December 4, 2023 Issue

Funny, I was thinking of April Bloomfield earlier this week as I considered launching a new series on my blog called “Top Ten New Yorker Food Pieces.” One of the pieces I was thinking of including is Lauren Collins’ brilliant “Burger Queen” (November 22, 2010). It’s a profile of Bloomfield when she was chef at the Michelin-starred New York restaurant Spotted Pig. And now this week’s New Yorker arrives, containing Helen Rosner’s delectable “Tables for Two” review of Sailor, a new Fort Greene restaurant. Who is Sailor’s chef? None other than the great April Bloomfield. It appears she hasn’t lost her touch. Rosner describes Bloomfield’s stuffed radicchio:

Slicing into the sphere of wrapped radicchio leaves, I discovered an interior of fragrant rice studded with firm, creamy borlotti beans. Taking a bite of this mixture, bathed in a wine sauce—which was rich and emulsified and, I learned later, vegan—was like sinking into a quicksand of warmth and flavor. The leaves of the radicchio imparted a lingering hint of bitterness, a scalpel through the savory roundness of everything else. This is the dish, I thought to myself—the dish of the restaurant, perhaps the dish of the year.

That’s from the newyorker.com version of Rosner’s review. If radicchio isn’t your thing, try Bloomfield’s roasted chicken:

The roasted chicken for two is excellent, with burnished skin and tender, herb-infused flesh. It is served directly on top of a pile of Parmesan-roasted potatoes and garlicky braised chard, which absorb all the golden drippings and nearly eclipse the pleasures of the bird itself. 

Mm, I’ll have that, please.