October 2, 2011
Lookin' Good and Cookin' Good at Red Rooster Harlem
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 4 MIN.
Aficionados of the Harlem Renaissance might have felt themselves slipping happily back in time upon crossing the threshold of Red Rooster Harlem the other night for chef Marcus Samuelsson's celebratory party at his uptown restaurant. Home cooking and soulful music - and some of Harlem's most fashionable denizens made for a New York mural as vibrant as a collage by Romare Bearden.
From across Lenox Avenue, the buzz from Samuelsson's acclaimed, feel-good eatery was electric. Guests made their way through the crowd clustered in the lively front bar and followed the music to Samuelsson's private party. Downstairs, the scene was evocative of Harlem's heyday when Red Rooster's namesake, the legendary Harlem speakeasy, was the center of a flourishing cultural movement.
Sponsored by FoodRepublic and Marcus Samuelsson, the evening was a celebration of MOZO� Shoes, the shoe company for people who work on their feet. For those unfamiliar with the word, "mozo" derives from cattle round-ups on the American frontier, where a "mozo" was the non-horse-riding helper.
The founder of MOZO� Shoes, Jim Agnew, developed a company that would engineer shoes for those individuals who spend long hours on their feet. Last spring, the company debuted its Chef Signature shoe collection, with shoes designed by Samuelsson, as well as chefs Aar�n S�nchez and Chris Cosentino.
Every server at Red Rooster Harlem was sporting one of MOZO� Shoes' nine designs, which include S�nchez's "Red Skull," with a sugar skull stitched on the shoe's vamp; Cosentino's "Fifth Quarter" with honeycomb tripe on a pearlized white slip-on; and Samuelsson's "Downtown," a black-and-white throwback, which the chef wore on the red carpet at the recent James Beard Awards.
As good as the shoes looked (and felt - kitchen workers swear by them for the shoes' ability to keep workers from slipping on grease), guests were equally thrilled by what was on the servers' trays. Hors d'oeuvres included ceviche tacos, corn bread with honey butter, tomato grits, spiced nuts, Lady Baltimore cupcakes, and a sinfully decadent whiskey fudge with macadamia nuts.
Our favorite signature cocktail of the evening was a sweet rendition of summer called Gin & Juice made with Hendrick's Gin, citrus bitters, and marmalade - and to sip this soulful concoction was to slip easily into a Langston Hughes reverie.
The sultry songstress Belinda Munro, a regular singer at Red Rooster Harlem's Gospel Brunch on Sundays, used her honey vocals on an adoring crowd that included hip-hop legend Fab Five Freddy, model Maya Hailes, artist Sanford Biggers, pr powerhouse MaryLou DiNardo, actress Alexandra Hynes, and scores of other happy Harlemites.
One of the festive evening's high points was Samuelsson's heartfelt explanation of his involvement with Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which provides career opportunities for underserved youth by linking public high school culinary teachers and their students to the food service industry.
The evening's tagline was "Lookin' good, cookin' good, feelin' good" - and no one in this house was arguing with that. As the old Louis Jordan song goes "Ain't nobody here but us chickens" - and a happier flock you haven't seen.
LINKS: Red Rooster Harlem
Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP)
A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
