Rue 57

Nation's Restaurant News, March 20, 2000 by Varsha Mahtani

Of late French brasseries have been popping up around New York City. A trend that was spurred with the success of Balthazar has continued with the reopening of The Brasserie and recent opening of Rue 57. Yet what sets the latter apart is that the restaurant serves sushi in addition to the dishes that are typically offered at French brasseries.

"Originally, the idea was to do shellfish," executive chef Sam Hazen says. "Knowing the capacity of the restaurant and knowing the size of my kitchen, that wasn't really going to do much for me."

It was at his suggestion that sushi became a part of Rue 57's menu. Hazen, who previously had worked at B.R. Guest Restaurants, credits his experience there with influencing him to offer sushi. Some of the group's seafood restaurants, such as Atlantic Grill and Blue Water Grill, offer a sushi bar along with a shellfish bar. Hazen approached Rue 57's owner, Marc Packer, with the idea, and the two agreed on the concept.

"What [serving sushi] allows me to do is to take the pressure off of the kitchen downstairs," Hazen says. "And it does because if we do 100 covers, out of those 100 covers, 20 of them could be sushi. That's 20 items I don't have to worry about. So it's a twist on the brasserie idea with a shellfish bar and brasserie. I thought it would be something different that no one else was doing."

Sushi chef Charlie Oh, formerly of Planet Sushi, along with Hazen came up with the sushi menu, which incorporates traditional sushi with items with a more unique spin. The sushi menu offers a variety of tuna, which includes fatty tuna, yellowtail and an assortment of hamachi.

The entrees, which Hazen and Packer spent months creating and testing, provide a twist on the typical French brasserie menu. According to Hazen, Packer asked him to do a French onion soup. Playing on the American tradition of soup and a sandwich, Hazen's answer was the grilled three-cheese sandwich served with a confit of onions, apple salad and a miniature French onion soup. The lunch item has become quite popular, with about 40 or SO sold each day.

The desserts stray from the typical French. Influenced by the ingredients of Asia and aware of the theme of Rue 57, pastry chef Colleen Grapes mixes up the classic creme brulee by adding kaffir lime to its preparation. Another example is found in the lemon tart, which has black sesame in its crust.

STEAK FRITES
CLASSIC STEAK
FRITES                                    23.00
20 oz                                     32.00
STEAK AU POIVRE with pommes frites        24.00
RUE 57 GRILLED SIRLOIN BURGER
 with Roquefort and pommes frites         12.00
ENTREES
POTATO CRUSTED SALMON with melted
leeks, cremini mushroom ragout and barolo
 sauce                                    18.50
RUE 57 HERB ROASTED CHICKEN with
haricots verts, roasted garlic
 and natural jus                          18.00
BOUILLABAISSE                             22.00
PAN ROASTED VEAL CHOP "Grand
 Mere"                                    24.00
Sushi
Maguro * Tuna                              3.00
Ama Ebi * Sweet shrimp                     4.25
Mirugai * Giant Clam                       4.95
MARl & TEMAKI
Spicy Tuna Roll                            7.00
Yellowtail-Scallion Roll                   7.00
Salmon, avocado
 crab roll                                14.50

LES PLATS DU JAPONAIS RUE 57 PLATTER: FOR 1 = 25.00 FOR 2 = 48.00

2 pieces sweet shrimp, 2 pieces BBQ eel, 2 pieces yellowtail, 1 fresh crabmeat California roll, with spicy lemon dressing, and black sesame

Dessert

WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE with chai tea ice cream

BANANA UPSIDE-DOWN SUNDAE

With Bananas Foster, spiced waffle and vanilla ice cream

BARTLETT PEAR TARTE TATAIN

With creme fraiche ice cream

All desserts $7.00

Location: Midtown Manhattan

Concept: French brasserie and sushi bar

Opened: Dec. 1, 1999

Capacity: 225

Covers: 400-800

Check average: $30, lunch; $40, dinner

Clientele: tourists, New Yorkers and food enthusiasts

Best-selling dishes: pan-seared Chilean sea bass with celery root remoulade wild mushrooms and red-wine sauce, lunch; classic steak frites, dinner

Worst-selling dish: brandade

Menu-maker: Executive chef Sam Hazen

Owner: Marc Packer