Terrific Takeout: Monument Lane Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
The delicious Whole Stuffed Catskill Mountain Trout of Monument Lane
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We applaud the quaint and the one-of-a-kind-different, and we spend a lot of time and effort looking for it. In a market where many restaurants operate as types of factories, not every place is as special as we'd hope, and when we find a new one, it's cause for celebration. We're so pleased to present to you Monument Lane in its inaugural review. Located downtown at 103 Greenwich Avenue, Monument Lane is delicious American farm-to-table cuisine with a firm commitment to local products: 80-90% of their menu is local. Steve Dustin is their Executive Chef.
What is not local is their esteemed owner, Josh Frum, who hails from Chicago, and has been educated in the finer points of this business. We knew the Blackhawks would be in the Stanley Cup Finals starting tomorrow, and we commemorate that with this review; you'll need energy to continue to enjoy the playoffs properly and we suggest you fuel up at Monument Lane. (Look right to two pictures to see why though we are not from Chicago, we support the Blackhawks.) Josh likes soccer (football for European readers), so we hope he's enjoying our new NYCFC coverage in Sporty Peachy.
We chose the highly creative Carrot Cavatelli as an appetizer. Many flavors dance around the vegetable we love (we would like to see more carrots on menus!) including star of the show Maine lobster. Bittersweet cauliflower is charred and pureed with caramelized onion to create the dark sauce that it rests upon, and there's also some spinach. There's an aura of wholesome goodness in this dish.
The salad we had at Monument Lane was one of the best we've had this season. It tasted so clean, crisp and fresh, and that's what we are looking for in a salad. Lesser venues can overcommit to lesser ingredients in a salad, but not Monument Lane. We loved the watermelon radish, which is one of the most fun things we've eaten recently. Red onion and pickled cauliflower join this symphony of goodness and mustard vinaigrette is on the side.
You may add chicken or pollock, and we chose chicken. The chicken was grilled perfectly.
As an entree, we chose the Whole Stuffed Catskill Mountain Trout, a solid selection. Fennel, lemon, buckwheat and carrot-orange puree (see they are using carrots again!) shine the spotlight on this poisson, and we really like how they serve a whole fish, not just a section. Monument Lane gets their fish from Early Morning Seafood, Wild Edibles and Pierless. Our fish was fresh and we enjoyed the combination.
Monument Lane is Terrific Takeout!
We look forward to seeing what they do next.
(Go Josh! Go Chicago!)
