And this restaurant is now into its second year. It's called Maison Harlem. Maison of course, means house, and the owners want you to feel at home and stay for awhile.
It's located at 341 St. Nicholas Avenue.
Paris by way of Harlem, Maison Harlem is an intimate and family friendly spot that has become an extension of people's homes.
"We have a teeny tiny kitchen and I don't cook, and I don't really like to do dishes," said one customer. ("So you're by yourself here pretty frequently".) "Yeah, I would say probably three or four times a week."
"We live right across the street, so it's convenient, it's our kitchen," said another.
Romain Bonnans is the chef and co-owner. "The idea of the menu is from all over France, like some stuff from the south, some stuff from the north," he said. "I'm from Toulouse, and my specialty is foie gras, everything around duck, duck confit, coq au vin."
And there are basics like omelets and croque madames, but also something as involved as the seafood crostuillant. Chef Romain deep fried pastry dough and shapes it into a basket.
Meanwhile, he sautees shrimp and scallops in butter, and steams mussels in saffron white wine, cream and butter. The seafood goes into that basket, which is plated on wilted spinach, and some of that sauce. Settle into a banquette and enjoy.
"The vibe is really nice, it's just like a quaint restaurant, it's in the corner somewhere but it's lovely. It's definitely somewhere that I would be recommending," said a customer.
Exactly what co-owner Samuel Thiam likes to hear. He wasn't always in the restaurant business.
"I came here to be a dancer, I was on Broadway for a few years. I did Aida, bunch of shows, then I became a stage manager," he said.
And he sometimes stage manages here at WABC-TV, but these days it's all about his restaurant, in the neighborhood where he lives.
Here is the recipe for Seafood Croustillant:
Ingredients:
- 3 pieces of large sea scallops
- 3 pieces of shrimp
- 10 pieces of P.E.I. (Prince Edward Island) Mussels
- 1 table spoon of sweet butter
- cup white wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 shallot - cut into small slices
- 2 garlic cloves - cut small
- 1 bunch Californian baby spinach
- 4 TBSP olive oil
- 1 piece of feuille de brique
- a little Spanish saffron
Sauce au Saffron
- Lightly sautee shallots, garlic and mussels with olive oil until shallots become translucent.
- Add white wine, cream and saffron. Cover and steam until the mussels open.
- Remove shells of mussels.
- Reduce sauce until slightly thicker.
Seafood:
- On a hot sautee pan sear scallops and shrimp with olive oil until it is brownish on both sides.
- Add a spoon of butter and let it finish to cook off fire for about 3 minutes
Shell:
- Fry the feuille de brique in fryer, swirl to form a basket shape. Remove and drain.
- Sautee spinach with garlic and salt in olive oil - place it in bottom of fried feuille de brique.
Plate pastry basket on top of wilted spinach. Place all seafood inside the pastry with a little bit of sauce. Place remaining sauce around the spinach. Serve!