This article appeared in Time Magazine on Tuesday, Apr. 27, 2010

-Written by Josh Ozersky

Chefs of the Future! This is the second of a three-part series examining how restaurants will work in the years to come.

You know that big, hot restaurant that opened up a few months ago downtown? The one that all [insert your city here] is abuzz about? Chances are that new restaurant is in a hotel or condominium. Nearly every major restaurant that has opened in the last year has been, and it’s likely to remain that way. The most ambitious new restaurant in America, Chicago’s L20, a true temple of gastronomy on the Michelin 3-star model, is located in a luxury apartment building. The same is true of New York’s Locanda Verde, Miami’s Eos, and the entire culinary Mecca that is Las Vegas. It’s just too expensive to build out a big, freestanding place, and too hard to get credit from the bank. (See pictures of what the world eats.)

So how does a young chef in a mid-sized city get to open a great restaurant?

The answer is obvious: he has to find a hotel or condo partner. That’s how Anthony Goncalves came to have his own 210-seat restaurant, 42 in White Plains, N.Y., by the age of 37. Goncalves, who was short on experience and long on talent and hustle, bypassed the usual path of unpaid potato peeler rising up through the ranks. He didn’t even go to cooking school. Today, his 27,000 square-foot restaurant sits atop the tallest building between Boston and New York, and its six dining rooms serve his sui generis brand of cookery (think clams and house-made chorizo in vino verde sauce with spiced caviar) to an enamored clientele of local grandees. The fact that the chef has perfected the “bad boy” look doesn’t hurt. The ladies are smitten with his wavy black hair and the flirtatious twinkle in his eye, and the men see him as a guy’s guy, a local product who shares their worldview and would never intimidate them with prissy haute cuisine. (See a TIME special on the Top 10 Protected Foods.)

The key, as always, is capital. Chefs have traditionally relied on investors for their projects, with the biggest names generally attracting the most generous sugar daddies. A young chef like Goncalves, with no training and an ethnic perspective (Portuguese-American) that doesn’t have a real audience even in most big cities, wouldn’t have stood a chance. A former nightlife promoter, he got his parents to invest in 1997 in a small bar called Trotters Tavern, which was later up-scaled, expanded, and renamed Trotters. (There was no worry about the place being confused with megachef Charlie Trotter, since Goncalves had never heard of him.)

Goncalves didn’t have any real experience, but he was charismatic, and assiduous in the way he courted his customers; he has the Clinton-esque gift of making everybody he talks to feel like the most important person in the room, and that has served him well. Louis Capelli was a Trotters regular; the developer was working on a Westchester Ritz-Carlton and wanted to have a marquee restaurant on the top floor. He made the deal with Goncalves. “I didn’t care what his background was,” says Capelli. “He had the dedication, the sincerity, the way of treating customers. I could see he wanted to do more. He was the right person.” “He made my dream come true,” Goncalves says simply. “What did I know about doing a restaurant like this? But in a way, the fact that we didn’t have anything to unlearn was one of the biggest blessings. I was willing to work hard, I knew I could cook, and I was ready. That was enough.” (See TIME’s farewell to an iconic New York restaurant — Tavern on the Green.)

As the old system breaks down, more and more raw talents like his are emerging, often nurtured by developers, and responding far more to their local environment than to any established universal standards. The food at 42 is eclectic, unpredictable, and very, very good. As you might expect, it isn’t always pitch-perfect, but the Iberian flavors run clear and true in dishes like torched shrimp with piri-piri pepper glaze. Sometimes Goncalves’ flair for theatricality gets the better of him. For instance, he serves braised octopus alongside lines of powdered red wine vinegar on a mirror — an utterly over-the-top visual joke that nonetheless tastes (and looks) great. On some level, though, the food isn’t even really the point in a space like this; 42 came into being not because White Plains needed a place where you could order a $39 seven-spice bison steak, but because the Ritz-Carlton needed a suitable clubhouse, commissary, and prestige restaurant. (There’s a BLT Steak on the ground floor that occupies a more conventional restaurant niche.)

