THE PRICE HIKE

Torrisi Italian Specialties, a high-end red-sauce joint that earned 3.5 stars in my Bloomberg News review, will be debuting a new dish this September: Guinea hen with American truffles. The dish feeds one and is a $20 supplement to the $65 menu. Clearly, the “poultry-as-a-luxury-item” trend continues (see: The NoMad’s excellent $79 chicken).

Chef Rich Torrisi was nice enough to offer some details about the guinea hen via email. He also responded to The Price Hike’s question of whether American truffles were any good. Here’s what he had to say: 

• “Hen is aged in the walk-in for a week on the cage to dry skin. It’s [cooked] sous vide first, cooled, then the breasts are removed and crisped very quickly. It will be called francese but will not be prepared in that way. This interpretation of francese will include classic French items…a potato prep, probably pommes Anna, not sure yet, fine herbs, and a classic sauce. The bird will have truffles under the skin, they are from Tennessee. If they weren’t good, I wouldn’t cook with them. With that said they have come a long way, but are not as good as French black winter ones.” 

Torrisi’s other supplements will remain the same: $4 for oysters, $40 for the Wagyu short rib for two, and $10 for the coconut-almond dessert. So if a party of two orders an oyster each, a main course supplement each, and a shared almond dessert, they’ll end up spending $242 after tax and tip, or $74 higher than the real cost of $168 without add-ons. A party of two that opts for the $50 per person wine pairings, along with all of the additional dishes, will spend $371 after all is said and done. Torrisi will also continue to offering its $150, 20-course chef’s tasting. See our previous Price Hike post for a breakdown of that menu.