Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster was our destination. 
I like walking from one end of the city to the other and when I do, we pick a place to end up eating afterward. One day recently, we walked north along and through Central Park, the 6 miles to dinner at the Harlem restaurant that channels the spirit that area. A spirit obvious in what we ate!
The Yep, Chicken and Waffle circa 1930 ($17), came with not enough of either the smoked maple syrup for the waffles nor the salsa poblana topping the fabulous juicy fried chicken. I highly recommend, being sure to ask for more of the toppings when you order.
Marcus’ Cornbread ($6) was good, but nothing like my homemade. Mine has even more fresh corn and more of a corn flavor. His is still good, especially when spread with the whipped honey butter.
The evening’s only miss was the Jerk Catfish ($30) & Grits with a smidgen of lump crab and creamy lima beans: The grits were begging for some seasoning and the fish was raw inside. When we finally saw the manager, he did remove it from our bill.
Another thing to order are the creamy cheddar and parmesan mac & cheese ($9), even though I preferred the version I had at Beechers. I would, though, suggest 
ordering without the collard greens. We only found one or two leaves in our serving.
Don’t laugh — but my dining partner and I love fries so much we ordered them for dessert. These, spiced with berbere and paprika, were fried to perfection ($9).
– bonnie
Red Rooster
Harlem
310 Lenox Avenue
New York, NY 10027
(212) 792-9001
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