Restaurant Review: Pancakes at Hellbender, S&P Lunch, and Pitt’s

Pancake Soufflé at Pitt’sIt’s controversial that this dish, the flagship dessert at chef Jeremy Salamon’s proudly kitschy Purple Hook restaurant, isn’t really a pancake: no pan, no cake. But it surely evokes pancakehood in a unprecedented manner, by exploiting a soufflé’s important egginess. Usually, in a soufflé, the notes are masked by punchier parts, equivalent to boozy chocolate or sharp cheese. Right here, as in a correct pancake, the spherical, custardy taste of egg is a keypiece of the over-all story, together with white-sugar sweetness and an fringe of buttery-toasty flour. Upon arrival on the desk, a server dramatically slashes into the highest of the quivering soufflé and pours maple syrup into the crevasse, letting it seep into all of the ethereal puffs and bubbles of the tender inside. It’s the most effective form of intelligent hybrid—one which doesn’t get slowed down in its personal cleverness, and which playfully illuminates the basic joys of each pancakes and soufflés. Pitt’s is open for dinner solely, so that is, by necessity, extra of a night pancake; pair it with the restaurant’s tackle an espresso Martini, punched up with notes of coconut and blood orange, for a whole brunch-after-dark second. ♦