I dined recently at George Mendes’ finally opened Lupulo (the Portuguese word for “hops), at a Meyers Cookware press dinner where I was able to sample lots of shared menu items.
(I’ve dined many times at Aldea, his Michelin 1-star restaurant as I enjoyed it so much.)
We started with a refreshing Alface e Agrio, perfectly dressed gem lettuce, watercress and radish salad.
Our second course included bolinhos de bacalhau, the not-too-fishy salt cod croquettes with piri piri mayo; an oily pate de carapau spread of Portuguese mackerel along with toast; and crispy, but ordinary rissois de camarao, shrimp turnovers.
The stand-out was the snapper cru — a spicy red pepper crudo in coconut milk and kaffir lime broth, flavored with fermented serrano peppers and sesame seeds. Not to be missed. The crispy-skinned, charred organic butterflied chicken worked well with piri piro pepper sauce. And, of course the French fries were yummy.
The disappointment was the tough and flavorless charcoal grilled leg of lamb with Sea Island red (Yes, red!) peas and tomato, although those peas under the lamb were tasty and worth eating.
Desserts included a weird vanilla rice pudding (arroz doce) with espresso ice cream and pineapple and a tasty pudim molotof, a cinnamon “cloud” (sort of floating meringue) with a crunchy hazelnut streusel and coconut.
– bonnie
Lupulo
Midtown West
835 Ave of The Americas (at 29th)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 290-7600
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