Butter NYC

Lou and I are obsessed with reality cooking competitions, particularly Chopped and Iron Chef. We have a goal of visiting a restaurant of each Chopped judge and American Iron Chef. This weekend we managed to hit a two for one by visiting Iron Chef and frequent Chopped judge Alex Guarnaschelli’s restaurant Butter in Midtown Manhattan.

Indoor dining has just reopened in NYC, but we managed to eat in the garden even though it was a chilly February evening. The roof is retractable and the ample heaters make it feel warm and cozy. We started the evening off with drinks, Lou had a local beer, Coded Tiles from LIC Beer Project and I had a smokey whiskey cocktail.

Lou and I dining in the garden at Butter.

Alex Gurnaschelli often has AMAs on her Instagram feed and she recently shared her recommendations for what to order at Butter. We followed her advice and were so glad we did. We started with the Parkerhouse Rolls which honestly I could eat a whole basket of and call it a meal. They come with a trio of butter, salt & pepper, mixed herbs, and shallot. We also split the cavatappi pasta which was served with lamb sausage and a yellow tomato sauce. For the entrees, I had the tobacco smoked pork chop with smashed sweet potatoes and Lou had what is probably the best steak either of us has ever had. It was a New York Strip with hen of the woods mushrooms and a red wine reduction. For dessert, we had the raspberry beignets with a vanilla dipping sauce.

The smoked pork chop.

This was an unforgettable meal and the perfect way for us to kick off our Valentine’s weekend staycation. We can’t wait for our next trip to Butter.