Goncalves isn’t just running a restaurant; he’s the de facto personal chef to the Ritz-Carlton’s permanent residents, all of whom he knows personally and whom he serves off-the-menu specials upon request. “I feel like Anthony is part of my family,” says Dr. Rudolph Nisi, a resident. “He can make me anything I want, anything I feel like.” Then there are the logistics of running a restaurant atop a luxury hotel and condominium complex that are pretty insane: “Can you imagine what it’s like to bring produce up 42 stories every day? I’ve had it take 45 minutes to get stuff up from the loading dock.” (Chefs in other hotel restaurants can tell you far worse stories about their battles with the unionized staff, a problem 42 doesn’t have.) (Read: “Let Me Eat Cake: A Night of Culinary Luxury.”)

Whatever challenges chefs in hotels and condos face, however, will get solved. Because that’s where the restaurant business, at least its high-end form, is going. Some critics will say that’s not a good thing, and some hotel restaurants are bound to be worse than their freestanding rivals, which have no safety net and have to get by on sheer quality alone. But, for better or for worse, fine dining has checked in to the big hotels — and it won’t be checking out anytime soon.

Josh Ozersky is a James Beard Award—winning food writer and the author of The Hamburger: A History. His food video site, Ozersky.TV, is updated daily. He is currently at work on a biography of Colonel Sanders.

Restaurant 42 to Continue ‘Chef’s Tasting Menu’ to Benefit Blythedale Children’s Hospital

Blythedale’s Betsy Bowman with 42 Chef Anthony Goncalves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Feedbag talks with George Mendez Of Aldea and Anthony Goncalves of 42 from The Feedbag on Vimeo.

This article appeared in the November 2008 issue of Food Arts Magazine

Points of View

Kitchen Spy For the multiuse dining spaces known as 42 atop The Ritz-Carlton Westchester, chef Anthony Goncalves created separate—but connected—work areas.

Chris Styler reports.

Meet Anthony Goncalves. He is well-spoken, appears calm at all times, and is possessed of both Mediterranean good looks and a healthy dose of self-confidence. Goncalves presides over a collection of dining rooms, a lounge, and a private club—all of which are known collectively as 42 and are situated on the top two floors of the new The Ritz-Carlton Westchester in White Plains, New York. His bold food, tempered with a compelling dash of New World ingredients, draws heavily on his Portuguese heritage. Witness Goncalves’ fillet of hake set atop paddlefish roe with a lemon vinaigrette and strewn with a truffled succotash studded with mini lardons, or his duck with apple, powdered bacon, celery root puree, and date molasses. And there is one more thing you should know about Goncalves: He taught himself how to cook—only five years ago!

Step off the elevator and into the reception area at 42, and you’ll be forgiven for not immediately realizing you’re in a restaurant—or, more accurately, a collection of restaurants. What strikes you first is the feeling of floating over a landscape of trees, buildings, and the glimmering Long Island Sound. If the day is clear, the Manhattan skyline floats like an elegant ocean liner in the distance. If the night is clear, the same skyline is magical. Upon coming back to earth, you’re met with two options: to head off to the right to the bar with its sofas, high back chairs, black granite bar top, and skylights (as if the floor to ceiling windows don’t offer enough of a view), or to move to the immediate left to the casual lounge. Both offer a small plates menu. If you continue through the lounge along a corridor—more seating, more floor to ceiling windows, more stunning views—you may be momentarily distracted by the long rectangular window that affords a view of a different sort: Goncalves’ magnificent yet compact main kitchen. The corridor, which serves as an offshoot of the main dining room and where you can order three to five course sweet/savory dessert tastings, ends in the lower dining room. It’s in this formal room and the more casual dining room one flight up where Goncalves serves items from a menu of nine or so starters under each of two headings—”Cold” and “Hot”—and four main course items under each of two headings—”Sea” and “Land.” In addition to the à la carte menu, 42 also offers diners a choice of two tasting menus: “Traditional” (currently four courses) or “Innovative” (currently six courses). If you continue through the lower dining room, past the glass-enclosed wine storage column, you’ll find the private dining room, which provides yet another menu, one that is custom-built for each event.

Although one or two center-of-the-plate protein items may appear on more than one menu, there’s virtually no overlap among the à la carte menu, tasting menus, small plates menu, or lunch menus. Preparing dishes for several menus and delivering those dishes throughout a warren of dining areas might strike fear in the hearts of some chefs. And some might overcompensate with a cruise ship-sized kitchen. Not Goncalves, whose solution to the problem, like the varied but understated decor of the restaurant’s enclaves, is simple and elegant. The kitchens, as well as the dining/entertainment areas, are spread out over two floors. Rather than complicate matters, this intentional distribution of kitchens streamlines the preparation, production, and service of food to the rather sizable number of guests served on any given day: 42 seats in the upper dining room, 68 in the lower, 30 in the lounge, 45 in the bar, and up to 150 in the private dining room.

