Almond restaurant
We spent quite a lot of time in the Hamptons sitting poolside and listening to some pretty great bands this summer. Living like it’s still summer isn’t easy, but lucky for us there’s the New York outpost of the Hampton’s restaurant Almond to help keep us in that frame of mind. Because, if there’s anything we like more than a perfect Kanon cocktail on a crisp fall night, it’s finding deliciously classic comfort food in the middle of New York City.
Born in Bridgehampton in 2001 and New York in 2008, Almond has been serving up locally-sourced farm-to-table cuisine from owners Jason Weiner and Eric Lemonides (Brooklynites that have been friends since the age of six). We caught up with Jason, who is also the chef at Almond, to tell us a bit about the warm atmosphere and unfussy rustic farm-first menu he’s created from Montauk to the Flat Iron.
The first Almond restaurant is based in the Hamptons, how did the decision to open a NY spot happen?
It kind of dropped in our laps. Jeffrey Chodorow had done a lot of different things in the spot and nothing had stuck. He was a friend of ours and of the restaurant, he came to us and basically gave us the keys to the car.
How has the New York restaurant differed from one out east?
The clientele and expectations are different out east. People are on vacation and aren’t really interested in being challenged culinarily. However, it jives well with what we do, which is giving people an honest product without pretense.
In the city, there is a little more interest in getting esoteric in cuisine. Both spots are very similar; it’s an honest product served in a straight-forward way. We let the ingredients speak for themselves without a lot of bells and whistles and source out great ingredients.
Tell me about the menu being “farm-to-table”. Why do you use this?
I am most concerned with the product being local. The whole ethos with ‘farm-to-table’ style to me is not a do it as a do-gooder thing, it’s about self-preservation. I am just interested in getting the best ingredients and usually the best ingredients are the ones you get without a middleman, you get from a friend. It’s a bit more expensive but it’s about making your customer happy. If I could take a 5 x 6 tomato that’s been shipped all around the country without a lot of flavor, color or taste- and if it tasted great overnight, I’d use it but the fact is that product doesn’t taste as good. If I want my customers to enjoy their meal and come back, I want to have the best product possible. It just happens, that product is around where you are. It helps that I’ve made relationships with some amazing producers of meat and vegetables. They’re my friends so I know it’s great and from a chef’s perspective I don’t have to do much to it. I can just add a little olive oil and sea salt. It makes my life easier to work with a great product and it also makes my customers happy so I stay in business.
CONTINUE READING RESTAURANT PROFILE: ALMOND.
