Michelin-Starred NYC Restaurant The Musket Room Develops a Winter Menu
“I’ve been begging Chef to put pasta on the menu,” says the Musket Room pastry chef Camari Mick. “She’s getting her Christmas wish,” responds executive chef Mary Attea. The two are testing out a new dish for the Michelin-starred restaurant’s winter menu, and it’s this kind of collaborative environment and inspiration from multiple people in the kitchen that make the spot so special.
For this dish, Mick rolls out her freshly made pasta dough, and adds a dollop of a prawn, lemon, and fennel frond mixture in the center, then folds it up into a tortellini shape. Once it’s cooked, Attea ladles shellfish fennel broth over it, and tops it with scampi roe.
The next dish they test out is a heritage pork rib loin, partly inspired by Attea’s Lebanese background. “Pulling from my heritage, it has a lot of those spices, the baharat mix, which is cinnamon, allspice, clove, peppercorn — a lot of different flavors,” she says, as her sous chef Max Cruz trims the meat away from the ribs. The pork is marinated with date syrup and aleppo pepper before it’s grilled and plated with pickled butternut squash ribbons. “I think it brings together this nostalgia of a pork barbecue dish with a side of pickles, but for me with notes that are familiar from my childhood,” Attea says.
“I’ve never been a person who has responded well to someone yelling at me,” she continues, regarding the collaborative environment she’s created. “I find people learn most and respect you most when you lead with compassion and leadership and understanding.”
See more collaborations and development of the Musket Room’s winter menu by watching the video.
