Introducing the African Brasserie

The latest venture of chef Marcus Samuelsson, Merkato 55 — an “African brasserie” — is slated to open at the end of this week in the meatpacking district.Merkato means “market” in Italian, and Mr. Samuelsson said the restaurant was designed to recall the kaleidoscopic energy of Africa’s largest outdoor market, Addis Merkato in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa.The fare, however, isn’t focused entirely on the cuisine of any one country. Instead, Mr. Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia and adopted at age 3 by a Swedish family, decided to offer a diverse sampling of dishes from throughout the continent, and elsewhere. The African flavors and traditions will be filtered through the chef’s classical training and New York perspective.While African cuisine may sound exotic, Merkato 55 diners will find recognizable ingredients and dishes, such as hummus, chutney, and couscous. “We eat the same things in Africa due to history,” Mr. Samuelsson said. “Indian, Portuguese, French, Malaysian — everyone was there and had influence.”Merkato 55 is an extension of his James Beard award-winning 2006 cookbook, “The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa (Wiley), Mr. Samuelsson said. “I worked on it for almost 10 years and the journey in that got me to so many things,” he said. “There are not a lot of African restaurants and in a city like New York with so much culture, we should have it.” The dinner menu will feature small plates such as callaloo, a vibrant green soup typically from Trinidad and Tobago made with a base of water spinach and shellfish broth, with smoked eel and cashews — as well as large plates such as snapper in banana leaves with chermoula, a North African seafood and fish marinade of lemon, garlic, and spices. The “In a Pot” section of the menu features dishes such as chicken doro wat, a classic Ethiopian dish of chicken stewed with onions, ginger, garlic, and spices served in a cast-iron pot. The traditional injera bread, made with teff flour that accompanies the dish is baked daily for the restaurant by an Ethiopian woman in Harlem. Desserts such as lassies and koeksisters, or African doughnuts, complete the menu.For the interior of the restaurant, Mr. Samuelsson worked with the Dutch architect Menno Schmitz to create a space that is an abstract interpretation of the continent on which he was born. Walking through the two-story, 150-seat restaurant, Mr. Samuelsson pointed out the warm earth tones of reds, browns and yellows in the African fabrics; the exposed wood, and the large portraits of faces of men and women depicted on murals and sheer curtains. “You see all these different people in the markets and on the street,” he said. “This is what it is like there.”A brassiere, by definition, is casual and versatile, and generally open seven days a week. Initially, Merkato 55 will open daily for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to midnight — with a late menu available from Wednesday through Saturday until 2 a.m. Its 20-seat Kidogo Bar — kidogo is Swahili for “little bits” — offers a menu of snacks that includes flatbreads, sambals, and kitfo, or Ethiopian-style steak tartare. In the not too distant future, Merkato 55 will also serve lunch and brunch.Is New York ready for an African brasserie? Mr. Samuelsson thinks so. “We’ve been here before,” he said, explaining that restaurants such as Nobu, Spice Market, and Tabla each introduced something new (sushi, southeast Asian, and Indian cuisines, respectively) with menus that were both personal inventions and traditional representation of a cuisine. “At Spice Market, it’s not the perfectly authentic dish, but the flavors, the feelings, and the traditions are all there.”Merkato 55 (55 Gansevoort St., between Greenwich and Washington streets, 212-255-8555).

Introducing the African Brasserie

Introducing the African Brasserie

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