PROSPECT HEIGHTS
As soon as you walk in, you know you’ll be back. A regular (you can just tell) is perched at the end of the bar, sipping something soothing and flipping through the Times. Each of the restaurant’s ten tables glows with a single votive, supplementing the early-evening light that slants in from the windows facing Carlton Avenue. A plush, deep-brown leather bench runs the length of one long wall, wrapping around the corners and forming the best tables at either end. By the time you’ve tucked in with a James’ Revenge (rye, Cointreau, sweet vermouth, bitters, blood orange) and a plate of grilled brioche and soft butter with chives and sea salt, you feel as comfortable as that guy at the bar. Which is exactly what chef Bryan Calvert and his wife, Deborah Williamson, were going for when they opened in August 2008. James is a neighborhood place that’s serious about food, but not so serious that it loses its identity as a neighborhood place.
A dozen years earlier, Calvert had moved to Prospect Heights as a young cook with more ambition than rent money. Back then the space that now houses James was a bodega with bulletproof glass between the customer and the register. But as Calvert’s career developed—he was Rocco DiSpirito’s sous chef at Union Pacific in Manhattan and a partner at Café Atlas before opening a catering company, Williamson Calvert, with Deborah—so did the neighborhood. In 2005 the bodega morphed into a New American restaurant called Sorrel. But Sorrel, maybe a couple years ahead of its time for the location, never quite clicked. When the owners decided to sell, Calvert and Williamson, who were living in the apartment directly upstairs (and still are), leaped at the chance to open their own place.
The menu reflects the chef’s big-city training filtered through Williamson’s more relaxed sensibility. “She kinda reins me in,” says Calvert, whose food can feel familiar (burger with New York cheddar on brioche with herb fries), adventurous (cauliflower soup with smoked sturgeon, Marcona almonds, and lovage oil), or somewhere in between (quail with duck sausage, Brussels sprouts, and hazelnuts). Sweetbreads are almost always on the menu, mainly because Bryan loves them but also because his mother went into labor while eating a plate of them in a West Village café. (Another family theme in the James story: The restaurant is named after Bryan’s great-grandfather, a New York chef named James Calvert.) While Calvert’s generous portions make it easy to skip dessert, don’t. There are usually at least five or six choices, the ricotta beignets on page 160 often among them.
SERVES 6 For the soup
2 slices thick-cut boar bacon* or regular bacon, cut crosswise into ¼-inch cubes
1 bunch spring or summer onions with greens, about 1¾ pounds
2 ramps or 6 garlic chives 2 shallots
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
1 cup chopped spinach leaves
¼ cup dry white wine
1 fresh thyme sprig
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup grated Pecorino Fiori Sardo or Pecorino Romano cheese
For the croutons
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¼ cup small cubes sourdough or country bread
What better way to usher in the spring than with a spring onion soup? The onions have a fragrant, mellow flavor that goes well with the sharpness of the Pecorino and the richness of the lardon. “It’s a simple soup that has straightforward flavors and is fairly easy to make,” says chef Bryan Calvert. “And I think it really captures the essence of that spring freshness.” The homemade croutons may seem like extra fuss, but they’re worth the effort. They add crunch and somehow bring all the flavors together.
1. To make the soup, in a medium saucepan, cook the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy.
2. Meanwhile, clean the onions and ramps by separating the green tops from the white bulbs. Rinse thoroughly. Chop the onion bulbs, ramp bulbs, and shallots into medium dice. Coarsely chop the greens from the ramps, garlic, and onions.
3. Remove the bacon from the pot, leaving behind the rendered fat. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the butter. Add the diced onion bulbs, ramp bulbs, and shallots. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender but not brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the onion greens, ramp greens, and spinach and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the wine, increase the heat to medium high, and cook until the wine evaporates, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 4 cups water and the thyme sprig. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes more. Discard the thyme. Transfer the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pot over low heat and season with salt and pepper. Adjust the consistency with water and heat until warmed through.
5. To make the croutons, melt the butter in a small sauté pan over mediumhigh heat. Add the bread cubes, toss to coat, and cook until the bread is golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
6. To serve, divide the soup among 6 soup bowls and top with lardon, grated cheese, and croutons.
MAKES 12 TO 14 BEIGNETS; SERVES 4 OR 5
For the beignet batter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons honey
½ pound cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh sheep’s-milk ricotta cheese or whole cow’s-milk ricotta*
Grated zest of ½ lemon
3 large eggs
¼ cup whole milk ¼ cup heavy cream
For the red wine berry coulis (makes 1⅓ cups)
½ cup dry red wine
½ cup granulated sugar
1 pint fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish
1 pint fresh blueberries, plus more for garnish
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for garnish
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 large eggs, lightly beaten Vegetable oil, for frying
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
This dessert might sound like the product of some haute kitchen in New Orleans, but chef Bryan Calvert puts the inspiration much closer to home. “The cheesecake is so Brooklyn, it’s a take on that,” he says. Calvert’s referring to what the beignets are, essentially, before the frying oil transforms them. Add the berry coulis, though, and this dessert becomes something wholly new. (You won’t use all the coulis, but that’s good; refrigerate and save for drizzling over vanilla ice cream.) The ideal time to make this dish is mid- to late summer, at the height of berry season.
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. To make the beignet batter, combine the granulated sugar, honey, and cream cheese in a bowl with an electric mixer and cream until smooth. Add the ricotta and zest, and mix until combined. Add 1 egg at a time, incorporating each one fully before adding the next. Add the milk and cream.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and place it in a large shallow baking pan. Prepare a water bath by filling the baking pan with hot water so that it comes halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
4. Remove the cake pan from the water bath, transfer to a rack, and cool, about 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, to make the coulis, combine the wine, granulated sugar, 1 pint raspberries, and 1 pint blueberries in a nonreactive saucepan. Simmer and reduce until the mixture starts to thicken, about 30 minutes. Press through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, extracting as much liquid as possible with the back of a spoon or a spatula; discard the seeds and skins. Set aside to cool. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
6. When the cake is cool, mix the cornstarch and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Place the coconut in a separate small bowl and the eggs in a third bowl. Use a 2-ounce ice cream scoop to carefully form the beignets from the cake. Coat the beignets with the sugar mixture, then dip them in the egg and roll in the coconut.
7. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep fryer or deep pot until it registers 325°F on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches, fry the beignets, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the beignets with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel.
8. To serve, place the sauce on a plate. Arrange 3 beignets on top of the sauce and garnish with the remaining raspberries, blueberries, or a mix of both, and the mint sprigs. Dust the beignets with confectioners’ sugar.
* Boar bacon, available in specialty groceries and online at dartagnan.com, is meatier and heartier than pork bacon; it also has one third less fat.
