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Dine Iberian-Style At Cervo's, Opening This Week On The Lower East Side
By
Nell Casey
Published Jun 19, 2017
Modified Jun 19, 2017
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By
Nell Casey
Published Jun 19, 2017
Modified Jun 19, 2017
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Nialls Fallon and Nick Perkins, the duo behind Mediterranean restaurant Hart's in Bed-Stuy, are once again looking to the coastal flavors of Europe with their latest venture Cervo's, set to open this week on the Lower East Side. Where once fried chicken reigned, the duo—along with co-chef Aaron Crowder—will be primarily focusing on seafood, with preparations inspired by the Iberian peninsula.
"We're planning to use a lot of paprika, orange, fennel and chorizo which feature heavily in Spanish cuisine," Fallon explains. "That said, we really drew in the design and feel of the restaurant from Portuguese cervecerias, which are seafood counters that serve big plates of cold and grilled seafood with drinkable wines and beers."
Spanish mackerel might be served in crudo (raw) form, likewise a beef tartare studded with littleneck clams and a fleet of oysters sourced from the Eastern seaboard and points beyond. Tinned seafoods, a big deal in Spanish tapas, mingle with local vegetables and legumes, and Perkins and Crowder are experimenting with piri piri chillies, a fiery but fruity African chili pepper.
Then there's the burger, a lamb version that's a mainstay at their other restaurant that has a unique topping possibility: anchovies. "I have a bad milk allergy and when we tested out the lamb burger for the first time, it just needed something piquant or sharp that a cheese would normally provide in order to stand up to the funk of the grass-fed beef," Perkins, who is the chef, says. "We were playing around with boquerones for other parts of the menu and before long we put two and two together. People definitely approach with trepidation, but we've never had someone who wasn't sold after trying it."
Wines are both Spanish and Portuguese, with an emphasis on madeira, coastal and island-produced wines, and natural producers. "There are a lot of younger generation farmers now wanting to work more closely with native varietals and bringing some of these grapes back from near extinction," Fallon says. "This is what I am most excited about, showcasing grapes that most Americans have never heard of, native varietals that fell out of favor and are now having a renaissance."
Cervo's will soft open this week, with a more formal opening the weekend of June 24th.
43 Canal Street, 212-226-2545; cervosnyc.com.
Cervos Food Menu by Nell Casey on Scribd
Cervos Wine List by Nell Casey on Scribd
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Nell Casey
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