“I certainly miss Kerry at 11 Madison,” said more than one foodie to me. Kerry — as in Kerry Heffernan — is currently the executive chef of the new South Gate at the Jumeirah Essex House (New York City) formerly of 11 Madison Park restaurant.
Since I was in the city for a board meeting during NYC restaurant week earlier this year, I took advantage of the opportunity to dine there. Kerry creates seasonal American fare in the newly refurbished Essex House, which — not long ago — was home to the incredibly posh Alain Ducasse restaurant.
(The boys and I dined at Alain Ducasse before it disappeared, having one of the most memorable meals of our lives, as the chef cooked a multi-course meal for us, with each of us enjoying different items perfectly matching with wines.
We left wonderfully satiated each carrying a copy of our own menu mounted in a beautiful blue holder in one hand, with a bag of warm chocolate chip brioche for each of our next day’s breakfast in the other hand. The entire experience was perfection…)
Back to South Gate…sorry to segue — but with the thought of the Essex House my mind flooded with spectacular memories…
The newly refurbished Essex House is for sure luxurious. I drank it all in as I walked into the spacious dining room to join two dear friends who had arrived ahead of me. With reasonable prices ($35) for 
a 3-course menu at a top restaurant, neither of them could resist meeting me food and chitchat.
First order of business: our wine selection.
We asked to see the sommelier to discuss possible suggestions. Three times. Finally, a young cocky man (who later was introduced to as the sommelier) walked over to our table, handed us a futuristic wine menu Kindle-like palate with a stylus pean attached and walked away.
As a techno-savvy person, I was still astounded that he delivered us this device without a word about its use as if it were an everyday event, which I’m sure it will be in the future….
The “menu” is a little screen where you can click and select what flavor or type of wine you’re in the mood for. Oh, so pretentious. For instance, to find a Sancerre on this wine list, you’d needed to know both the grape variety (Sauvignon Blanc) and where it came from (Loire Valley).
We weren’t off to a good start.
But then came Kerry’s yummy food, which made the night. We shared everything — including a warm mosaic of parsnip, beet and celeriac with fleur de vert, styrian pumpkin seed oil and an aged sherry vinaigrette; a salad of arugula with poached quince, endive, pomegranate and a hazelnut vinaigrette and a tender crisped beef short ribs and hangar steak with Yukon gold potato puree and wasabi crème fraîche. 
As my friend Joanne would and did say, “Yummers.”
South Gate at the Jumeirah Essex House, 154 Central Park South, New York; 212-484-5120
The site looks fantastic, and it seems like you’re getting lots of feedback. Your post on the Essex House made me want to try it out–for the food, at least. The wine menu via kindle-like-device sounds kind of pretentious and non diner-friendly–especially if the sommelier does little more than plunk it on the table in front of you and leave you to figure it out. (I learned something too from your post: didn’t realize Sancerre’s made from the sauvignon blanc grape variety!)
Thank you for your postings above. I now feel motivated to visit South Gate sometime next week. I was fortunate enough to enjoy a four-hour dinner last month at another venerable establishment in Las Vegas that probably pioneered the wine ebook. Although fairly tech-savvy, I indulged in the sommelier explaining how to navigate the device, which proved far less intimidating than it first appeared. I’m confident that Kerry has picked up on your comments by now and has adjusted this service step. Proost!
[…] seasonal foods to inspire his cooking. Although the food was delicious on my first South Gate visit, there was a techno-hiccup with the wine sommelier and the Kindle-like wine menu. I was glad to […]