My favorite thing about eating at Hearth, besides the wonderful, seasonal food and the superb wine list (without the typical east village wino hauteur), is sitting in "the pass"-- a tiny little bar in front of the kitchen where you can eat dinner while watching the chefs at work and hopefully score some conversation and tastes of whatever they are cooking. If you havent tried it, this fine-dining plus-foodie-entertainment is the way to go. Watch the intricate dance of a flawless kitchen, where raw ingredients are transformed in front of you in mere minutes into this:
Granted, there is a lot of stuff you don't want to see, either, such as how much butter and salt (literally handfuls) are being thrown around. But the insider's view of how spectacular food is made is fascinating every time, and makes dishes like these taste even better:
THIS is the fava bean salad I have been looking for all my life. Finally, the right kind of young pecorino toscano (that no one seems to have, ever), super pungent and fruity olive oil, and lots of mint.
The chef said, "you should have some gnocchi." And put this in front of me.
Halibut en papillote. Beautiful.
"I'm too full for dessert!", I protested. Luckily, the chef knew better.
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