Has there ever been a restaurant in Rochester dining history
so feverishly anticipated as REDD? The upscale New American restaurant, led by
acclaimed chef Richard Reddington, has been
generating buzz since its launch announcement in December 2018. With its
opening in mid-August at the site of the former 2Vine, REDD is the first
restaurant in Rochester with a Michelin-star chef at the helm.
The new
restaurant is owned by partners Reddington and local
developer Dennis Wilmot, owner of Wilmot Development Group LLC. Reddington’s long and impressive resume includes stints at
Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco, Paris, and New York, working
under such luminaries as Roland Passot, Wolfgang Puck,
Alain Passard, and Daniel Boulud.
Reddington struck out on his own in 2006, opening REDD in
Yountville, California, not far from his friend Thomas Keller’s world-renowned
restaurant, The French Laundry. REDD combined Napa Valley cuisine with
classical French and multi-cultural influences, and was awarded a Michelin star
from 2008 to 2014. With the closure of REDD in October 2018, Reddington decided to move back east.
Reddington told WXXI News in December that he always
planned to return to Rochester, but it took longer than he originally thought
it would. “My family is all in Rochester and the East Coast, and my priorities
have shifted,” he said. Reddington remains a partner
in Redd Wood, his casual Italian restaurant in Yountville.
I first
visited REDD one evening shortly after its mid-August opening. Even on a
Wednesday, every seat in the dining room was filled. The interior of the
restaurant is bright and airy, done up in soft neutrals of gray and brown. One
wall is taken up by a colorful floor-to-ceiling display of cookbooks, another
by a mural of rolling mountains. The kitchen is partially open to view,
affording diners a glimpse of Reddington at work.
Despite the
open floor plan and full house, the forgiving acoustics of the space made it
easy to have a conversation with my friend without raising my voice — something
that, at the ripe old age of 26, I’m increasingly grateful for. The implicit
dress code appears to be business casual, so no need to dust off your formal
attire.
Like the
original REDD in Yountville, the new restaurant combines Napa Valley influences
with culinary traditions from around the world. Sashimi, duck confit, Mexican
street corn, lobster risotto, onion rings, and wood-fired pizzas are all
equally at home on the dinner menu. Pizzas start at around $13, with mains
ranging between $15 and $39.
The wine
list is extensive, with the majority of the selections hailing from California,
France, and Italy. I began the evening with a Chenin blanc from the Loire
Valley, a light, acidic white ideal for toasting the end of summer.
We started
the meal with a salad of cubed bread, local tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion,
a take on the classic Italian panzanella made more
decadent with the addition of creamy, oozy burrata
cheese.
My friend
ordered the prosciutto pizza, which arrived with a beautifully blistered crust,
mounded with fresh arugula and showered with grated Parmesan. I selected the
chicken mole, a succulent hunk of roasted bone-in breast and leg meat which
arrived atop a pool of cheddar polenta and dark, spicy, mole sauce. Juicy
kernels of sweet corn and sliced scallions rounded out the stunning
presentation. A well-balanced combination of sweet, spicy, and salty flavors,
the mole was the highlight of the evening for me.
We closed
out the evening with caramel budino and a slice of
chocolate ganache tart. The budino (Italian for
pudding or custard) was rich and velvety, with toasty overtones of burnt sugar
accented by a hint of sea salt. The chocolate ganache tart was dark and
intense, the fruity, earthy flavors of cacao coming through loud and clear. If
you like your chocolate really, really dark (like I do), you’ll enjoy this.
In the name
of research, I returned to REDD on a quiet Sunday afternoon some weeks later to
try the brunch menu with my family. The interior of the restaurant is even more
striking during daytime, with sunlight pouring in through large skylights,
making the Riedel stemware gleam.
The brunch
menu shares some starters with the dinner menu (the aforementioned tomato salad
and tuna tartare) but also has more traditional breakfast and brunch fare such
as buttermilk pancakes, corned beef hash, omelets, yogurt and granola, and huevos rancheros. Sides of bacon and sausage are available.
My sister
went for the omelet, which was stuffed with spinach, mushrooms, and pancetta,
served alongside mixed greens and a generous pile of potatoes and caramelized
onions. A truly outstanding omelet is deceivingly difficult to find and even
harder to make, but this exquisitely fluffy, buttery specimen seemed ready to
float off the plate.
On the more
unconventional end of the brunch spectrum, my mother opted for the halibut
tacos. Nuggets of the firm-fleshed fish were battered and fried, nestled in
corn tortillas with chipotle sauce and a dollop of guacamole. If you prefer
your brunch with a little bit of a kick, this dish has your name on it.
For myself,
I opted for the full-on indulgent Sunday brunch experience: a breakfast pizza
and a glass of prosecco. I’ve long been skeptical of breakfast pizza as a
concept, but this is one I can get behind. The pie came abundantly topped with
tender slices of melt-in-your-mouth smoked salmon, plus a scattering of pillowy scrambled eggs, and was studded with capers atop a
creamy fontina cheese base. The prosecco, which I ordered before I had fully
decided on my meal, turned out to be a good move. Crisp, dry bubbles were a
refreshing complement to the salty, flavorful meal.
Given the
continued buzz around the restaurant, dinner reservations are highly
recommended. As I write this review, the next three weekends are sold out or
nearly sold out during dinner service. Reservations are available up to 30 days
in advance.
This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2019.