After one look at the space, Goncalves knew that the kitchen operations would need to be decentralized. His plan sprang from the raw space. “I took one look at the views and knew we couldn’t do anything to block them,” Goncalves recalls. “That meant a small enough central kitchen to allow guest seating of one kind or another to flow around the kitchen. I like to break up spaces into smaller, more intimate ones, so when I envisioned the bar and lounge areas in one of the spaces and the dining room in the other, I just figured there would be separate kitchens to deal with them.”

The main kitchen, which is really three distinct kitchen areas, is on the 42nd floor. Although physically separated, these areas work together seamlessly, without wasted steps on the part of servers or confusion on the part of the expeditors. Here’s how: The main kitchen, which supplies all hot food for the main menu, tasting menus, lunch menu, and special events menus, is a narrow rectangle, which houses a 14 1/2 foot custom-built Bonnet cooking suite at its center and a battery of special use equipment along its back wall. The two sides of the island are mirror images of one another; each side features (working from the rear of the kitchen to the front): a large gas burner (used mostly for hot prep), a charbroiler, two planchas, and two flattops. Finishing off the line closest to the pickup area are two induction burners. Lining the walls opposite both sides of the island is a row of under-the-counter refrigerators with deli-insert tops. The lower inserts house prepared proteins, while the upper inserts hold a plethora of ingredients needed to finish the plates. A combi-oven, stone hearth oven, pair of fryers, and tabletop steamer for retherming sous-vide products are situated along the back wall and add flexibility to the already option-rich kitchen. The work flow is a thing of beauty: Proteins start at the rear of the kitchen and then are cooked on the island’s grill or planchas or in the steamer, combi-oven, or stone hearth oven. As the plate progresses toward the front of the line, the appropriate accoutrements are added from the flattop or induction burners. The finishing touches—”licorice” made from dried olives and star anise among them—are added when the plate lands on the pickup table.

The pickup area faces a spacious aisle, which leads through one door to the main dining rooms and through another to the special events area. Across the same aisle is the garde-manger (responsible for all cold dishes on the à la carte, tasting, small plates, and party menus), which is connected via a short corridor to the small plates kitchen (responsible for the hot side of the small plates menu), which in turn has a service door that opens to the bar and lounge. A study in making the most of limited space, the hot line of the small plates kitchen consists of a pair of fryers, an oven/plancha/salamander, and a charbroiler. “Instead of confusion, separating the kitchen areas gives them their own identity,” Goncalves states. “I find I do my best work when I work lean and mean.”

The dessert preparation area is an entity unto itself. All desserts and the flourishes needed to finish them are prepared in a separate area on the same level as the central kitchen. This kitchen, with its extraordinary views, is another exercise in compact efficiency: A marble topped reach-in refrigerator serves as storage below and a chocolate work area above; a compact convection oven fits neatly below a combi-oven next to a generous but not vast work table. Small tabletop mixers and a two burner induction cooktop can be stowed marina-style when not in use. The use of induction means no gas lines run to the pastry kitchen.

Finished desserts are shipped up to the 43rd floor, where all desserts for all menus and events are plated. This relieves the three kitchen zones on the floor below of the need to store, plate, or serve any desserts—a big plus. On the opposite end from the dessert plating station is the cold storage and prep areas with distinct zones for fish, meat, and vegetable prep. Two vacuum sealers, one for large items like sides of salmon and a smaller one for precut portions of meat and fish, handle the items destined for use in one of Goncalves’ sous-vide setups. The rest of the proteins are shipped down to the kitchen on the 42nd floor as needed before each service period. The prep and dessert plating areas are connected to the central kitchen, one floor below, by means of a staircase and one person elevator.

In short, whether a server is picking up a mix of hot and cold small plates for the bar area, hot entrées for a party, desserts for the lounge, or a mix of hot and cold appetizers for the main dining room, there’s easy access from the pickup area to the dining area in question with very little cross traffic. It’s really rather ingenious. One more small feature: The corridor that runs between the garde-manger area and hot plates kitchen is an addition that Goncalves felt strongly about creating. “If I didn’t create a corridor there, it would have meant servers, dishwashers, and everyone else would be moving back and forth through the main kitchen. By putting up a wall to make the corridor, I made a more defined path for people to travel and closed off the kitchen. That created much more calm in the main kitchen.” By making the corridor wider than it strictly needs to be for traffic, Goncalves has also created a centrally located storage area for pots, dishes, and storage items.

