Long Wharf artistic director Gordon Edelstein was across from me, and we stopped talking mid-sentence — thunderstruck — after our first bite of the foie gras roast chicken served at Rotisserie Georgette. All we heard from our seatmates was, “Oh, my god!”
What Georgette Farkas and executive chef Chad Brauze are serving in this casually chic Upper East Side restaurant is arguably the best roast chicken in America. Sure, it helps to add a wild mushroom stuffing, and top the bird with foie gras; I mean, you could do that to a tire and it would taste delicious…but that’s not the secret to this dish, at least I don’t think so.
As Georgette Farkas says, “We are what we eat.” Her chickens are raised in the very best way on a simple, small farm near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they eat a wonderful diet, roam around, and read great works of literature. These are chickens crossed with a French breed, brined just so, air-chilled for days in the restaurant kitchen, then placed in a large French rotisserie oven that I’d be proud to display in my living room.
What I’m describing is “Poule de Luxe,” an amusing, slightly naughty French term, never mind why, at $36 per person. While sides are extra, it’s a steal considering how knock-out good this is. And, yes, please spring for the $8 rotisserie potatoes that sit at the bottom of the oven catching the chicken juices as the birds go round and round. “We have no shame about occasional decadence,” says Georgette, who spent many years at the right hand of chef Daniel Boulud, her mentor and friend.
In the end, this is French country cooking at its best, using the finest ingredients, and treating them with the respect they deserve. Talent is also no small ingredient in the recipe that makes this restaurant soar.
If you prefer, there is a simpler roasted half chicken with a choice of four sauces. The roasted trumpet royale mushrooms served with basil pesto are also outstanding. ($9.) And to the surprise of many, the restaurant is doing whole fish in the rotisserie.
For those interested in a feast to celebrate a special occasion, give the restaurant 72 hours notice, and they will prepare a whole suckling pig with sausage stuffing; a whole Hudson Valley Spring Lamb with rosemary-garlic jus, a whole Jamison Farm leg of lamb with a Nicoise olive stuffing, and a whole rabbit with a morel, fava and pancetta stuffing.
I’m saving my pennies to return as soon as possible to have the chicken again, and to taste the one thing I meant to order — a baked Idaho potato filled with parmesan mashed potatoes, crisped in the oven.
Seriously, this place is heaven on earth. No wonder the reviews have been excellent and there’s a crowd even on hot summer weeknights. Dress is casual and smart, although you see everything from jeans to suits.
Rotisserie Georgette, 14 East 60th, between 5th and Madison.
