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Posted 01.05.08 Foster Home Chic comfort food at the Ninth Square's newest elite eatery. By Freda Moon Published on July 12, 2007 Foster's Restaurant 56-62 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 859-6666, fostersrestaurant.com This morning I awoke in post-satisfaction hunger, wanting more-reliving the wasabi after-taste of last night's side dish, the sweetness of roasted corn and red potatoes, the grit of polenta against the soft, ruby-colored flesh of rare tuna, the tartness of the orange-ginger syrup splashed across white ceramic, the crispness of Pinot Grigio. Some experiences are judged by how we feel the next morning. Fine dining isn't usually one of them. But this morning, as I returned to Foster's Restaurant-Ninth Square's newest addition-in a food flashback, I felt perhaps it should be. Foster's opened last month next door to Artspace and two doors down from Bentara-a decidedly hip location for a restaurant whose name evokes root beer floats (Foster's Freeze) and oversized cans of pilsner (Fosters: "Australian for Beer"). The name seems like a bad idea, though I'm sympathetic to the egoist impulse. If I were to build a restaurant that inspired disruptions in the time-space continuum and hallucinations of the palate, I'd want the world to know it was my creation. But the name doesn't match the S-shaped bamboo tables that fit together like so many identical puzzle pieces or the lighted white cloth tubes that break up the 75-person dining room and corresponding ovoid panels that blot the ceiling. The name doesn't match the mercury-colored beaded curtains that hang along the windows or the luster of the bamboo flooring. The name may match the food, but only insofar as "Foster's Restaurant" feels like it would serve homey, American staples-comfort food for the masses. Foster's menu is made up largely of dishes like "Chicken without a bone, asparagus corn bread stuffing" and "Pork loin, apple pecan stuffing, macaroni n' cheese wedge" that are variations on standard American fare. My husband and I fork-wrestled for ownership of his macaroni n' cheese wedge, a golden triangle of crust-reminiscent of diner-style, fried mozzarella sticks-that, when sliced, poured an oozy, soupy mix of white cheese and tender noodles. But Foster's also offers "Basil gnocchi, vine ripened tomato, dry-cured olives, Buffalo mozzarella" and "Wild rice fettuccini, chicken confit, baby bok choy, crimini mushrooms" and my beloved "Tuna steak polenta crusted, orange ginger glaze, roasted corn wasabi mashed potato." The latter, the dish I woke up savoring, seemed to understand the strengths of its ingredients. The tuna, a steak the size of a large man's hand, was unadorned, save for the splash of glaze that fell mostly on the plate. There was a part of me, an unabashed sushi addict, that could have used more spice-more wasabi, or that chili-infused spicy mayonnaise. But despite the dish's prominent use of wasabi and ginger and the rareness of the tuna (at my request), Foster's is not a Japanese restaurant. It's not a Japanese restaurant any more than it's a Mexican restaurant (the Petit filet mignon appetizer comes with mango roasted corn salsa and the chicken "lollies" come crusted in corn tortilla and accompanied with papaya chipotle sauce). Nor is Foster's an Italian or French restaurant, though there's no shortage of Mediterranean touches: Crepes, ravioli, stuffed zucchini blossoms. Instead, the newest restaurant in the newest neighborhood in New Haven bills itself as "eclectic American." With Miso as a cousin (Miso's Ming Lau is Executive Chef Dave Foster's partner on the project), and entrees that range from $18 to $29, a certain level of price and prestige is part of Foster's pedigree. But were it not for those prices, Foster's food, which is still coming to me in waves of sense-memory, actually would be comfort food for the masses. So perhaps the name isn't all wrong after all. |
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