It’s about time Michel Richard made it to New York! Having tried Citronelle and Central Michel Richard in Washington, D.C., I know he will be welcome here. Richard started out as a pastry chef in France before he trained to become a chef, and the best of both culinary worlds can be tasted in his sweet and savory treats. If you work or shop in the area, or are visiting the MoMA, go to Pomme Palais and enjoy a casual meal in the 18-seat patisserie or grab something delicious to go. Pomme Palais opens on September 18 in the new New York Palace, and the opening of his fine dining restaurant, Villard Michel Richard, also in the hotel, will follow. Here are some of our recommendations based on a preview tasting. The menu is subject to change.
Patiserrie:
Lemon Egg-ceptional
Richard’s signature dessert is an elegant lemon bomb! Like an eggshell in a nest, a white chocolate shell filled with meringue and lemon curd sits on a bed of kataifi that is perched on an almond cookie base. Truly eggceptional.
Chaud (Hot):
Fried Chicken
I instantly fell in love with the fried chicken because the meat is so tender and juicy and the bread crumb crust so perfectly crunchy yet fluffy. No wonder, since the chicken is cooked sous vide then battered in chicken mousse before being flash fried with a coating of brioche bread crumbs. It comes with a honey mustard sauce. I was told that the fried chicken will be served as chicken bites instead of white and dark meat on the bone as I tried it, but until Pomme Palais opens, it remains to be seen what final form the dish will take. We’ll relish it however it comes.
Froid (Cold):
Ham and Cheese Sandwich
With the addition of crumbled hard-boiled egg in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette and cornichons, this is more like a ham, cheese and egg salad sandwich. The Parisian ham, Gruyere, tomato and pretzel bread jazz it up even more.
Packaged:
Raspberry Pistachio Tuiles
I had not noticed the tuiles until Michel Richard literally fed me one as if it were a communion wafer, placing a paper-thin tuile on my tongue. It is, indeed, a cookie deserving of such ceremony. Made with raspberries, almonds and pistachios, these are so light and flavorful on the palate that you could conceivably finish a whole package in one sitting. But I don’t recommend that. Savor them. For they are precious and should be appreciated as such.
Juices
If you’re in the mood for a cleanse or something lighter, Pomme Palais carries five juices made by Magic Mix Juicery, all organic and cold-pressed: Awesome Apple, Detox Painkiller, Detox Sweetheart, Green Eyed Candy, and Root Awake.
