Food comas are an inherit part of the holidays. Gluttonous meals planned weeks in advance are devoured in less than 20 minutes, and all that's left is the amazing mess to clean up while fighting through food fog and heavy lethargy. Excited? Yeah, me too.
The day after Christmas is when it starts to become a beat down. Really, I have to cook again? I cooked all day yesterday and the day before that. I'm tired of cooking, my clothes are all too tight and I just want to lounge.
Rise No. 1 on Lovers Lane hears you loud and clear, and is once again hosting a pajama lunch on December 26th that begins at 10 a.m.
Hedda Dowd, who devolved the vision for this spot in the Inwood Village, spent all of her summers as a child in France with family where cooking, particularly soufflés, was a dynamic tradition.
At Rise No. 1 Dowd has tried to recreate an authentic, cozy French restaurant where puffed pastry, both savory and sweet, is the specialty. And with a nod toward Slow Food USA, they buy local when they can and encourage family dinners with games of Scrabble while waiting (they have several boards there).
Executive Chef Cherif Brahmin sees to the proper puffing of the soufflés and has created a few specials for the holidays.
"On the weekends we have an oyster Rockefellers, which is five oysters with a soufflé actually on the half shell," Dowd says. "But, it's only available on the weekends and we usually run out."
"Another seasonal favorite is the artichoke and brie," Dowd says. "In the center of the soufflé, the melted brie is infused with artichokes and it just melts in your mouth."
"Then, in the dessert category," Dowd continues, just being downright cruel at this point, "we have a pumpkin soufflé with a crème anglaise sauce on the side with nutmeg. And for Christmas we have a gingerbread soufflé with lemon crème anglaise."
Surprisingly, the savory soufflés range from 260-410 calories and the sweet ones have 120-315 calories. So you can definitely have two or three and still feel good about things.