The venues of 42 have been up and running for over a year now. Goncalves changes his menus seasonally and continues to tweak the overall mix of dishes. But he has never nursed second thoughts about his original and somewhat unorthodox approach to the kitchen design. “It works just the way I hoped it would,” he says.

EQUIPMENT
Charbroiler
Jade Range

Chocolate temperer
Mol d’Art

Combi-ovens
Alto-Shaam, Electrolux

Convection oven
Blodgett

Cooking suite
Bonnet

Fryers
Jade Range, Pitco

Ice cream freezer
Pacojet

Induction cooktop
Spring USA

Mixer
Hobart

Plancha/salamander
Jade Range

Reach-in refrigerator
Traulsen

Slicer
Berkel

Stone hearth gas oven
Woodstone

Tilt kettle
Jade Range

Vacuum sealers
Minipack-Torre
For a manufacturers listing, see Source Index.

This article appeared in Serious Eats Magazine

Top Quality Ingredients Shine in the Burger at 42 in White Plains, New York

Posted by Nick Solares, April 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Photographs: Nick Solares

42

At the Ritz Carlton, 221 Main St, White Plains NY 10601; map); 914-761-4242; 42therestaurant.com
Cooking Method: Griddled
Short Order: A massive hunk of Pat La Frieda beef is expertly seared on a plancha and served simply on a homemade bun
Want Fries with That? Yes, they come with the burger and are superb – crispy, golden, wonderful.
Price: $15, comes with fries

Too many chefs may spoil the broth, but when it comes to hamburgers it usually takes just one. For some reason those classically trained chefs, their heads stuffed with esoteric techniques and their ladders stocked with exotic ingredients, feel compelled to bring both to bear when it comes to making hamburgers. Black truffles, foie gras, funky cheeses, aioli’s, wine reductions, and caviar may find their way into their rococo creations. While the results may pique the interest and titillate the palate, they rarely, if ever, do what a great hamburger can do: satisfy the soul.

Perhaps because he’s not classically trained, the hamburger chef Anthony Goncalves of 42 Restaurant serves at the bar room of his restaurant perched high atop the tallest building between NY and Boston is a study in minimalist purity. You can read about how this self taught chef came to own one of Westchester County’s most avant guarde restaurants over at Time. One thing he seems to have learned in his unique and unlikely journey is that top quality ingredients should be allowed to speak for themselves.

The beef for his hamburger is the “La Frieda blend” from Pat La Frieda—an intoxicating mix of short rib, brisket, and chuck. 42 is one of the few places in Westchester County that sells it. Cooked on a plancha—a staple of Portuguese cooking reflecting Goncalves heritage—the patty develops a thick, salty crust the color of the darkest mahogany, which provides a pleasing contrast to the succulent interior and its velvety mouth feel and buttery texture.

When the beef is this good I don’t think it needs much more than a great bun. While a Portuguese roll would have made sense, Goncalves keeps things sort of traditional with the house baked potato and onion roll. Like the patty it holds, it has a robust crust, but one that is ultimately pliant enough to yield to bite pressure. It has a mild yeasty tang and comes slathered in butter.

The synergy between the bread and bun is a deeply satisfying. It needs nothing else – no cheese, no rabbit food nor even the excellent house made ketchup. At 10 oz is is rather unwieldy, perhaps requiring a third hand or failing that bisection.

Served only at the bar, the burger is attractively priced at $15, which includes some spectacular fries—cut into thin planks they have a golden color, a supremely crispy crust, and a creamy interior. Generously dusted in salt they are irresistible and impossible to stop eating, even after consuming the enormous 10-ounce hamburger.

This article appeared in the NY Times on December 7, 2008

Alan Zale for the New York Times

SPARKLE At 42, soaring glass walls allow panoramic views from the dining areas.

By M. H. REED

Published: December 5, 2008

THE views from 42’s glass-enclosed perch — across Long Island Sound and beyond the county’s northern reaches — are especially thrilling after dark, when the lights from the buildings and traffic below make White Plains sparkle.

