Pete Wells Finds the Light in the Upper West Side’s Culinary Abyss

There is now a solid new restaurant recommendation for the Upper West Side, according to Pete Wells. The Times critic notes it was previously a struggle to recommend a restaurant between Lincoln Center and Columbia University, that is, until the arrival of White Gold Butchers in October. “I’ve come across some [restaurants], but I could never convince myself that any of them were worth a special trip,” he writes.

At April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman’s new restaurant/ butcher shop, Wells likes seemingly everything he tries. Here he is on some of his favorites:

As good as it felt to lose myself in tender pork and caramelized milk, the high point of that dinner was beef carpaccio. White Gold now makes my favorite version of this classic Italian dish in New York. The toppings are sliced white mushrooms, parsley leaves and pickled broccoli stems. I’d never given much thought to pickled broccoli stems before, but now I think their highest use is with darkly lush sheets of raw beef furred over with fine white horseradish gratings.

Wells is also particularly enamored by White Gold’s crispy layered potato: “They are crunchy and delicate and impossible to stop eating.”

White Gold’s version of chopped cheese falls flat, and the interior design lacks energy, but Wells is baffled by the ease of getting a table at a Bloomfield/Friedman restaurant. He notes: “Where is everybody? People, April Bloomfield is cooking meat, one of the things she does best.” A statement now obsolete since he has published a glowing two star review.

• White Gold Butchers Slices to the Point: Meats Cooked Simply [NYT]