On the Menu: eighty one

For Edward Brown, who opened eighty one on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in February, the plan for his restaurant was complex in its simplicity.

“I wanted to make a restaurant that I wanted to dine in often, that has an umbrella of great hospitality, great food, a great wine program and excellent service,” Brown says. “All of those sound ‘well, duh, it’s obvious,’ but it’s not.

“I wanted it to be comfortable, so while it is a luxury-style place, it is not a place that you have to come with a tie and buttoned up—but you can.”

The luxury-with-comfort ambience is something that Brown says he admired about restaurants like Gotham Bar and Grill and Gramercy Tavern, which, he says, offer excellent food and wine without pretense and “actually treat you like somebody.”

Brown describes eighty one’s cuisine as “modern American food based on tremendous ingredients cooked simply.” One of his favorite menu items is Montauk calamari, which he tosses with garlic and oil, cooks a la plancha, and serves with potato-leek emulsion, garlic chips and parsley leaves. Spanish pimentón de La Vera adds a light, smoky flavor to the dish.

In planning the menu for eighty one, Brown considered several options, but ultimately decided that “people want to see appetizers and main courses.” He builds in more possible meal configurations by including a tasting collection category he describes as supplemental to the appetizers, though “maybe a little more to the luxury side.” While appetizers range from $12-19 on eighty one’s debut menu, tasting collection dishes start at $15 and top out at $39.

Guests can choose tasting collection items as an appetizer or a middle course or can combine several appetizer and tasting collection dishes to create their own tasting menu. During the restaurant’s opening week, Brown estimates that 60 percent to 70 percent of customers ordered three courses, typically an appetizer, a tasting collection selection and an entrée. Eighty one also offers specialized chef’s tastings, ordered by about a dozen diners a night.

Eighty one opened almost exactly a year after Brown left his long-time employment with Restaurant Associates, the last 14 years of it as executive chef at The Sea Grill.

“I was with them for 17 years, and it was 17 tremendous years, but I always wanted [to open my own place],” he says. “Those 17 years prepared me, and they were all good, but I was ready to go do this.”

AT A GLANCE

Location: 45 West 81 StreetWebsite:www.81nyc.comConcept: modern AmericanCapacity: 188Average guest check with beverage: $80Best-selling appetizers: New Bedford sea scallop and foie gras ravioli, shaved winter saladBest-Selling entrées: Chatham cod, lamb three waysChef-owner: Edward Brown

Brown says eighty one won’t be very similar to The Sea Grill, “except for the fact that I’m there.” Eighty one is not a “fish-centric” restaurant, he says, and he’s happy to be cooking meat and birds again. A common link between his time at both places, however, is his emphasis on high-quality ingredients and minimizing time from water, plus now also field or ranch, to table.

Brown’s fans also will recognize two of his signature dishes at eighty one: New Bedford sea scallop and foie gras ravioli, and Chatham cod with black bean and saké broth, orange lentils, couscous and crispy shallots.

In its opening week, eighty one was averaging about 100 customers a night and turning away reservations for more; Brown expects eventually to serve some 200 diners nightly. Although Brown is too caught up in the daily whirlwind of running his new restaurant to have a firm date in mind, he would like eventually to expand eighty one’s hours to include Sunday brunch, and later, possibly lunch, at least Wednesday through Friday.

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