Terrapin Restaurant Awards

Terrapin Restaurant Restaurant Review:

Turtles have long been a totem for Rodney Einhorn. He rescues them and names them after his hero-chefs. So after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, working at Le Cirque 2000 and making his own name at Aspen’s Sky Hotel, he decided to open an upscale restaurant near the oceanfront where he grew up and call it Terrapin. Perhaps the name is also a double entendre as it’s a showcase for Slow Food. In his open kitchen, visible from the intimate dining room and sleek zebra-wood bar (perfect for barrel-aged cocktails or wine from a savvy list), he creates garden gazpacho with fresh basil and shrimp, a refreshingly elegant summer starter. In fall, it might be lentil stew followed by duck breast with Anson Mills farro “risotto” plus pickled apples, oyster mushrooms and local butternut and curry purée. Signature fennel pollen-spiced scallops over mushrooms in a truffle pan sauce with sea beans perennially hold sway. Come spring, order anything with ramps. And whatever the season, try the chocolate terrine with peanut butter mousse and nougat, salted caramel sauce, chocolate meringue and malted milk bubbles, a dessert aptly named Milky Way.