there are many steps. The last photo is of a beach we like called S'Estanyol. It's a beautiful cove and you can see in the photos they have little fishing shacks around it that locals own," Donald Mikula tells us. Here's Donald below, who is a total peach. Though the cuisine was tops the best part was hearing his stories which we thoroughly enjoyed. Did you know he and Mary Catherine used to have such victorious dinner parties that were also a factor into the birth of Salinas: now the dinner party is the restaurant and the quantity of their friends must be increasing exponentially based on our experience. No late nights up doing dishes now! Maybe another time we'll tell you about their other successes - we like their multi-talented personalities.
Salinas segued from idea to restaurant one year and two months ago, and it is a great success. Not an empty table as far as the eye can see...so make your reservation now.
So, picture yourself on the seaside of ninth avenue, where of course you will want to sip one of their convincing cocktails like our panelist did as the "sun goes down", or an indulgent red, like Peachy did. You know Peachy rarely meets an Italian red she doesn't love, but has not felt that way about Spanish reds. You can be assured that the Encender Reserva Rioja, Tempranillo 2005 is a fantastic choice with great depth and notes of dark fruits that accentuated all elements of Peachy's meal. Thank you Chef Bollo for your intelligent suggestion!
We were absolutely thrilled to have a comfortable corner table which has previously graced Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman twice, and Glenn Close. After the first day Glenn dined at Salinas, she came the next night with her daughter. Yes, it is that killer.
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2009/03/read-this-catherine-malandrino.html
Be aware that though Salinas has all the star power it has none of the pretension, which is what we're looking for. Everyone we encountered from Donald to Chef Bollo to Marcus Medved who cleared our table was extremely gracious and kind.
Also they must have known we like books...we are advocates of books in restaurants. Actually one of them on this shelf was among the nearly 500 we've reviewed:
We began with a shot of Andaluz Gazpacho: Classic local tomato gazpacho, cucumber, bell pepper, country bread, sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. It was among the best we tasted and perhaps this is what we will order next time as an appetizer. It has a lovely creaminess to it and a terrific texture. And it was not lost on us that this gazpacho has a peachy hue.
For each of us, a single Tostas De Boqueron came to the Gazpacho party! Marinated anchovies, avocado, and olivade rested on multigrain toast to entice our appetite. Even if you think you don't like anchovies, you will learn you like THESE anchovies. Try them, you'll like it.
At Spanish restaurants, Peachy always orders Gambas Al Ajillo-Shrimp with Garlic. These arrived PIPING hot so be careful. It is fantastic to see swirls of steam come off your plate! We found this to be up to par at Salinas and these were joined by wild mushrooms, guindilla pepper and parsley. If you are a fan of subtle garlic, these are right up your alley.
There are five entrees to choose from in addition to Fish of the Day, and Peachy picked the Paella. Normally Chef Bollo makes this for two, but since Peachy asked he did make it for one-so bring your paella-eating friend with you to Salinas if you want to order this when you go. Just look at the color on that picture-every shade heightens the degree of freshness Peachy experienced in this entree. She never retouches any pictures: the cuisine really is that attractive.
The incredibly flavorful Bomba rice had a party in terribly tender free range chicken, Berkshire pork, sepia, winning octopus, fresh clams, convincing mussels and saffron broth. All of Salinas is aesthetically pleasing right to the way the paella is spooned from pan to plate right in front of you at your table. And the taste? You know from the earlier mention that not only did Peachy just love this, but she also dreamed about it. Fortunately, she had leftovers and woke up and made her dream come true with an open of the refrigerator. You can't eat it all during Fashion Week!
But what you can do is leave room for dessert! And we won't lie-Peachy did eat all of that and it was fantastic. Let us introduce the Membrillo Con Arroz Con Leche: Quince paste, passion fruit semifreddo and Creamy Rice Pudding will completely intoxicate you with the texture and flavor. And of course it tasted better with Donald's stories:
Be sure to say hi to him and tell him you came to live his seaside dream!
Only in Manhattan.
Only in Manhattan.
Our esteemed panelist adds:
Located in the hip neighborhood of Chelsea is a restaurant that isn't your average, trendy NYC Spanish restaurant. Upon entering this gorgeous establishment I could already tell from the friendly, calming atmosphere that Salinas is made of a team of very passionate people. The architectural design of Salinas has Spanish influence, yet is designed to be a beautiful, yet comfortable place for people to dine at. We were lucky enough to sit at a table where we could observe the other tables of people in the restaurant and everyone seemed to be having an equally wonderful dining experience as I was having!
We started off with drinks and I decided to try a cocktail called La Gitana, which was made with vodka, white peach, oolong tea, fresh lemon and mint. What a refreshing drink to start my meal with! It had the perfect amount of sweetness to it and was packed full of fruit flavor. We had the opportunity to have a tasting of the Andaluz, which was a classic red tomato gazpacho and a Tostas De Boqueron, which is marinated anchovies, avocado and olivade on multigrain toast. The ingredients in both of these were incredibly fresh! It certainly whet our appetite for our next dishes.
For my appetizer I had the Codorniz Con Manzanas which was crispy quail wrapped with bacon, pan seared apple, green onions, mushrooms and Rioja balsamico. This dish hit the spot! Not only was the food on the plate displayed beautifully, it also had a great variety of textures and flavors! I loved the salty bacon and quail combined with the sweet apple and Rioja balsamico! This dish was unlike anything I have ever tried before and was divine!
For my main dish I tried the Rossejat Rapida which was crispy fideo pasta, all-natural chicken breast, fava beans, chorizo, cockles and saffron aioli. Once I started eating this I couldn't stop! This dish also had great texture and even had a little spicy kick to it!
The aioli added a little bit of creaminess to the dish which I really enjoyed. I also loved the chorizo mixed into this dish which gave it a nice meaty flavor.
Lastly, for dessert I had the Blanco Y Negro, which was white chocolate bizcocho, bittersweet chocolate custard, manchego emulsion, bread tuile and olive oil. This was such a unique dessert! The olive oil flavor truly complimented the bittersweet chocolate flavor! I've never had a dessert like this one before and it was certainly one of the best that I've ever eaten! Salinas Restaurant was such a pleasure to dine at and is a place that I will certainly revisit in the future. The passion that this restaurant is built on truly shines through the food, atmosphere and team of people they have.
