Chanterelle's Salmon With Beet & Lime Butters

Once upon a time there was a wonderful restaurant in NYC called Chanterelle. First in Soho and then in Tribeca, it served inspired food for 30 years.

Photo by Shana Ravindra

I was strangely bereft to hear they had given up the restaurant. It had been in my constellation of best NYC establishments forever having eaten in both the Soho and Tribeca iterations during their 30-year history. Even their employee meals (usually the subject of wailing and rending of garments) were legendary, and chef Waltuck's first book, Staff Meals from Chanterellewas written not about the restaurant's food but about the staff meals!

Photo by Shana Ravindra

They had closed for renovations but then suddenly closed for good. I will miss their creativity and quiet elegance and will share with you my favorite recipe from there… although there are so many in the chef David Waltuck’s fabulous cookbook, Chanterelle. This one is not in the book but pulled from a magazine a zillion years ago.

Cy Twombly 1980

I will miss you, Chanterelle, and your fabulous menus by amazing and famous Soho/Tribeca artists (which are now being sold online) and wonderful atmosphere of coddling and comfort

Louise Nevelson for Virgil Thompson’s 90^th Birthday 1986

This is my favorite salmon sauce and I have been making it since I first had it 20-odd years ago in their restaurant. It is delicious and gorgeous. I tried to re-create the design that was popular in the 80’s…it is a memory that goes with the dish and the colors are out of this world. Just a few circles of lime butter (this can’t be too hot or it will not work) in the beet and a toothpick to pull through the lines and you are good to go.

With thanks to Chanterelle I give you:

Salmon with Beet and Lime Butters.

Salmon for 2

12 oz Salmon Filet

2 t. mustard

1 T maple syrup (I use Martha Stewart’s Basil Jelly*** - which is the best)

1T soy sauce

4 T butter

S & P to taste

Slather the fish with the mustard, maple syrup, soy and salt and pepper and let sit and hour or so. Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat and cook the salmon, skin side up. Flip when browned and cover till done in about 3 minutes for medium rare. It is even better grilled outside over charcoal…if you have access, do it that way (oil the grill first) when it’s not below zero outside! PS This is my recipe and not Chef Waltucks! The butters are his.

Beet Butter

2-3 beets (6 oz)

2 T shallots

3 T red wine vinegar

½ c white wine

2 T cream

¼ to ½ c butter in chunks

Bake the beets, wrapped in foil for 1 hour at 375º. Peel the beets. Puree in blender with water as needed

Reduce the shallots, vinegar and white wine to a syrup. Add syrup and cream to puree.

Warm and add butter slowly to keep sauce from separating

Lime butter

Juice of 3 limes

½ c white wine

3 T cream

¼ to ½ c butter, in chunks

Reduce lime juice and wine to a syrup and add cream. Keep warm and add butter over low heat to keep the sauce together.

Serve butters together with the Salmon. You can make the combined butters sweet or tart depending on how much of each you use.

***I will give you the recipe if you ask… will post it one of these days!!

Original 1990 version of dish for Victoria Magazine

I just found this photo over the weekend, hasn't food styling/photography changed a lot!

I also wanted to tell everyone that Karen Waltuck saw everyone's lovely words and was touched. I am so glad. The restaurant was so well thought of and loved!

Post Script: It has been brought to my attention by one of my favorite bloggers that I have been remiss in putting quotes on things from Wikipedia and that it is plagiarism not to do so clearly. In the future, attributions will always be made. I apologize to my readers for this lapse in blog etiquette and for being sloppy as I try diligently to give sources for whatever I use. Wikipedia is open source and I misinterpreted the protocol.