Inside Park at St. Bart's: Prickle Your Palate and Discover Forgotten Culinary Arts

Set beside historic St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue, Inside Park at St. Bart's offers a one of a kind, New York dining experience. It's one that respects both the landmark surroundings and time-honored, classic culinary techniques, embracing seasonal, local ingredients.

Executive Chef Matthew Weingarten's signature style is culinary authenticity: simple dishes that incorporate a few, thoughtfully chosen elements that play in harmony on the plate. There's also a clear interest in the "lost" culinary arts — curing meat, pickling vegetables and preserving fruit — as well as supporting the local food community, with ingredients culled from several of New York's farmer's markets.

During our recent visit, we sat outside on the terrace, which is open from mid-April through the fall, weather permitting. (The indoor restaurant, set in the church's former community hall, is open year round). Though the restaurant's been open for about two years, Weingarten considers this its first full season, with open terrace, indoor dining and recently revamped kitchen.

We started with a mushroom pizza from the bar menu, cooked on the outdoor, wood-burning oven. It was tasty for sure: soft, chewy dough topped with robiola cheese, forest mushrooms, black truffle and parsley, and it set the tone for the kind of simple, balanced ingredients that define Weingarten's sensibility.

Next, we sampled a few items from the small plates menu — which changes daily — as well as pickled radishes, cauliflower and beans (prepared in-house). The morel fries with ramp aioli were good. The smoked beef tongue, however, was fantastic — thin, perfectly seasoned — as was the Jonah crab claw with ramp butter. Sadly, the duck prosciutto was overpowered by artichoke and rose, but the surprisingly crunchy sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) satiated our taste buds.

My favorite dish of the night came next: an incredible — and I mean incredible — wild nettle soup with lemon cream. Yes, nettles — those annoying plants that stick to your legs when walking through the woods, causing unpleasant rashes. Once they've been harvested for a day or so they lose potency, and become harmless when heated (though, according to the chef, there's always a cook or two chasing someone around the kitchen with one).

At first taste we assumed the rich soup was a naughty mixture of butter and cream and truffle oil — only later to learn that it was actually surprisingly healthy. Weingarten starts with onion and a little butter, adds a sachet of basil and mint, then one small potato to thicken, adds the nettles ("an old world botanical purported to be extremely good for your health"), stews them down, adds a little stock, some lemon zest and a touch of cardamom, simmers and purees, and the result is an unforgettable soup so good that I immediately (awkwardly) offered to bathe in it. According to Weingarten, "One of the things I celebrate most is biodiversity...and I always try to give a nice balance between all of the [taste] sensations: sour, bitter, sweet, salty; north, south, east, west."

Case in point: our main courses, both generous servings. The heritage breed pork chop, a signature dish, was perfectly cooked. It was marinated in herbs and garlic, grilled for a smoky char flavor then placed in a pan with savory pork jus, and served with sweet stone fruit panzanella (saut éed peaches bought that day), bitter braised radicchio, bread cubes, sour pickled red onion, herbaceous mint and basil, and umami of the pork just. No heavy reductions — just simple, complementary elements.

My partner in crime's brook trout came with pickled wetland vegetables and glazed sunchokes, again, perfectly cooked and juicy. As he described it, "I taste lots of herbs, and a hint of spice, but it's balanced, not overwhelming. The sweet broth balances out the fish flavor." Inside Park's dinner menu evolves throughout the year, changing in entirety about seven times to reflect available, seasonal ingredients.

For dessert, we had a ladyfinger roulade with crème anglaise and bitter orange sauce and a warm strawberry rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream by Pastry Chef Miran Shim. The rhubarb was the true standout, a modern-day-classic.

After dinner, Weingarten gave us a tour of the inside restaurant, revealing a beautiful hall with a raised, semi-private dining area on the church's former stage. They've remained true to the space's original motif: decorative stenciling, beautiful arches, original fixtures. "The history of the building fits nicely for me with the historical nature of our cuisines," he added. A screen on the stage rotates images of NY parks over the years, adding another sense of nostalgia. Further honoring its history as a meeting place, Inside Park throws theme-nights and parties during the winter, including swing dancing. "I'm always happy to throw a party," Weingarten laughed.

Weingarten's resume includes stints at Savoy(working with Peter Hoffman, one of locavorism's godfathers),Tuscan, Quilty's and An American Place. "I came through many kitchens, and that was how I set my philosophy: You don't really want too much going on on your plate. You don't need that much...I think simplicity is always appreciated —especially underneath the sun. Beautiful produce, and the use of wood-firing grills, imbues its own power upon the dish."

And he's right; at Inside Bart's, simple foods ring true.

Inside Park at St. Bart's
109 East 50th Street on Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212.593.3333
Reservations recommended

— Written by Anna Carnick

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