I’ve been following the career of chef John Doherty since the late 1980s, throughout his long tenure as executive chef overseeing all the food service at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where, at the age 27, he had to serve as much a field commander as a chef. Doherty left that storied caravansary (now nothing but another deluxe Park Avenue condo), and since 2016, with partner and boyhood friend Tom Struzzieri, has made Blackbarn into one of the NoMad neighborhood’s major draws for American cuisine with a wide net. (He’d run a Blackbarn Café in Chelsea Market, but that closed when Covid hit.)
The restaurant’s hangar-sized interior (formerly the elegant Italian ristorante SD26) is now built around rustic elements heavy in lumber, centered by what looks like a barn in the early stages of being erected. Hanging lights give it a glow within walls and ceilings that are dark gray or black. There’s a long bar room with an avid cocktail hour crowd that leads to the main dining space, with private dining rooms above and off to the side. The open kitchen blazes with additional light and a measured activity of cooks working the fiery grill.
When I first visited back in 2018, the noise level of a full house was deafening; on my return last month, with a room only about half full, conversation was amiably easy to carry on.
It’s worth noting that when Blackbarn Café was open, the menu announced it was all about “healthful eating,” with an emphasis on vegetables. You won’t see that phrase on Blackbarn’s menu, but anyone seeking whatever “healthful eating” is will find it amply represented in dishes like a charred corn and kale salad with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, quinoa, bacon lardons, baked ricotta and herbed butter milk ($21), as well as marvelously rich wild mushroom toast incorporating robiola, taleggio and parmesan cheeses along with watercress ($17). There is also a curried cauliflower steak seasoned with cilantro, yogurt, a summer salad, toasted pine nuts and pears ($29). One of the best among the dishes “to share” is the butternut squash ravioli with Swiss chard, toasted pumpkin seeds and bacon lardons ($32).
A true feinschmecker can pounce on the appetizer of bone marrow with manila clams and lemon herbed crumbs ($18), as well as on a lavish Mangalitsa charcuterie and aged cheese platter with housemaid pickles, whole grain mustard, honey comb, toasted and seasonal fruit ($32).
There is the inevitable olive oil-braised octopus, here done with roasted pepper, hummus, Fresno chilies, shaved fennel and preserved lemon gremolata ($26). And in a city whose restaurants are awash with pizzas, BlackBarn does a delicious one using black mission figs with spicy coppa, arugula, caramelized onions and truffle oil ($21).
There’s a “slow cooked” section to really get your teeth into, including luscious beef barbecued ribs with a chipotle/orange rub, crispy shoestring fries that are addictive and a cucumber salad ($42), and a big hearty beer-braised Cheshire pork shank with broccoli di rabe, butterball potatoes, sun-dried tomato, charred tomatillo relish and chicharrones ($38). If you go the seafood route, the crispy-skin striped bass with chanterelle mushrooms, crispy pancetta, grilled zucchini and creamy corn risotto ($42) is a terrific dish, while among the wood-grilled items the duck breast pastrami and sausage with local greens, cipollini, Spanish torta and a tangy black cherry gastrique with peppers ($42 ) is very unusual and very welcome. A side order of truffles ricotta with Parmesan ($15) is not something you should miss for the table.
Doherty prides himself on finding the best local ingredients, and the Union Square Market is nearby, so a cheese selection ($18) is quite special, with options like Bent River from Minnesota, Bailey Hazen blue from Vermont, Bouche de Lucay from France and Fire Florys Truckle from Iowa. The best fruits of autumn go into desserts (all $13), like a panna cotta with poached rhubarb strawberries and candied almonds. Two people can readily share the rum butterscotch bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and toffee sauce, and you may have a fight on your hands when the plate of apple cider donuts with caramel sauce hits the table.
The wine list hits on all categories, prices are about average mark-up, and ask the sommelier Andrija Tadejevic for his advice in your price range and for your palate.
I’m happy to see Blackbarn reopened and gaining its footage on a daily and nightly basis – brunch is very popular, and the tavern menu is too. It is all meant to be a very gregarious experience with food that just about everybody can glom onto with enormous pleasure and leave happy. John Doherty has always been such a pro that has ability to pass on what he knows and how to do it is daunting and you can taste it in every dish.
BLACKBARN
19 East 26th Street
212-265-5959
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