Anthony Goncalves, chef and co-owner, has taken the soaring modern shell of his restaurant and given it human scale with low-hanging baffles and crystal lighting fixtures. An earthy color scheme with the occasional punch of deep ruby and burnt orange adds warmth.

A year ago, the long-anticipated 42 opened in apparent haste. Guests had the view, the food and the lovely dining areas, but agonizingly slow pacing and an untrained staff in all front-of-the-house stations belied the restaurant’s high prices. In addition, lounge, brunch and tea menus were still to be completed. The elevator to the 42nd floor required reboarding at the second floor. Reservations were mandatory, even for the bar. Jackets for men were requested.

There are times when thoughtfully designed dishes, painstakingly prepared superior ingredients and artistic presentations are not enough. Back in March, in a sunnier economy, objections seemed less about high prices than about the quality of the entire experience. What one pays for, one should get. But any diner put off by 42’s false starts of last winter, as I was, might give the place another chance.

Alan Zale for the New York Times

Reservations are no longer mandatory, but advisable; walk-ins are accommodated if space permits. A direct elevator now speeds to the restaurant, where a welcoming staff engages and directs guests. Jackets are no longer requested. Not least, prices have been cut. Once $125, a five-course tasting menu is now $79. And a few dollars have been shaved off many à la carte dishes. Special lounge, brunch and tea menus offer guests the option of a lighter repast. (At dinner, a selection from an old Trotters menu that has had its day is an intrusive anomaly that should be integrated or cashiered.) The polished cadence of a meal is right on beat, and the waiters are trained, knowledgeable and in step with the special setting and the food.

Dishes are dependent on the daily market basket. It may be that a few of the items we sampled will be unavailable, but what counts are Mr. Goncalves’s vision and style. A refreshing starter, gingery ceviche starred lustrous cuts of pink and ivory kona kampachi, a fish like yellowtail. A slice from a brilliantly assembled octopus terrine showed the rings set upright in their own gelatin; rinsed capers, minced shallots and tomato balanced the sweetness of the mollusk. Heirloom tomatoes in a simple salad could have come directly from summer’s garden. And almost too pretty to eat was a “palette” of roasted vegetables. But first place among these fine appetizers went to tagliarini, the thin noodles wound into a careful spiral and placed on a plate brushed with black truffle. Beef tartare, almost as magnificent, layered finely minced beef with a thin disk of shredded fried potato. A pretty, barely warmed egg yolk covered the top, and tiny “pearls” of egg white were strewn about.

Dishes were well seasoned. Diners who go for big yet balanced flavors won’t be disappointed. It would be hard to beat the lamb cassoulet, at $44 one of the most expensive and delicious entrees on the menu. Based on black-eyed peas in the Spanish style, the potent mix included soft roasted root vegetables, lardons of pork belly, chunks of tender lamb and a hunk of meltingly delicious morcilla sausage (black pudding). Set atop the dish was a lamb chop, done to order.

Also hitting the mark were smoky scallops with golden raisins and pistachios; medium-rare and tender bison with oyster mushrooms and hot peppers; and venison with collards and sour cherry sauce. Herb-scented garlicky pistou (like pesto) lent excitement to the neutral flavor of crisped branzino. On two tries, 42’s duck missed once. An Asian-style preparation was off-tasting, overcooked and best left to restaurants that specialize. The successful version matched sweet juicy meat with sour cherry sauce and lovely Chinese long beans.

At meal’s end, the kitchen sends diners a little sweet of thanks. The dessert menu, however, is hard to ignore, especially for seasonal offerings like poached apple in cider, with ice cream, granola and grape jelly. Four tiny ramekins of crème brûlée came in gorgeous flavors like Bailey’s, honey, hazelnut, pumpkin, sage. The cheese assortment presented both cow and goat products, au point.

A visit to any area of 42 at any time of day is a rich experience. We preferred the night view and the northeast side of the restaurant, where the lounge is comfortable for a drink or a small bite and stairs lead to the mezzanine — a hip place for small groups to dine. From here, 42 would seem to be the pole from which White Plains’ glittering avenues radiate. Across from a handful of tables set against the window wall are five intimate, terrifically romantic semicircular booths with leather banquettes, every table illuminated by a large black shade spilling a dazzling shower of Swarovski crystal prisms.

“It’s different up here,” claims 42’s logo. Truer words were never written.