Melt|The Best Park Slope Has to Offer

Melt
440 Bergen Street @ 5th Ave (Park Slope)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
347-756-5522
www.meltnyc.com
Open Mon 5:30pm-10pm; Tue-Thu 5:30pm-11pm; Fri 5:30pm-12am; Sat 10:30am-12am; Sun 10:30am-10pm

A few months ago I had the pleasure of interviewing the Top Chef Season 4 contestant, New Zealand born chef Mark Simmons for Debonair Magazine.  At the time he was co-executive chef at Get Fresh Market & Table also in Park Slope.  He has since moved on, however to what I assumed would have been greener pastures.  Get Fresh is about as green as you can get.  It’s organic, fresh, and the menu changes based on what’s available.  The name Melt invokes images of tuna and cheese, grilled cheese, cheese fondue…lots of cheese, and hardly green. 

Last month Mark hosted a tasting menu on a Tuesday night, and I thought it might be nice to check it out.  At first glance, Melt hardly looks greener.  It has a trendy vibe.  The interior is sober & modern in a West Elm sort of way.  The bar is well stocked and neatly displayed.  They have beautiful dark hardwood floors and a glass storefront that opens to Bergen Street.  The design hardly matches the name, and I would come to find out that the food – the most important factor makes you forget you even cared about the other two.

My fried Andrew joined me for the meal.  The offering was a 5-course tasting menu for $25 plus wine pairings for an additional $20.  We started witha roasted butternut squash soup with a basil pine nut dumpling.  The soup was creamy without being overbearing.  The dumpling – more like a potato croquette added some crunch to the smoothness of the soup.  The wine pairing was perfect!  They gave us a 2006 Tinto Grio from Portugal.  It is a light red; a little bit sweet, but dry enough to balance out the sweetness of the soup.

The next course was a Nicoise Salad made with iceberg lettuce, olives, seared tuna, soft boiled quail eggs, and a champagne vinaigrette paired with Elderlen Unoaked Chardonnay, 2008 Australia.  I’m not usually a huge fan of chardonnay, but this one is exquisite!  Again the wine balance out the food – a dish dominated by the tuna, but completed by the divine quail eggs. 

The first of two meat courses was a rack of lamb with sweet potato puree and sauteed spinach paired with a California Cabernet Sauvignon.  I’m a huge fan of lamb, and this cut was just gamy enough.  I don’t like when lamb is too mellow.  That’s why I order lamb – for the flavor!  This was bold, but the sweetness of the squash mellowed the pungent meat.  And again the wine pairing was spot on.

The second meat course was a beer braised pork short rib with baby broccoli & potato gratin paired with an Aglionico from Italy, 2006.  This wine had notes of pepper, allspice, chocolate, & blackberry – bolder flavors than the fall-off-the-bone short rib.  Oddly, upon finishing this course neither of us felt overly full.  Satisfied, but not stuffed.  Isn’t that how all meals should be? 

Finally, for dessert we had tapioca pudding with maple glazed figs and a 2006 German Reisling.  There was a certain saltiness and spiciness to the pudding – perhaps from nutmeg.  I’m of the thought that dessert doesn’t have to be overly sweet, but just sweet enough.  I could eat cheese for dessert.  Anything paired with the perfect wine works.  And this entire meal worked.  And not only did it work, but it left me thinking about how to justify it in print, and four weeks later here I am reciting it mostly from memory and urging all ye Eating Brooklyn readers to try this place out.  I forgot that I thought the design was cold, and that the name, Melt made no sense at first and just enjoyed the warm food.

Andy & I ordered a follow-up glass of the Tinto Grio and discussed the name.  We concluded it must have something to do with the melting of flavors, cultures, and emotions that went into the meal.  We left satisfied, pleased, and not much poorer – out about $60 each for what I think is one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in Brooklyn or anywhere else.

~Sam