18 of New York’s Finest Chefs Interpret “America” on a Plate. See the Delicious Results.
Travis Swikard
Executive Chef, Boulud Sud
Dish: Tomato and watermelon salad with grilled pancetta, local New Jersey cheese, pickled watermelon rinds, and avocado buttermilk dressing.
Fourth of July is the only time I have off with my family, and I don’t have to plan a lot. I don't buy anything, I just go to the garden. I like to use avocado because I’m from California and my grandma has an avocado tree in the backyard. Every Fourth of July is the start of the season, so we’d go in the back and shake the tree and get the avocados. I was one of five boys, so avocado time was when one smaller boy climbs up in the tree, and the bigger ones shake it. It’s a taste of the backyard, and summer. Obviously all American ingredients, it also has a B.L.T. thing going on. I put the grilled onion and grilled pancetta, because you have to grill something on Fourth of July. We make our pancetta in house here, we cure it for six weeks—it melts in your mouth. It just came out of the oven, we sliced it, and put it on the grill. It’s cured with pepper, juniper berries, bay leaf, salt, sugar—it has a lot of flavor.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
I miss San Diego, so Ballast Point Sculpin. It’s an I.P.A. The brewery is three blocks away from where I grew up; we used to walk there all the time. We’d go surfing for four hours, drink Sculpin for two hours, and stumble home, water dripping out of our ears.
Daniel Humm
Chef/Co-Owner, Eleven Madison Park and NoMad
Dish: A Kosher hot dog wrapped in bacon on a brioche bun, with truffled mayonnaise, melted Gruyère cheese, celery relish, and celery-heart leaves.
The hot dog is a quintessential favorite in the United States. One of the most wonderful things about a hot dog? Everyone—from a child to a student to a billionaire—can enjoy a hot dog. That student and that billionaire can eat the same dog on any street corner in New York; with pickles and tomatoes in Chicago; and even deep-fried in the Northeast. As a Swiss native, it was one of the first foods I tasted upon coming to this country. I fell in love with the idea of having such a robust meal in three bites!
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
The new Evil Twin Nomader Weisse. It is a very easy-drinking and refreshing beer that satisfies almost every palate. Of course, paired with a Humm Dog, there’s no doubt it would be the perfect beverage to quench your thirst.
Sarah Sanneh
Pastry Chef/Partner, Pies ‘n’ Thighs
Dish: It’s our fried chicken, a watermelon salad with cucumber, jalapeno, and a spicy vinaigrette of lime juice and cayenne, with mint on top. On the side, 100 percent rhubarb pie with an all-butter lattice crust.
Our food is always like America on a plate, but this dish is what everyone’s ordering this month. It’s surprising me that people are ordering this salad more than french fries.
Where did you learn to make pie?
My mom makes a pretty good crust. Even at Thanksgiving, I don’t make the pie. I’m not allowed to do it. And I have a pie restaurant! She’s like, “I have it covered, it’s in the freezer already.”What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Coors Light! It tastes like water. I love it.
Jean-Paul Bourgeois
Executive Chef, Blue Smoke
Dish: Barbecue spare ribs, mac ‘n’ cheese, pit beans, and corn bread.
In Louisiana, we could buy fireworks, so on Fourth of July we’d grill by the pool and then wait til the sun goes down to do some fireworks, or go in the cane fields, which were literally my backyard, and pop them there—it’s not dangerous when you grow up hunting and shooting guns. Fireworks are something you do as early as you can walk!
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Abita Light. I’m from Louisiana, and it’s the beer I’ve always drunk. On a hot day I want a lighter, crisper beer, and I’m always supporting my guys in Louisiana.
Johnathan Adler
Chef, Franny’s
Dish: Fried pork shank sandwich on ciabatta, with preserved lemon yogurt, Calabrian chiles, house-made pickles, and a salad of seasonal lettuces.
The one thing I think that comes through is a blending of culture with a certain amount of personal background. America is celebrated for its beef a lot of the time, but the pork farmers of America have done an amazing job raising delicious, sustainably raised, humanely processed pork, and that’s something that we celebrate here. I’m half Israeli and grew up with Middle Eastern food, so preserved lemon and yogurt are two flavors I naturally gravitate towards. I cook Italian food, a fried sandwich is something very familiar in Italian cuisine. But honestly, if somebody said make a sandwich, it’d be pork and pickles—that’s truly American food to me.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Stoudt’s pilsner, or Ballast Point Pale Ale.
Lauren Hirschberg
Director of Culinary Operations, Craft
Dish: Barbecue-glazed grilled poussin chicken, with slaw of red and green cabbage with carrot, salt, pepper, and white distilled vinegar and a little bit of sugar. I like to keep the slaw simple—it’s more of a palate cleanser. We have some corn bread that I made in a cast-iron mold in the shape of little corn on the cob. I also have some barbeque beans, some fresh-sliced tomatoes, a little bit of Alabama white barbecue sauce under the corn bread, and pickled jalapenos.
