Whether you are a traditionalist or an iconoclast when it comes to Easter brunch, New York has its share of prospects for a memorable celebration of the season of rebirth. Here are just a few to consider as the spring holiday draws nearer.
Chef David Burke straddles the fence at his flagship restaurant David Burke Tavern where the Easter Brunch menu courts tradition with a rack of spring lamb but throws caution to the wind with a first course of bacon strips suspended from a clothesline and brought up to temperature with a blowtorch. Other options on the $75 three-course menu include steak and eggs accompanied by roasted potatoes and chicken with waffles. When dessert rolls around so does the option of a cake lollipop tree garnished with cotton candy and bubble gum whipped cream. A second brunch menu with its own array of enticements will be available on Easter at the Tavern’s new sister restaurant, Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke. David Burke Tavern, 135 E 62nd St., 212-988-9021.
At José Andrés’s Zatinya, at the Ritz Carlton in NoMad, Easter celebrants can look forward to being treated to limited-time specials such as the chef’s lamb shoulder smoked over cherry wood and served with the Lebanese garlic sauce toum, harissa, tzatziki, and lettuce leaves. The restaurant’s classic menu will also be on hand along with special brunch cocktails such as the Argos Melon Mimosa, made with Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Champagne, and orange. Easter brunch will be available Saturday, March 30, as well as on Easter (March 31), from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Zatinya, 1185 Broadway (at 28th St.), 212-804-9070.
If there was an annual award for most unorthodox Easter brunch, this year’s winner would be YAO, which opened in January in the financial district. A seven-course tasting menu, known as “Jia Yan,” will bring diners face to face with the likes of gold leaf-wrapped fried abalone, longevity noodles with wild octopus, and grilled Angus short ribs. The cost is $138 per person with a two-person minimum. The restaurant’s à la carte menu will also be available. YAO, 213 Pearl Street (at Maiden Lane), 917-265-8119.
One of the bonuses of reserving at Wallsé this time of year is its proximity to Washington Square Park, where you can preface brunch with a leisurely stroll amidst the cherry blossoms in full bloom before heading to the restaurant. The menu captures the spirit of spring with a white asparagus salad accompanied by smoked trout and radishes and a spring pea soup with ricotta ravioli and mint oil. Wiener schnitzel, a nod to Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner’s Austrian roots, arrives in the company of a potato and cucumber salad adorned with lingonberries. The $105 menu will be offered between noon and 7 p.m. Wallsee, on the Danube River 80 miles outside of Vienna, is the name of the village where Gutenbrunner grew up. Wallsé, 344 W 11th Street, 212-352-2300.
Veteran Michelin-recognized French bistro La Goulue, a perennial favorite, will host a two-course prix fixe Easter Brunch menu with a choice of an appetizer and a main course. Options will include la tartine d’avocat, France’s answer to avocado toast, served in this instance with pickled tomatoes and lime cilantro coulis. Purists will find comfort in the gigot d’agneau, roasted leg of lamb with the traditional garniture of flageolets, garlic and tomato confit, and simple jus. The per-person cost is $86 — $43 for children under 12. La Goulue, 29 E. 61st Street, 212-988-8169.
Are you feeling the pinch this year? If you are, there’s no harm in admitting it. “Times is ‘ard,” as Mrs. Lovett laments in “Sweeney Todd,” and Kintsugi Omakase, tucked away on the fringes of SoHo, Tribeca, and Hudson Square, may well be the answer to your budgetary woes. I know: Raw fish isn’t typical Easter fare … at least not on this continent. But on Easter Sunday between the hours of noon and 3 p.m., Kintsugi will will be offering its newly launched “lunch rush omakase,” a 12-course, one-hour experience — and all for a modest $60 per person. Kintsugi Omakase, 28 Grand Street, 646-983-4616.
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