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Surf & Turf Bone Marrow
On the new menu at Crown Block in Dallas, chef-owner Kim Canteenwalla developed this dish in collaboration with executive chef John Pineda and Pawel Antonik, director of culinary operations for parent company Blau + Associates.
They start by soaking split veal marrow bones for 24 hours, drying them and scraping off the outside for a cleaner presentation.
Separately, they braise short ribs in natural jus along with crushed garlic and rosemary, and shred the meat.
They also poach lobster in a mixture of wine, butter, tarragon, bay leaves, and lemon zest.
At service they season the bones with salt and pepper and roast them, marrow facing up, for 6-8 minutes, and then top them with short rib meat and chunks of lobster.
The dish is served with grilled sourdough bread from Empire Baking in Dallas.
Price: $25
Island Onigiri
At HAAM, a vegan restaurant specializing in Trinidadian and Dominican cuisines that opened in the Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood of Williamsburg in November, chef and owner Yesenia Ramdass makes her version of the Japanese rice snack onigiri. She makes arroz amarillo (yellow rice) by cooking sushi rice with Goya Sazón. Then she cools it slightly and mixes it with chopped ripe sweet plantain and shredded sautéed oyster mushrooms that have been seasoned with jerk seasoning, barbecue sauce, and tamari. That’s all molded into a classic triangular onigiri shape and then Ramdass presses shiso fumi furikake seasoning on the sides. It's plated over creamy garlic sauce, topped with a dollop of avocado mousse, and garnished with microgreens.
Price: $9
Wild Mushroom cocktail
At Altair, the sixth restaurant of Renwick Hospitality Group, which opened in Midtown Manhattan at the end of October, head bartender Miguel Munoz developed this version of the Old Fashioned. He makes a mushroom butter by sautéing wild mushrooms in butter and then pours that into bourbon, allowing it to steep for at least a day before freezing it, removing the solids and finely straining it. He pours 2.5 ounces of that fat-washed bourbon in a mixing glass with ice along with two dashes each of Angostura and orange bitters, plus ¼ ounce of simple syrup made with turbinado sugar. He stirs that and pours that into a rocks glass over a large perforated ice cube that has a frozen enoki mushroom sticking out of it.
Price: $20
Roti John
At Jook Sing, a Southeast Asian Restaurant that opened in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood on Halloween, Christian Sia makes his version of this open-faced sandwich from Singapore and Malaysia.
“We wanted to add the sandwich because it is uniquely from the region and a way to show off the region’s cultural diversity with the influence of Malay, Indian, Chinese, and Western cultures,” Sia said.
The dish starts with two eggs whisked with salt and curry powder and then griddled on a flattop. That’s topped with diced Spanish onion and baguette slices.
Next the omelet is flipped to toast the bread. Then it’s removed from the heat and topped with coin-sized pickled cucumbers, carrots, and onions, and chiffonade of napa cabbage. Then it’s drizzled with sweet chile sauce, Hoover sauce, and citrus kosho aïoli.
It’s garnished with cilantro and scallion.
Price: $15
Crispy coconut tofu risotto
At The Hampton Social, a 10-unit restaurant by the Parker Restaurant Group with locations in Florida, Tennessee, and Illinois, Ashley Elech, regional culinary manager for Florida, developed this dish, which is vegan but was inspired by coconut shrimp.
Firm tofu is dressed in sweet and salty coconut milk, and then breaded and deep fried. A version of hummus, made with edamame instead of chickpeas, is made by blending the cooked soybeans with tahini, lemon juice, and olive oil. That’s swiped in the serving bowl, making a streak to match the bowl’s curve. Then cooked quinoa, riced cauliflower, sweet plantains, mango salsa, avocado and pickled red onions are added and then topped with the tofu. It's served with sweet chile sauce.
Price: $22
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