July 3 is my wedding anniversary, so Fourth of July has a sentimental feeling for me. We had a 150-pound pig on a spit roast for our wedding. I’m good friends with Damon Wise at Lafayette and Shane McBride at Balthazar. Those are the guys I go to Memphis to barbecue with. While I invited them to the wedding, their response was, “Well, who’s going to cook?” So those guys actually ended up cooking my wedding, then kicked the clogs off and hit the dance floor.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
A can of ice-cold Budweiser, but I throw in some craft brews.
Marcus Samuelsson
Chef/Owner, Red Rooster Harlem
Dish: Tuna burger, cabbage tzatziki, house pickles, Red Rooster hot sauce, and Old Bay potato chips, with white peach and sage sangria.
There is nothing more iconic than a burger in America. I grew up eating fresh fish in Sweden, and always looked up to American icons like Levi’s, Michael Jackson, and, of course, burgers. Taking a fresh catch and making it into a burger rings home to me in more ways than one. And really, what could be better than that?
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
I’d go with rosé, a pilsner, or a shandy.
Eli Kaimeh
Chef de Cuisine, Per Se
Dish: Succotash. All the ingredients (corn, peppers, zucchini, lima beans, and scallops) are sourced from the local farmer’s market or from our purveyors.
Succotash was first created by Native Americans, and we felt it important to use heritage flavors like that of corn and fava beans to serve as the foundation. In our contemporary interpretation of the dish, the vegetables are from New York and California, and the fish from Maine, so both coasts are represented.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Bottles of Budweiser.
Elwyn Boyles
Pastry Chef, Per Se
Dish: Blueberry fields. It’s a vanilla genoise, soaked in blueberry jelly—the white is buttermilk panna cotta—and strawberry jelly on top. Then, fresh blueberries with their tops cut off for appearance and to show the blueberry is ripe instead, and they’re filled with peanut gel, mint gel, green-tea gel. In the line: crystallized corn shoots, crystallized popcorn, candied Virginia peanuts, like Cracker Jack, that’s the transition—all of those flavors lead into the next. The blueberry compote is beneath the lime laces, and on the side, sassafras ice cream with a potato crisp.
Sometimes during the summer in England, we do a dish called strawberry fields, which I grew up with. I never really paid much attention to blueberries, and blueberries in the U.K. are all greenhouse grown and not that great, and I didn’t realize what the fuss was about until I came to America, six years ago. Popcorn is another very, very American product, especially during the summer—they come out at the same time.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Hitachino, the Japanese beer with the owl on it.
Hooni Kim
Chef/Owner, Danji, Hanjan
Dish: Our beef bulgogi slider is a Korean-ized version of the all-American slider. The beef is sliced thin and marinated overnight with soy sauce, pear puree, garlic, ginger, onion, and sesame oil. It is then sautéed before serving. The garnishes are a spicy pepper mayo, thinly sliced scallions, and a cucumber kimchi.
On Fourth of July, we close both restaurants and I make sure all of our employees have a chance for family time. I personally have a barbecue—with hot dogs, burgers, and also Korean barbecue galbi—on my rooftop with friends and family. The fireworks return to the East River and since I live in Long Island City, we’ll get our fireworks view back this year!
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Brooklyn Lager and Sixpoint Sweet Action. I’m a big fan of our local breweries here in New York City.
Dale Talde
Chef/Proprietor, Talde
Dish: Korean fried chicken, with a kimchi yogurt sauce, black plums, mint, and a little bit of lime.
Fried chicken is Americana. It’s Korean, it’s Japanese, it’s South African, it’s Dutch. Everybody has a version. My America is a version of everybody—it’s everything, it’s a melting pot.
My parents are from the Philippines. They never abide by any rules, and some of my free spirit is from my parents—they don’t let holidays dictate what they have to eat. Watermelon, pork on a stick, chicken on a stick, Filipino-style barbeque. Ball Park franks? Oh, hell no. If you went to somebody’s house and that was their Fourth of July, that person was lazy, and there was some shit talking.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
The lightest, crappiest beer possible. Old Style, that’s what my dad used to drink, so I used to kick that. To me, beer is about quantity, not quality. If I could start drinking beer at noon and then stop drinking it at 10 at night and still be able to walk home, that’s a good beer—success.
Anthony Falco
Official Pizza Czar, Roberta’s
Dish: It’s a white pizza: the base is our fresh-made mozzarella, and Prairie Breeze, which is a cheddar from Iowa. We’ve got some cherry tomatoes, sun gold, and other small ones on top. The red spots—the fireworks—are red onion, sugar, white-wine vinegar, apple-cider vinegar, salt, and habanero peppers. That’s where the heat is going to come from. And purple basil, from the rooftop garden. The beer is Peekskill Hop Common—it’s a good beer for a spicy pizza.
