Serenata Inaugural Feature Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Luan Kukaj, Owner of Serenata
Luan's favorite Pescado a la Plancha
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It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and now we know Luan Kukaj, owner of Cara Mia which performed well in its inaugural review. Luan has many tricks up his sleeve of the edible nature, and along with his brother, Besim Kukaj, he enlightens the palates of Manhattanites and tourists alike at their many restaurants.
Cara Mia was their first restaurant.
Serenata is their newest restaurant, and it opened in June 2016. Luan tells us the name Serenata means Mexican love song, and Serenata the restaurant is dedicated to quality Mexican cuisine served in the French style. This is our first visit and the second time working with Luan.
We cannot say that Peachy is a big fan of empanadas, however, she is an extremely enthused advocate of crabmeat. Please meet the Shrimp and Crabmeat empanada, a wonderful appetizer!
The sauce of lime and cilantro has a kick but it's delivered smoothly and thoughtfully placed on the side for Ms. Picky who likes to apply her own sauce. We definitely have not had such a delicious empanada before and loved the inside the most obviously but were also happy with the lovely tomato garnish and overall commitment to beauty in presentation. This set the stage for the elevated aesthetics at Serenata that we don't see at many Latin venues.
You're not going to believe it, but for the first time ever in any culinary endeavor in her life, personal or professional, Peachy Deegan ate grasshoppers as they are part of this salad, and we are professional. To fully appreciate this, you had to know her in third grade when she was picked to be Miss Muffett because she screamed the loudest amongst the third and fourth graders to be in a play about bugs. They are quite crunchy and a bit like a burnt kernel of popcorn.
Please meet the Ensalata del Desierto. We also ate cactus for the first time! The Executive Chef is Miguel Gerzona from El Salvador. We cannot recall any other salad having as many textures going together that made so much sense. This salad boasts grilled cactus, grasshoppers, roasted corn, roasted cipollini onions, wild mushrooms, grape tomatoes, avocado, dates, toasted sunflower seeds, and red and black lava saffron salt. This must be the absolute last word in exotic salad in all of Manhattan, and cilantro-sabila vinaigrette is the dressing.
Look at the gorgeous plates! It's like a fashion show, and your stomach is the runway.
We next tried some tacos; first: Camaron: blackened shrimp, apple/fennel pico de gallo, guacamole, red pickled onions, and hoja santa aioli. Creative and delicious, they were liked by us. We would like to see more blackened on more menus as this is a fantastic way to present.
We were also impressed with the Pescado: beer battered black sea bass, guacamole, jalapeno tartar sauce, and citrus coleslaw. This reminded us of fish and chips which we love and think more places should take this hint from Luan and use black sea bass as the fish. Serenata has great food that's inventive and thoughtfully crafted. It is by far the most sophisticated Mexican we've seen yet.
This is Luan's favorite dish at Serenata and he insisted we try it: Pescado a la Plancha. Sauteed Chilean Sea Bass with chile atole, spaghetti squash and pumpkin pesto. It was delicious and a beacon of warmth this winter! What we liked even better however was the Camarones en Salsa Oaxaquena:
This jumbo shrimp entree swims successfully in a delicious creamy squid ink rice and is embellished with chile mulato dry shrimp sauce. We felt like there was a bit of coffee/unsweetened chocolate nuance to it but tell us what you think your palate tells you. The shrimp was superb and we liked this dish the best.
This is the Carne entree: steak is hidden inside.
Bite inside and you will find a fabulous skirt steak, chorizo, chihuahua cheese, caramelized onions, pickled radishes and sour cream. This is for the carnivores and absolutely will hit the spot and is a lovely classic.
Do not miss the rice pudding, home made! Presented in a fried tortilla with cinnamon cajeta ice cream, strawberries and sweet milk, the rice pudding is a sublime conclusion to your gorgeous Serenata experience.
Also check out the bar where you'll see the lovely pebble accents that they created, literally on the bar surface.
Serenata is Terrific Takeout and we look forward to seeing what they do next!
