Red Rooster

My family and I have had Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster on our bucket list since it opened in Harlem in December 2010. Obviously, it took us a while to get there. But get there we did and it was worth the trip. If you’re looking for down home cooking with a little Scandinavian twist, you’ve come to the right place.

But first, let’s talk about the vibe. Because the weather was nice, it has a nice section of the sidewalk reserved for outdoor dining—like every other restaurant in New York City with a little patch of concrete. Inside, music bumps and grinds to the jive of its clientele. People mill about the circular copper bar with funky drinks in their hands. I got not one but three hellos as we walked in. The dining area has round tables as it does communal tables with high chairs near the open kitchen. They serve lunch, brunch, and dinner with an afternoon bar menu. Prices (for New York City) are very reasonable with entrees hovering in the $25 range.

Now, for the food. There’s pork and there’s beef. (His grandmother’s recipe for meatballs was outrageously yummy in an olive-flecked tomato sauce.) There’s even a little bit of goat if you’re up for the challenge. (I find goat tasty but more bony than meaty.) But the clear star of the show is chicken, chicken, chicken. I’m not talking about any old dried bird. I’m talking honey coated fried chicken with just a hint of heat. Jerk chicken with at least five different discernible spices on the palate. Chicken and waffles—a down home must. And don’t forget the hot wings. You can even get a whole chicken fried and served with macaroni and cheese, biscuits, collard greens, and black beans. If you come with a group, I suggest their “It Takes Two” section of the menu. Gigantic portions could be easily shared with more than one person.

The collard greens were my first hint of the Swedish twist. Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, always puts something in his dishes that remind him of home. The greens had that touch of something else—nutmeg or allspice. The kind of taste you expect to find in Swedish meatballs. He often includes pickled vegetables, particularly red onions, as a garnish. (Scandinavians love pickled everything.) The cornbread came with lingonberry butter. Who eats lingonberries? Swedes, obviously.

But the dish with the biggest surprise was for dessert. A lemon posset that was simultaneously sweet and tart. With a puckery tang and the silkiness of honey, it delivered a lemony punch complete with shortbread crumble. This dish made me want to run right home and make my own posset just so I could have some more. An English custard originally made as a drink of all things, posset has been making its way onto American menus in the past few years. Yet, it is nothing more than three simple ingredients: sugar, cream, and lemon juice. Simple. Elegant. Delicious.

I won’t say the next time I’m in Harlem I will definitely drop in. I will, however, make the trip to Harlem sometime very soon. This place is too good to pass up. I’ll be dreaming of that posset until then.