Betony is not a typical place that I would go to: it's fancy pants, it's in Midtown and it's got this snotty corporate feel to it. But it was also named Best Restaurant of the Year by Esquire magazine in 2013, awarded 3 stars by the NY Times, from the team at Eleven Madison Park and is on a host of other Best of Lists including the James Beard Awards, so it's hard to say no when I was invited to dine here with a friend and work colleague who works at Food and Wine. Being friends with someone in the biz is great, especially at places like this. Getting a reservation was no problem, the service was beyond attentive and the GM came out and personally greeted us to say hello.
It's not that I don't like places like this but it's that they intimidate me. It's almost too high brow. The service is impeccable and the food incredible smart, well thought out and innovative. The menu comes in 2 formats: 4 course tasting ($95) or chef's tasting ($195). Vince and I opted for the 4 course tasting with the pig's head for two ($25 extra) as our main course. Yes, you read that correctly, pig's head. That was the whole reason why we went here. For my "first" course, I chose the cured hamachi, for the "next" course I got the seafood ragout and then for the "then" course the pig's head. While we were waiting we were served several amuse bouche dishes - unfortunately the only one I can really remember is a chilled pea soup, which was excellent. I also remembered the outstanding and incredibly addictive warm dill bread. I love a nice piece of warm bread but the combination with the dill was out of this world, I'm glad they only gave us 1 piece because if they had a basket of it, I would have housed the entire thing and ruined my appetite.
The cured hamachi was served with spring onion and black rice and simply delicious. The fish really melted in your mouth and had a very clean feel to it. Big fan of the dish. Next the seafood ragout, which was a potpourri of fantastic shellfish in a very clean and light broth. I loved the bites of mussels and squid in it - I just wish the dish was bigger because it was about 2 1/2 mouthfuls and then I was done with it. But in hindsight it was good that there wasn't more because the pig's head was definitely more than enough food. They carve it table side and it's a pure work of genius. Obviously for those of you who are vegetarians, this won't be your bag but if you eat pork, it was fantastic. They give you pieces of the jowl, cheek, tongue and ear along with generous helpings of the crispy skin along with it. It was fatty and delicious all at once. In my book, you are a true connoisseur of good food if you know where the best parts of the animal come from and it's usually always the head. I will say that the ear was my least favorite part and just a few bites of the tongue was enough for me (it's got a very distinct taste that if very different from the rest of the pig). The skin was out of this world - very crunchy with just enough fat underneath to really hit you in the arteries. The dish was served with a bunch of other side dishes but honestly I was a bit tipsy from the the cocktails and wine we had that I can't remember any of it now but I do remember them being good. As if this wasn't enough, we still had dessert to finish up and we got some kind of dessert that Vince determined (and I agreed) tasted like fruit loops - but in a good way!
By the end of the meal, I was happy, full and drunk - what better way to end a meal. This review is most likely biased because I suspect we probably got more attention and some special dishes because it was booked under a Food and Wine connection but hey, I'll take it. This is definitely a place to visit if you have a corporate account or looking for a very Midtown New York experience but not for an everyday occasion. Total bill: Unknown since I didn't pay
Photo Credit: Yelp
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