New Heights soared into summer 2014 engorged by the aromas, flavors, textures, soil and vapors that make summer cooking such an indispensable part of the American dream summer.
“This is something we carry over from the last two summers’ Chesapeake Crab Boil,” says New Heights’ owner, Amarjeet “Umbi” Singh. “Special tasting meals where the cooking captures the irrepressible, thick nostalgia of summer. July’s farm-themed suckling pig summer plate did just that, captured the mood of languid summer cookouts.”
For August’s American Dream Summer Plate menu, Exec Chef Takeshi Nishikawa and Pastry Chef Donald Smith leave the farm and take to the Atlantic seaboard.
“The idea is to translate a New England clam bake into an East Coast summer seafood feast in the city,” explains Nishikawa.
The August four-course tasting menu features grilled Maine lobster tail split in the shell but “lightens it up with local and regional influences, like an aerated Béarnaise sauce with Old Bay seasoning and a Waldorf Salad.” An urbane take on seafood gumbo is Nishikawa’s second course, Spaghettini Agloi E Olio with house-made pasta. Chef Smith finds inspiration in the colonial cobbler but contemporizes and perfumes the tradition by joining peaches with blackberries and converting wild lavender into a fragrant, flavorful lavender ice cream. Smith likes “the way the floral aroma of the lavender tempers the sharpness of the fruit.”
Still in design is September’s American Dream Summer Plate. Early “theme” musings play off the nostalgia of meals cooked late summer and the poignant sentiments of “harvesting a garden as summer rolls out,” reminisces Singh. Truth be told, a summer without those classic summer dishes is not an American summer to speak of.
New Height’s August American Dream Summer Plate menu
1st course
Waldorf Salad
Curled celery, julienned and lemon compressed apple, candied walnuts with lemon vinaigrette
2nd course
Spaghettini Aglio e Olio
Squid, cubed shrimp, lobster claws and knuckles over a light pasta preparation dressed with olive oil, garlic, shallots, pimente d’esplette, lemon juice, dashi, parsley, white wine
Entrée
Grilled Maine Lobster Tail And Baby Red Bliss Potato Salad
Grilled 1.5 pound lobster tail split in shell served with charred corn and baby red bliss potato salad dressed with crème fraiche, mayonnaise, chive, lemon juice, black pepper and salt, lardon of linguica, topped with aerated Old Bay Béarnaise sauce
Dessert
Peach-Blackberry Cobbler with house-made lavender ice cream.
For additional information, please contact Amarjeet (“Umbi”) Singh at 202.234.4110.
ABOUT NEW HEIGHTS
New Heights Restaurant, Gin Joint & Babinga Bar has been serving Washingtonians contemporary American cuisine and top-shelf libations since 1986. The cozy, exotic Gin Joint and Babinga Bar feature a large inventory of exceptional gins (65+), spirits, fine wines and cocktails.
media by:
J. Garrett Glover | jgarrettglover.com
