Zoe Restaurant By Chef Zoe Feigenbaum

Zoë Feigenbaum's parsley penchant

Zoë Feigenbaum is obsessed with parsley.

During our smashing meal at Feigenbaum's brand-new namesake restaurant, Zoë, on the Lower East Side, the underrated plant appeared on so many plates, we feared she was in need of an herb intervention.

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But oh, how her runaway applications worked.

Turkey rillettes ($9) were laced with a thunderclap of Parmesan, anchovy and capers, finished with a sprig of Italian parsley and flanked by a toasted baguette stump cracked open down the middle.

Likewise, flat-leaf parsley garnished plates of pickled eggs with fried shallots ($5) and a Mediterranean lamb diptych ($12), its breast disassembled into a fried nugget and melting ribs and served with pickled cherry tomatoes and a dill-heavy tzatziki.

Then the herb segued into a featured role, appearing in a muscular radicchio salad ($11) tossed with endive and a creamy garlic and anchovy dressing–a Caesar on steroids.

Most revelatory of all was parsley's final showing. For dessert, Feigenbaum set an old-time English eggless custard, posset ($8), on a graham-cracker crust. The crumbling base was studded with both parsley and tarragon, a startling counterpoint to the silky lemon filling.

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"Sure, parsley is a garden-variety f$%&ing herb, but it's so underloved," notes Feigenbaum. Point proven.

Zoë, 245 Eldridge St. (at E. Houston St.); 646-559-5962 or zoerestaurantnyc.com

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