Pizza is a universal food, and America is a universal culture. Tomatoes, chiles, those all grow in America and they’ve become associated with pizza and Italian cuisine, but they’re native American produce. When George Washington invented pizza that’s one of the things he wanted to do—highlight the local American produce.
This is a special Fourth for me because it’s my son’s first birthday. So I’ll spend this year, and the next decade of Fourth of Julys, convincing my son that I have personally organized all of the fireworks in New York, in his honor, for his birthday.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Budweiser cans, with the American flag on it.
Max Sussman
Executive Chef, The Cleveland
Dish: A kimchi Coney dog—all-meat chili on a hot dog, and kimchi aioli with whole-grain mustard. But then everybody knows sauerkraut is really good on hot dogs, so I replaced that with some kimchi. The beer is Barnacle Brown Ale, by the Barrier Brewing Company.
In Detroit, where I’m from, a Coney dog is a legendary dish. My favorite place was the National Coney Island. That’s where I always skipped high school to hang out. It has a special place in my heart. It was far enough away from school that no one could see you, but close enough that you could get back. I didn’t even know there was a real Coney Island growing up—I always thought it was a type of hot dog.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Budweiser.
April Bloomfield
Chef/Co-Owner, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room
**Dish: **A summer succotash composed of all local vegetables from the market: corn, cherry tomatoes, fava beans, scallions, garlic scapes, basil, squash, zucchini, snow peas, nasturtiums, and Johnny-jump-ups.
Succotash is completely American—it originates from the Native Americans. All regions of America celebrate this dish with slight variations. It’s a perfect representation of what is in season in the Northeast in the summer.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Brooklyn Brewery’s Sorachi Ace. It is a saison/farmhouse ale and goes perfectly with all things summer.
Amanda Freitag
Executive Chef, Empire Diner
Dish: The Empire Diner burger, with our secret special sauce, house-made pickles, cheddar cheese, brioche bun, garlic-salt french fries, and a raspberry shake.
This is my choice, because as soon as I thought about America on a plate, I thought about traveling across the country and stopping at roadside stands and diners and trying all kind of burgers. I did it with my brother and he didn’t want to stop anywhere, and I wanted to stop everywhere. You can’t go to any town and not find a burger in America. You pretty much know you’re not going to get a good fettuccini carbonara anywhere, but you’re going to get a burger.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Sam Adams summer beer, it’s a crowd-pleaser. When I have a party, I make sure whatever I get I know people are familiar with. Otherwise you’re left with all these weird craft beers that no one’s going to drink.
John DeLucie
Executive Chef/Proprietor, The Lion, Crown
Dish: Pasta alla ceci: garlic, olive oil, plum tomatoes, celery leaves, parsley leaves, ditalini pasta, chickpeas, parsley oil.
This is a dish that my grandmother made for me when I was listening to stories. There would be talk about the old country, and America—the challenges of being in America, the optimism, making a better life for their kids and their grandkids.
On Fourth of July, my grandfather would take a big pot and put it on the barbeque and boil water for the pasta. That was his idea of a backyard barbeque. Then he would grill tomatoes and chop them up for sauce. I haven’t seen anyone boil water over a grill since.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
Negra Modelo.
Dominique Ansel
Chef/Owner, Dominique Ansel Bakery
Dish: Spinning chocolate coin filled with apple pie ganache.
It represents the chance for people, people like me. I came here for a chance at something new and different. America is a sense of hope, reward, and wishing for something better. So we spin the coin on the plate and you never know what side it’s going to fall. The trick is, it’s two heads! So it’s always a winning situation.
What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
A Belgian beer, I like Hoegaarden, and Leffe.
Eli Sussman
Chef, Mile End Delicatessen
Dish: This is the American burger, from the Canadian Mile End restaurant. It’s a schmaltz-toasted onion roll, which is a chicken-fat toasted onion roll, with, starting from the bottom: our homemade chicken liver, deli-style sour pickles from McClure’s, the smoked meat burger, American cheese on top—which is as American as it can possibly get—a fried egg, and a Labatt Blue beer–battered onion ring, and a mustard-mayo that we make here. On the side is poutine—hand-cut french fries, cheese curds from Wisconsin, and chicken gravy. American food is pretty bad for you for the most part, and pretty large—both in quantity and thought process. It’s not that subtle of a cuisine.
Wait, but Labatt Blue is a Canadian beer?
Labatt Blue is our Budweiser, because we’re a Canadian restaurant. It’s the cheap-y water beer that you can drink 12 of them, and on July 4th pretty much all day you’re supposed to spend drinking, so you have to pace yourself.What’s the beer in your Fourth of July cooler?
I would probably have Budweiser, for the gang. And a lot of whiskey. I’m not very classy.
