WHAT’S UP, DOC? This three-carrot main course costs a stunning $18 at the East Village restaurant Northern Spy Food Co., which defends the hefty markup. (Zandy Mangold)
Even Bugs Bunny would balk.
This is what New York dining has come to — $18 for an entree of three roasted carrots.
At the Northern Spy Food Co. in the East Village, this all-veggie dish comprises three skinny roasted carrots, wild spinach and freekeh (a green grain), and almonds.
But the nouveau rabbit food costs more than a 6-ounce filet mignon at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in the Meatpacking District and just a dollar more than a whole lobster in brandy sauce at El Quijote in Chelsea.
Executive chef Hadley Schmitt, who brought the lowly veggie up by its roots from a side dish, believes it can proudly stand alongside the eatery’s main courses of lamb, shrimp and pork.
“It generally comes down to, ‘Wow, these carrots taste really good! What can we do with them?’ ” he said.
“We use vegetables more and more because it’s more interesting,” Schmitt adds. “Vegetables are unique and specific; there’s more differentiation than between proteins. You can’t just swap them out.”
It had better be unique and specific. Three organic carrots cost only about 90 cents at Whole Foods — giving the dish a 2,000 percent markup.
Eminent Central Park forager “Wildman” Steve Brill said the price of these carrots left a bad taste.
“For me it’s overpriced. You can find carrots for free in Fort Hamilton and Fort Tilden Park near the seashore and in empty lots in Rockaway. They are edible and very delicious.”
Carnivore Josh Ozersky, founder of the Meatopia festival, cringed at the thought of eating any vegetable as a main course.
“The last time I think I ate a carrot was in 2004. It was an accident,” he said.
Ozersky, who lives right around the corner from Northern Spy, said of the pricey plate, “Such is the perversity of vegetarians — you can’t tell whether it’s a gift or an insult.
“My favorite meat is lamb fat. My philosophy is that the fat is the meat and the meat is the vegetable.”
But Serious Eats food critic Ed Levine didn’t pan the price.
“You have to take into consideration the time, the preparation and the ingredients,” he said.
Schmitt pan-roasts the carrots over a bed of smoldering hay to give it a smoky flavor, then lays them over grain and tosses them with wild spinach and carrot purée. He adds crumbled almonds with licorice root and rye flour and tops with an herb salad and carrot tops.
Co-owner Chris Ronis insisted the price of his carrots isn’t over the top.
“There’s always the question why one restaurant might have a $6 burger and another restaurant has one for $25,” he said.
“There’s a lot more that goes into a plate. In our case, the prices come down to the ingredients we use — far more than you would find in another carrot dish — and that includes putting a lot of technique into it, labor time and staff. We would never overcharge. The price is fair.”