The Garden Restaurant at The Four Seasons Hotel, New York City

This past Sunday, I was invited to brunch at The Garden at the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC.  It was such a lovely way to spend the afternoon tasting delicious food with some of my food blogger friends.  The brunch was organized by the Food and Beverage Director Simon de Swaan and Ken Leung.  The Executive Chef John Johnson created a delicious and playful menu that highlights local and seasonal ingredients available right now in the green markets.  Many of the ingredients he uses are sourced locally.  The brunch menu changes every few weeks which gives Chef Johnson the opportunity to be creative and playful. Currently, Chef Johnson is featuring some beautiful tomatoes and stone fruits. He's doing a wonderful job accentuating these seasonal ingredients.

First up we tasted three boozy cocktails featuring tomatoes.  There was the Tomato Watermelon and Cucumber Vodka, Classic Crushed Jersey Tomato Bloody Mary with spicy Brooklyn Pickles and Clear Tomato Martini.  It was definitely a good start to this tasty brunch. I enjoyed the essence of the tomatoes in each of the cocktail particularly in the Martini.  The flavor of the tomatoes was so clean, light and refreshing. Immediately followed by the cocktails was a whimsical take on crudites.  It includes baby carrots and radishes in olive soil. We were all very curious as to how the soil was made as by first glance it really looks like dirt.  I thought how odd that we were given baby vegetables in dirt to start our meal.  We eagerly waited for Chef Johnson to tell us the process of making the olive soil.  He explained the process by first dehydrating the olives in a low temperature oven, and then tossed with some almond flour to create the texture which results in a delicious olive mixture that resembles soil.

 

Another playful dish was the lemon ricotta pancake pigs in a blanket.  The pancake was so fluffy and tasty, and I'm always a fan of savory with sweet so I love the saltiness of the sausages with the pancakes as well as the sweetness of the Duchess County Maple Syrup. 

The grilled terrine of Hudson Valley Foie Gras with apricots and local strawberry mostarda was probably one of my favorite dishes.  Again love the savory and sweet contrast.   Another highlight was the lobster hash cocotte with choron sauce.  Oh and did I mention the gorgeous local heirloom tomatoes simply dressed in a 50 year old sherry and basil, soooo good.

Even though I don't have a sweet tooth, I couldn't resist the stuffed blueberry French toast with the whipped Nutella.  As to desserts, we tasted the Green Market Crisp with apricot and peaches and cinnamon ice cream as well as the chocolate hazelnut napoleon.  Both were so good, and I couldn't stop eating either of them.

I knew I would be in for a great treat as soon as I started talking with Simon, Chef Johnson and his team as they are extremely passionate about food.  They took pride in the menu they created based on the locally farmed and sourced ingredients as well as the commitment to highlight the seasonal aspect of the menu.  I truly enjoyed all the dishes that are featured.  The service was wonderful and the decor was soothing.  It is definitely a great place to spend a weekend afternoon enjoying brunch with friends and family. 

Disclaimer:  The brunch was hosted by The Garden at the Four Seasons Hotel.  All opinions are my own, and I did not receive any compensation for this post.