Executive Chef Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth, Chef de Cuisine, Root & Bone, NYCHaving made their names in fried chicken at Yardbird in Miami and on Top Chef, it’s no surprise that the duo of Executive Chef Jeff McInnis and Chef de Cuisine Janine Booth have already been rated the best fried chicken in New York City. But there’s a lot more going on at Root & Bone than just fried free-range birds – as the name suggests, Root & Bone has a strong theme of on-the-bone meats and root vegetables, and the kind of “rural American” cuisine that corresponds to it.
One of those on-the-bone meats is an Australian rack of lamb, which the chefs cook with a very modern “sous vide” technique but in a simple preparation with butter and aromatic herbs. It gets finished quickly on the grill for service. “We keep the flavoring simple, letting that pure, natural, pastured lamb flavor shine through.” Says Booth. “We’ve had a number of guests tell us that they usually don’t like lamb, but they love ours. I think it has a lot to do with the mild, sweet flavor of Aussie lamb. We love changing peoples’ perceptions of what lamb can taste like.”
At home, native Aussie Janine loves the “hands-off” simplicity of slow-cooked curries for lamb. “In Australia, we have all these Asian influences from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India, so curries are something we learn from an early age.” She says. “The beauty of it is you get all that flavor from just one pot – get it going with your aromatics, spices and a bit of good lamb, then let it cook while you get on to something else.”
For a simple curry to try at home, check out this recipe and video.