Chef Alain Allegretti, the chef elevating the delicacies at hotspot Fig & Olive
All of us might use somewhat joie de vivre today. Because the autumn chill begins to set in, the times get shorter, and life not fairly absolutely again to regular, we’re on the lookout for little escapes wherever we are able to discover them.
One chef, Alain Allegretti, has made that his mission. The French-born, award-winning chef of Fig & Olive is recreating the south-of-France life-style, one salad niçoise at a time, and in doing so, is elevating the already widespread restaurant model to a different degree all collectively.
On a current go to to expertise Chef Allegretti’s new menu on the group’s Meatpacking District location, I used to be taken to the Cote d’Azur, by means of Spain’s northern coast, the Italian Riviera, and somewhat little bit of Paris thrown in for good measure.
Fig & Olive, a restaurant group with six places throughout the nation, might look like an unlikely touchdown spot for Allegretti. The chef paid his dues in Michelin-starred eating places all through France and New York together with the three-star culinary temple Le Louis XV in Monte Carlo beneath Alain Ducasse. He was lauded because the “king of recent French delicacies” by the New York Occasions and says that he’s excited on the prospect of elevating the bar Fig & Olive, which is previously identified extra for its informal fare than its now world-class delicacies.
Allegretti was employed by Fig & Olive’s new CEO Alexis Blair, who acknowledged that as difficult because the previous 18 months have been for everybody in all avenues of hospitality, the chance for reinvention was an excessive amount of to withstand.
“As we glance to the long run and to a powerful emergence from the pandemic, it’s our objective to offer our friends one thing thrilling whereas nonetheless staying dedicated to the core DNA of our eating places,” she says. “Chef Allegretti’s fashion of cooking permits us to do precisely that. It’s our mission that with every go to our friends really feel as if they’re being transported to the South of France and that we encourage the joie de vivre spirit in every of them.”
From my firsthand expertise, I can let you know {that a} go to does.
To start out, the ethereal Meatpacking District location was buzzy and vibrant on a Saturday night time with a classy crowd filling the tables and an “I’m on trip temper” within the air. The wine listing had artistic and reasonably priced alternatives from everywhere in the Mediterranean whereas the cocktails and tequilas, mezcals and different spirits had been expansive and attention-grabbing.
Branzino a la Plancha at Fig & Olive
Now let’s get into the meals—it took me straight to the South of France the place I’ve been many instances earlier than and regard as one of many high culinary locations on the earth. No matter you eat is colourful, contemporary and sings of the present season
Fig & Olive is not any completely different. One dish trumped the subsequent from the numerous crostini to the pink and yellow beets and stuffed eggplant with confit greens. Black cavatelli with shrimp, prosciutto, Calabrian chili and sea urchin was advanced, but easy and loaded with taste, and the branzino a la plancha- wow. Completely crispy pores and skin, moist fish and the sort of dish you’ll be able to eat on a regular basis.
Desserts made for a refreshing ending—one which wasn’t sickly candy. The citrus crème brulee with grapefruit granita and the lemon rosemary bundt cake with pine nut brittle are as worthy of acclaim because the programs earlier than and simply the way in which we needed to cap the night time.
Right here’s a enjoyable truth: I’ve adopted Allegretti for a number of years on Instagram and drool over the meals photos he posts. If there’s one chef on social media that resonates with me probably the most, it’s him. To go to Fig & Olive, meet him and style the delicacies I’ve been admiring nearly for therefore lengthy was like a fantasy come true and one which I need to dwell once more.
“I’m thrilled to convey among the dishes which have been the glory of The South of France and including my distinctive twists to the menu for friends to expertise a real style of the areas of the Mediterranean Sea,” he informed me. “It’s my hope to convey friends on a culinary journey by way of the coasts of the Mediterranean and the flexibility to seize the true that means of “joie de vivre” eating – conjuring moments of happiness that may go away friends craving the Fig & Olive expertise.”
Sure, Chef Allegretti we do crave it and are actually regulars who will come time and again to get our repair.