On a recent episode of “Modern Family,” Mitchell — half of the hilarious gay couple, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson — returns from the farmers market.
“How was the farmers market, honey?” asks Cameron, his free-spirited husband, played by Eric Stonestreet.
“It was great, but guess what the new spinach is?” asks Mitchell, widening his eyes in horror. “It’s kale!”
“No!” gasps Cameron, equally shocked and awed.
“I was just as blown away as you are,” says Mitchell. “Kale is a garnish. It’s not ready to anchor a meal!”
Well, Mitchell, you may be right about many things, but you’re way off on kale.
While the corduroy of leafy cabbages used to be confined to the sauté pan, braised in death-defying amounts of oil and served alongside fried chicken, all that’s changed.
Kale is not only the new spinach. It’s the new arugula, mesclun and romaine. A survey of the city’s hottest eateries reveals clever chefs eager to show off this green’s raw side in fantastic salads.
At Goat Town (511 E. Fifth St.), the buzzing new seasonal American eatery co-owned by chef Joel Hough (formerly of Cookshop), a kale Waldorf ($9) is tossed with crisp apples, toasted walnuts, finely diced celery and plump golden raisins in a creamy cider dressing. The kale, which is packed with antioxidants, vitamins and calcium, adds nutrition and richness to the salad.
Hough, who’s had a fondness for the classic New York Waldorf salad for years, decided to use kale instead of lettuce because he had enjoyed the green in a salad at Il Buco, where it’s dressed with lemon and olive oil.
At his own spot, Hough uses a popular type of kale — dino kale (also called black kale, cavolo nero, Tuscan kale and Lacinato kale) — and treats it to an aggressive massage of creamy cider vinegar dressing before tossing it with its more delicate garnishes.
“Because it’s so fibrous, you have to work the kale in your hands as if you’re trying to squeeze water out of it, which allows the green to take in the dressing,” he advises. “If you tossed it like you would arugula, the dressing would just dance on the outside.”
Chef Ryan Angulo at the wildly popular Carroll Gardens restaurant Buttermilk Channel (524 Court St.) uses kale to riff on a classic Caesar ($9), served with crisp endive in an anchovy vinaigrette, topped with homemade sourdough croutons and a runny, soft-boiled egg.
To soften up the green, Angulo grills it lightly — so it’s a bit more tender than when eaten raw. The salad’s been on the menu since the restaurant opened its doors nearly three years ago, and when Angulo takes it off during the height of summer, his regulars revolt. “It has this weird cult following,” says Angulo. “People ask for it when it’s off the menu and demand to know when we’ll bring it back.”
Elsewhere in Brooklyn, at Colonie (127 Atlantic Ave.), the striking new Brooklyn Heights restaurant opened by Public and Double Crown alum chef Alex Sorenson, there’s a kale salad adorned with kohlrabi, carrots and cherries, in a lemon anchovy dressing ($8).
“It’s hard to do [seasonal] in the winter,” says Sorenson. “I wanted to highlight what’s in the markets now, and that includes heartier storage vegetables like kale.”
Sorenson cuts the kale in a chiffonade and dresses it in an acidic anchovy and lemon vinaigrette. Not one to waste, he pickles the kale’s stems and uses them to garnish a crostini, which rotates daily between a duck-liver mousse and rabbit rillette.
“The big, bold flavors of the dressing match the flavors of the kale,” he says. “I think people underestimate kale. It has a great texture and flavor.”
Other chefs clearly agree. At Beauty & Essex (146 Essex St.), the stunning new sibling to Stanton Social, chef Chris Santos serves a bold kale and apple salad tossed with smoky pancetta, sweet candied pecans and tangy goat cheese ($10). It’s delicious, and so hearty it practically beckons for a bun and fries.
Another tasty kale dish shows up at hyper-local East Village resto Northern Spy (511 E. 12th St.), where chef Nathan Foot serves it topped with cheddar, roasted squash, toasted almonds and Pecorino in a lemony vinaigrette ($11). File it under “Most Delicious Salad Ever.”
“I was always taught to taste raw vegetables before you cook them,” says Foot, who was schooled while working under chef Daniel Patterson at Elisabeth Daniel in San Francisco. “Kale tastes great raw.”
Foot’s salad has become such a “staple and signature” that he’s also turned it into a brunch dish — with a little nudge from his regulars. “We had lots of people ordering it with baked eggs on top,” he says, “so finally we put it on the menu that way.”
Chefs aren’t the only ones seeing an increased demand for kale. Paulette Satur of Satur Farms, the North Fork, LI, farm that supplies many of the city’s top chefs, says sales have skyrocketed this past year — up 272 percent compared to last year, in fact. “I don’t think that people realized how good it tastes when it’s fresh,” she says.
Mitchell? You still there?